UUU5 


BR  145  .F5  1887 

Fisher,  George  Park,  1827 

1909. 
History  of  the  Christian 


HISTORY      .  r^  Of  nivr" 

SEP  ^.0 192 « 


^/OhicAi  rtV.^- 


THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


George  Park  Fisher,  D.D.,  LLD. 

TITUS   STREET   PROFESSOR   OF  ECCLESIASTICAL   HISTORY   IN   YALE    UNIVERSITY 


IVITH    MAPS 


NEW   YORK 

CHARLES   SCRIBNER'S   SONS 

1887 


Copyright,  1887,  by 
CHARLES   SCRIBNER'S  SONS 


DEDICATED 

AS  A  TOKEN  OF  FRIENDSHIP 

TO  CHARLES  AND  ARTHUR  SCRIBNER 

"WITH  AFFECTIONATE   RECOLLECTIONS  OF  THEIR 

FATHER  AND  BROTHER 


I 


PREFACE 


I  HAVE  thought  it  practicable  to  bring  within  the  compass 
of  this  vohime,  in  a  not  unreadable  form,  the  most  important 
facts  of  Church  Histor3^  On  the  question  what  it  is  wise  to 
insert  in  such  a  work,  and  what  it  is  best  to  exclude,  no  two 
persons  would  judge  precisely  alike.  I  must  anticipate  that 
readers  will  occasionally  be  disappointed  in  seeking  what  they 
do  not  find,  or  in  finding  what  they  may  think  it  as  well  to 
have  left  out. 

There  are  two  particulars  in  which  I  have  sought  to  make 
the  narrative  specially  serviceable.  In  the  first  place,  the  at- 
tempt has  been  made  to  exhibit  fully  the  relations  of  the  his- 
tory of  Christianity  and  of  the  Church  to  contemporaneous 
secular  history.  It  has  been  common  to  dissect  Church  his- 
tory out  of  the  general  history  of  mankind.  To  some  extent 
this  process  of  division  is  required.  Yet  it  must  never  be  for- 
gotten that  they  are  really  inseparable  parts  of  one  whole.  I 
have  tried  to  bring  out  more  distinctly  than  is  usually  done  the 
interaction  of  events  and  changes  in  the  political  sphere,  with 
the  phenomena  wdiich  belong  more  strictly  to  the  ecclesiastical 
and  religious  province.  In  the  second  place,  it  has  seemed  to 
me  possible  to  present  a  tolerably  complete  survey  of  the  his- 
tory of  theological  doctrine.  It  is  true  that  compressed  state- 
ments must  be  made ;  but  the  important  point  is,  not  what 
amount  of  space  is  occupied,  but  whether  the  exposition  is  clear 
and  exact. 

There  are  two  reasons,  at  least,  why  it  is  natural  to  feel 
some  diffidence  in  sending  forth  a  work  of  this  kind  from  the 
press.  One  is  the  difficulty  of  traversing  so  wide  a  field  with- 
out falling  into  inaccuracies  of  more  or  less  consequence.  It  is 
pleasant  to  remember  that — where  there  is  painstaking  and  an 


iv  PREFACE. 

intention  to  tell  the  truth — an  author's  most  lenient  judges  are 
the  historical  students,  who  know  bv  experience  how  difficult 
it  is  to  avoid  errors.  The  other  source  of  embarrassment  is 
the  necessity  of  pronouncing  judgment  on  so  great  a  number 
of  persons,  and  on  so  many  matters  which  are  still  more  or  less 
in  dispute.  Fully  sensible  of  the  responsibility  of  such  a  task, 
I  can  only  say  that  I  have  fulfilled  it  with  an  honest  desire  to 
avoid  all  unfairness.  It  has  appeared  to  me  better  to  express 
frankly  the  conclusions  to  which  my  investigations  have  led 
me,  on  a  variety  of  topics  where  differences  of  opinion  exist, 
than  to  take  refuge  in  ambiguity  or  silence.  Something  of  the 
dispassionate  temper  of  an  on-looker  may  be  expected  to  result 
from  historical  studies,  if  long  pursued  ;  nor  is  this  an  evil,  if 
there  is  kept  alive  a  warm  sympathy  with  the  spirit  of  holiness 
and  love,  wherever  it  is  manifest. 

As  this  book  is  designed,  not  for  technical  students  exclu- 
sively, but  for  intelligent  readers  generally,  the  temptation  to 
enter  into  extended  and  minute  discussions  on  perplexed  or 
controverted  topics  has  been  resisted.  For  example,  as  regards 
the  earliest  organization  of  the  Church,  while  I  feel  a  strong 
interest  in  the  inquiries  which  have  been  prosecuted  lately  by 
Hatch,  Adolf  Harnack,  Heinrici,  Weizsiicker,  and  others,  rel- 
ative to  the  presbyterial  office  and  kindred  topics,  I  have  ab- 
stained from  recording  any  results  which,  as  it  appears  to  me, 
still  await  satisfactory  proof.  With  the  conclusions  of  Light- 
foot,  in  his  Edition  of  Clement,  and  in  his  "  Philippians,"  I 
concur  at  present,  although  I  am  ready  for  further  light. 

The  plan  of  dispensing  with  foot-notes  has  prevented  me 
from  making  reference  occasionally  to  modern  writers  on  dif- 
ferent portions  of  the  subject,  where  it  would  have  been  a 
pleasure,  if  not  an  obligation,  so  to  do.  Besides  JSTeander, 
Gieseler,  and  the  other  masters,  who  have  passed  away,  there 
are  numerous  living  scholars,  in  Great  Bi'itain  as  well  as  on  the 
Continent,  to  whom  I  can  offer  no  tribute  but  that  of  silent 
thankfulness  from  one  engaged  in  the  same  studies  with  them- 
selves. I  will  not  deny  myself,  however,  the  satisfaction  of 
owning  my  not  infrequent  indebtedness  to  the  writings  of  my 
learned  ai^d  esteemed  friend,  Dr.  Schaff.  Church  History,  like 
the  othe^  sciences,  has  made  no  inconsiderable  progress  in  the 


PREFACE.  V 

last  few  decades.  The  publications  of  Baur  and  of  other  au- 
thors of  the  Tubingen  school  induced  more  exhaustive  re- 
searches into  the  early  history  of  Christianity  and  the  Church ; 
and  these  have  corrected  the  exaggerations  which  grew  out  of 
a  bias  of  philosophical  opinion  and  the  undue  fascination  exer- 
cised by  a  plausible  theory  containing  in  it  elements  of  truth. 
The  Tubingen  criticism  threw  light  on  the  subjects  which  it 
handled,  but  its  best  service  was  the  indirect  one  of  stimulat- 
ing inquiry. 

1  have  received  important  assistance  in  composing  this  book 
from  my  pupil,  Mr.  Henry  E.  Bourne,  who  was  graduated  at 
the  Yale  Divinity  School  the  present  year.  On  the  basis  of 
manuscript  notes  of  ray  lectures,  at  my  request,  and  under  my 
supervision,  he  undertook  to  write  out  a  number  of  chapters, 
to  be  afterwards  submitted  to  me  for  amendment.  He  more 
than  fulfilled  his  task,  as  well  in  regard  to  the  contents  as  the 
form  of  these  chapters ;  for  he  incorporated  matter  of  much 
value,  derived  from  his  own  reading.  1  owe,  moreover,  to  the 
diligence  of  this  promising  young  scholar  the  making  of  the 
Index. 

My  friend,  Mr.  William  L.  Kingsley,  has  once  more  given 
me  the  benefit  of  his  criticisms  in  the  revisal  of  the  proof- 
sheets. 

G.  P.  F. 

New  Haven,  September  1,  1887. 


CONTENTS, 


INTRODUCTION. 

PAGE 

Scope  and  Divisions  of  Church  History, 1 


THE   ANCIENT   ERA. 

PERIOD  I. 

THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE  (1-100). 

CHAPTER  I. 

The  State  of  the  World  :  The  Gentile  and  the  Jew,        .        .      7 

CHAPTER  II. 
The  Founding  of  the  Church, 17 

CHAPTER  in. 
Christian  Life  :   Christian  Worship  :   Christian  Teaching,        .    37 

PERIOD  n. 

FBOM  THE   APOSTOLIC  AGE  TO  CONSTANTINE  (100-312). 

PROGRESS   OF   CHRISTIANITY   IN   THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 

CHAPTER  I. 
The  Spread  of  the  Gospel  :   Roman  Persecutions,      .       .        .45 

CHAPTER  11. 
Government  and  Discipline  in  the  Church,  .       .       .        .51 


VIU  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  in. 

PAGE 

'  Christian  Life  and  Worship, 59 

CHAPTER  IV. 
"  Chkistian  Literature  and  Doctrine, 68 

PERIOD  m. 

FEOM  CONSTANTINE  TO  GREGORY  I.  (312-590). 

THE  SUPREMACY   OF   THE   CHURCH  IN   THE   ROMAN   WORLD. 

CHAPTER  L 
Spread  op  the  Christian  Faith, 87 

CHAPTER  IL 
Changes  of  Organization  :   Advancement  of  the  Roman  See,   .    99 

CHAPTER  III. 
Christian  Life  and  Worship 110 

CHAPTER  IV. 
History  op  Doctrine, 121 

PERIOD  IV. 

FROM  GREGORY  I.   TO  CHARLEMAGNE   (590-800). 

THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  CHURCH  AMONG  THE    GERMANIC    NA- 
TIONS. 

CHAPTER  I. 

The  Spread  of  Christianity  :   The  Rise  and  Progress  of  Mo- 
hammedanism,        144 

CHAPTER  n. 
Christian  Life  :   Christian  Worship  :   Christian  Theology,        .  155 


CONTENTS.  ix 

THE   MEDIEVAL   ERA. 

PERIOD    V. 

FROM  CHAELEMAGNE   TO   POPE   GREGOEY  VII.   (800-1073). 

THE   GROWTH   OF   THE   PAPACY. 

CHAPTER   L 

PAGE 

The  Spread  op  Christianity, 163 

CHAPTER  II. 

The  Polity  of  the  Church,  akd  the  Relations  op  the  Church 

TO  the  Civil  Authority, 168 

CHAPTER  III. 
Christian  Life  and  Worship  :   Christian  Doctrine,      .        .        .175 

PERIOD    VL 

FEOM  GEEGOEY  VII.  TO   BONIFACE  VIII.  (1073-1294). 

THE   FULL   SWAY   OF   THE   PAPACY   IN   WESTERN   EUROPE. 

CHAPTER  L 

The  Polity  and  the  Secular  Relations  op  the  Church,  prom 
the  Accession  of  Hildebrand  to  the  Concordat  op  Worms 
(1073-1133), 183 

CHAPTER  n. 

The  Polity  and  Secular  Relations  of  the  Church,  prom  the 
Concordat  of  Worms  to  the  Death  op  Innocent  III.  (1133- 
1216), 187 

CHAPTER   III, 

The  Polity  and  the  Political  Relations  op  the  Church,  prom 
THE  Death  op  Innocent  III.  to  the  Accession  op  Boniface 
VIIL  (1216-1394), 105 


X  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

PAGE 

MONASTICISM  IN  THIS  PERIOD, 203 

CHAPTER  V. 
The  History  of  Doctrine, 208 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Some  Aspects  of  Religion  and  Worship  in  the  Middle  Ages,     .  227 


PERIOD    VII. 

FBOM    BONIFACE    VIII.    TO    THE    POSTING    OP    LUTHEE'S 
THESES    (1294-1517). 

THE   DECLINE   OF   THE   PAPACY   AND   MOVEMENTS  TOWARD   RE- 
FORM. 

CHAPTER   I. 

The  Church  and  the  Papacy,  from  Boniface  VIII.  to  the  Coun- 
cil op  Pisa  (1294-1409), 240 


CHAPTER  II. 

The  Reforming  Councils  :   The  Church  and  the  Papacy  to  the 

Accession  op  Pius  II.  (1409-1458  \      .        .        .        .        .        .254 

CHAPTER  III. 

The  Church  and  the  Papacy  in  the  Last  Half  op  the    Fif- 
teenth Century, 264 

CHAPTER  IV. 

The   Reformers  before   the    Reformation  :    The    Revival   of 

Learning, 271 


CONTENTS.  Xi 

THE  MODERN   ERA. 

PERIOD   nil. 

FEOM    THE    BEGINNING    OF    THE  EEFOEMATION  TO  THE 
PEACE   OF  WESTPHALIA    (1517-1648). 

THE   RISE  AND  PROGRESS   OF   PROTESTANTISM  :    THE  CONFLICT 
OF   RELIGIOUS   PARTIES. 

CHAPTER  I. 

PAGE 

The  Reformation  in  Germany,  prom  the  Posting  op  Luther's 

Theses  to  the  Diet  op  Augsburg  (1517-1530),        .  .  287 

CHAPTER  II. 

The  Reformation  in  Switzerland  ;  in  Scandinavian  and  Slavo- 
nian Countries,  and  in  Hungary  :  The  Reformation  in 
Germany  until  the  Peace  op  Augsburg  (1555),    .        .        .  306 

CHAPTER  III. 
John  Calvin  and  the  Genevan  Reformation,        ....  318 

CHAPTER  IV. 
The  Reformation  in  France, 330 

CHAPTER  V. 
The  Reformation  in  the  Netherlands, 341 

CHAPTER  VI. 
The  Reformation  in  England  and  Scotland,         ....  346 

CHAPTER  VIL 

The  Reformation  in  Italy  and  Spain  :  The  Catholic  Counter- 
Reformation,        383 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Christianity  in  England  in  the  Reign  of  James  I.  and  Charles 
I.  :  The  Thirty  Years'  War  :  The  Papacy  :  The  Eastern 
Church, 394 


Xii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  IX. 

PAGE 

Polity  and  Worship  in  Protestant  Churches,       .        .        .        .413 

CHAPTER  X. 
The  History  op  Doctrine, •  423 

CHAPTER  XL 
Christian  Missions, 449 

CHAPTER  XII. 

PitOTESTANT   SETTLEMENTS  AND  COMMUNITIES  IN   AMERICA,  .  .   459 


PERIOD    IX. 

FROM    THE    PEACE    OF    WESTPHALIA    TO    THE    PEESENT 
TIME   (1648-1887). 

CHANGES  AND  CONFLICTS  CONSEQUENT  ON  A  NEW  ERA  IN 
CULTURE  AND  SCIENCE  :  SOCIAL  REFORM  :  A  NEW  STAGE 
OP  MISSIONARY  CONQUEST. 

CHAPTER   I. 

Ecclesiastical  Events  in  the  Last  Half  op  the  Seventeenth 

Century, 484 

CHAPTER   n. 

Ecclesiastical  Events  on  the  Continent  op  Europe  in  the  Eigh- 
teenth Century,  Prior  to  the  French  Revolution,  .  497 


CHAPTER  III. 

Religion  in  England  and  Revivals  in  America  in  the  Eigh- 
teenth Century, 509 


CHAPTER   IV. 

The  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  the  Period  op  the   French 

Revolution  to  the  Fall  op  Napoleon,         ....  527 


CONTENTS.  Xiii 

CHAPTER  V. 

PAGE 

The  Papacy  since  the  Fall  op  Napoleon  I.  :  Christianity  m 

THE  European  Countries, .532 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Historical  Sketch  of  Religious  Denominations  in  the  United 

States,  . 559 

CHAPTER   VII. 
Christian  Missions, 582 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
History  of  Doctrine, 


CHAPTER  IX. 
Christian  Piety  and  Christian  Philanthropy,       ....  641 


APPENDIX. 
I. 


List  op  General  Councils, 


II. 

List  op  Popes  from  Gregory  I.  to  Leo  XIII. 


MAPS. 


FACING  PAGE 


1.  The  Roman  Empire  at  its  Widest  Extent,         ....      6 

2.  Journeys  of  Paul, 20 

3.  Map  of  Religions  at  the  Accession  op  Justinian,    .        .        .98 

4.  The  Roman  Empire  Divided  into  Prefectures  and  Dioceses,    104 

5.  Empire  op  the  Saracens  about  a.d.  750, 154 

6.  Europe  in  the  Time  op  Charlemagne, 158 

7.  Europe  in  the  Middle  op  the  Sixteenth  Century,         .        .  286 

8.  The  Religions  of  the  World, 597 

Chart  of  Religious  Statistics, 580 


HISTORY    OF  THE    CHURCH. 


INTEODUCTIOK: 

SCOPE   AND   DIVISIONS  OF   CHURCH   HISTORY. 

It  belongs  to  the  history  of  the  Church  to  describe  the  rise  aud 
progress  of  that  community  which  had  its  beginnings  in  Palestine 
„^  . .  more  than  eighteen  centuries  ago,  and  of  which  Jesus  of 

What  IS  ^  ^    ' 

Church  his-  Nazarcth  was  the  founder.  It  is  the  function  of  Church  . 
history  to  recount  the  effects  Avrought  by  the  religion  of  1 
Christ  in  successive  ages  in  the  world  of  mankind.  When  his  fol- 
lowers were  few  and  with  no  apparent  prospect  of  gaining  power 
and  influence,  he  pronounced  them  "the  light  of  the  world"  and 
"  the  salt  of  the  earth."  To  a  small  company  of  chosen  disciples 
he  committed  the  task  of  going  forward  Avith  the  work  which  he 
had  begun  of  laying  the  foundations  of  the  kingdom  of  God  among 
men.  In  that  kingdom,  as  far  aud  as  fast  as  it  should  advance, 
mankind  were  to  be  penetrated  with  his  spirit,  united  together  in 
fraternal  union,  and  brought  "nigh  unto  God,"  their  common 
Father.  In  this  Christian  society  of  the  redeemed,  prophetic 
glimpses  of  which  had  been  caught  beforehand  by  the  ancient  seers, 
the  spirit  of  justice  and  of  love  was  to  supplant  all  selfish  impulses 
aud  principles.  It  was  involved  in  the  divine  idea  that  the  new 
kingdom  should  not  extirpate,  but  ennoble,  the  normal  activities  of 
human  nature,  and  appropriate  whatever  is  genuine  and  of  durable 
worth  in  the  culture  and  civilization  of  the  race.  The  conception 
of  the  kingdom  of  God,  the  idea  and  the  goal  of  history,  is  the 
bond  of  union  between  the  Old  Testament  religion  and  the  relig- 
ion of  the  gospel.  The  history  of  Israel  pointed  and  led  up  to  the 
coming  Messiah.  The  Messiah  came,  not  "for  that  nation  only," 
but  to  be  the  Saviour  of  the  world.  Before  his  coming,  the  king- 
dom existed  in  its  rudimentary  national  form.     Through  him  it 


2  INTRODUCTION. 

broke  through  the  shell  in  which  it  was  confined  and  for  the  time 
protected.  Having  attained  through  him  to  its  mature  spiritual 
form,  it  was  ready  to  start  on  its  career  of  conquest. 

Jesus  likened  the  external  progress  of  Christianity  in  the  future, 
as  it  lay  before  his  mind,  to  the  growth  of  a  grain  of  mustard-seed. 
It  is  the  least  of  all  seeds — a  minute,  insignificant  germ  ;  but  the 
product  of  it  overshadows  every  other  garden  plant,  and  becomes 
a  tree  large  enough  for  the  birds  to  settle  in  its  branches.  This 
parable  points  naturally  to  the  territorial  progress  of  Christianity 
from  land  to  land.  The  spiritual  effect  of  Christianity,  its  power  to 
transform  the  minds  and  hearts  of  men,  and  to  renovate  society, 
Jesus  compared  to  the  operation  of  leaven  "  hid  in  three  meas- 
ures of  meal."  Under  one  or  the  other  of  these  striking  similes  the 
various  aspects  of  Church  history  may  all  be  grouped.  From  these 
Divisions  of  poiuts  of  vicw  it  may  be  studied.  There  is,  first,  the 
toryT  L  Mis-  history  of  Christian  missions.  The  gospel  was  a  religion 
sions.  ^Q  ijQ  propagated.     It  was  not  "a  cloistered  virtue  "to 

be  cherished  in  secret  by  a  body  of  devotees.  The  injunction  was 
to  preach  it  to  every  creature.  Under  this  general  topic  of  the 
spread  of  Christianity  falls  the  narrative  of  persecutions,  or  efforts 
to  suppress  it,  or  to  stay  its  progress,  by  force.  There  have  been 
three  principal  eras  of  missionary  conquest.  The  first  embraces  the 
"conversion  of  the  ancient  Eoman  Empii-e  to  the  Christian  faith  and 
the  downfall  of  heathenism  within  its  borders.  The  second  com- 
prises the  conversion  of  the  uncivilized  nations,  especially  those  of 
Teutonic  blood,  by  which  the  empire  of  Eome  was  subverted,  and 
which  were  to  become  the  standard-bearers  of  modern  civilization. 
The  third  includes  the  modern  missionary  age,  in  particular  the 
last  two  centuries,  which  have  witnessed  a  fresh  outburst  of  mis- 
sionary zeal.  The  second  general  topic  is  the  history  of  Church 
..  ^  ,.  politv.     From  the  beginning  Christians  were  united  in 

II.  Polity.  .    "  o  o 

a  visible  society,  with  its  own  officers  and  methods  of  dis- 
cipline. They  have  been  connected  together  under  different  and 
changing  systems  of  organization.  Thus  from  a  simpler  mode  of  ec- 
clesiasti-cal  government  an  hierarchical  polity  grew  up.  Out  of  this 
polity  in  Western  Europe  the  papacy  was  developed.  As  a  result  of 
the  Keformation  new  methods  of  Chui'ch  government  more  in  keep- 
ing with  its  spirit  were  framed.  The  Church  in  the  early  centuries, 
the  various  Christian  bodies  in  later  times,  have  stood  in  more  or  less 
intimate  relations  to  the  state.  Between  civil  government  and  the 
Church  there  have  been  different  degrees  of  union  and  separation, 
and  a  reciprocal  influence  momentous  in  its  effect.     This  relation  of 


SCOPE  AND   DIVISIONS  OF  CHURCH  HISTORY.  3 

ecclesiastical  to  civil  authority,  and  the  phases  through  which  it  has 
l^assecl,  is  embraced  under  the  present  rubric.  Thirdly,  Christian- 
,,,  ^      .      ity  was  a  doctrine.     The  teaching-  of  its  founders  was 

III.  Doctrine.       ''  ° 

presented  in  authoritative  sacred  books.  Hence,  the- 
ology gradually  arose.  The  effort  to  formulate  the  gospel  and  -to 
construct  a  system  of  Christian  truth  began  early,  and  it  has  never 
been  discontinued.  In  the  course  of  it  there  have  been  earnest 
studies  and  high  debates  within  the  Church,  and  numerous  con- 
flicts with  persons  and  parties  beyond  its  pale.  Theologians  have 
labored  to  define  Christianity,  to  repel  attacks  upon  the  Christian 
faith,  and  to  adjust  the  teachings  of  the  Bible  to  the  conclusions 
of  philosophy  and  science.  Thus  the  history  of  doctrine  and  of 
the  formation  of  creeds  and  confessions  forms  a  distinct  branch  of 

IV.  Christian  historical  investigation.  Fourthly,  Christianity  was  a 
^^^®*  practical  system  in  its  purpose  and  effect.  It  aimed  to 
mould  anew  the  hearts  and  the  lives  of  its  adherents.  It  was  far 
more  than  a  creed  to  be  learned  and  recited.  It  was  the  source  of  a 
new  life  in  the  soul.  It  set  up  moral  standards  for  the  regulation  of 
conduct.  From  it  sprung  new  ethical  rules,  new  habits,  new  social 
customs.  It  shone  upon  the  earth  like  the  sun  in  the  sirring- time, 
bringing  softer  breezes  and  verdure  on  the  hill-sides.  The  entire 
work  of  Christianity  in  respect  to  the  practical  life,  as  well  as  the 
maxims  and  sentiments  of  its  disciples  from  age  to  age,  falls  under 
this  department.  Here  is  the  place  for  considering  the  various 
types  of  Christian  experience  that  have  arisen,  and  institutions,  like 
monasticism,  an  offshoot  of  devotional  tendencies.  Here  belongs 
the  record  of  Christian  charity.  The  generic  topic  is  the  Christian 
life,  in  the  comprehensive  sense  of  the  term.  Finally,  Christian- 
ity created  a  distinct  cultus — forms  of  worship  peculiar  to  itself. 

V.  Christian  Tliese  havc  not  remained  unaltered.  They  have  expe- 
worship.  rienced  wide  variations  for  better  or  for  worse.  Under 
this  division  is  treated  the  ritual  of  the  Church  in  its  different 
branches,  and  in  the  successive  ages.  Among  the  particular  topics 
are  Church  architecture,  ecclesiastical  observances,  liturgies,  hymns, 
and  Church  music. 

The  sum  total  of  the  historical  effects  of  Christianity  might  thus   \ 
be  comprehended  under  these  five  heads  :    Missions,  Polity,  Christ- 
ian Doctrine,  Christian  Life,  Christian  Worship. 

In  narrating  the  life  of  an  individual,  we  first  take  into  view  the 
circumstances  of  time  and  place  that  surrounded  him  at  his  birth. 
It  is  these  that  act  upon  him  at  the  starting-point  of  his  career, 
and  constitute  the  sphere  in  which  he  is  to  shape  his  course.     We 


4  INTJRODUCTION. 

do  the  like  in  liistorj',  the  biography  of  society.     In  recounting  the 
history  of  the  Church,  we  pause  at  the  threshold  to  survey  the  con- 
dition of  the  world  in  the  midst  of  which  tlie  Christian 
to  Church  his-  religion   had   its    origin.     The  child  that  was  born  in 
^^'  Bethlehem,  in  Judea,  was  the  Son  of  Mary  as  well  as  the 

Son  of  God.  His  mother  was  a  Jewish  maiden.  He  grew  up  in 
the  household  of  a  Galilean  carpenter.  There  lay  back  of  him  the 
whole  history  of  Israel.  What  he  would  do  and  what  he  would 
suffer,  what  treatment  awaited  him  and  his  followers,  what  method 
of  acti^dty  he  and  they  would  be  moved  to  adopt,  what  special 
form  the  community  that  he  was  to  call  into  being  would  take — 
these  were  questions  which  the  conditions  already  oi'dained  by 
Providence  would  have  their  part  in  deciding.  Whether  a  river, 
when  it  leaves  its  fountain,  shall  spread  over  a  wide  surface,  or 
send  its  full  current  through  a  narrow  gorge,  whether  its  waters 
shall  flow  smoothly  on,  or  descend  in  a  steep,  tumultuous  torrent, 
depends  on  the  configuration  of  the  country  through  which  its 
path  is  appointed  to  run. 

Chronological  divisions  in  history  should  coincide  with  epochs 
when  extraordinary  changes  occurred.  It  is  not  definite  quantities 
Chronoio<'icai  ^f  time,  but  tuming-poiuts  in  the  course  of  events,  that 
divisions.  should  determine  the  dividing  lines.  Church  history 
falls  naturally  into  three  principal  eras — ancient,  mediaeval,  and 
modern.  The  ancient  era  comprises  the  history  of  Christianity  in 
the  Grseco-Roman  world,  jDrior  to  the  fall  of  the  Western  Roman 
Empire,  and  during  the  migrations  and  conquests  of  the  Germanic 
tribes.  It  terminates  at  the  reconstitutiou  of  the  empire  of  the 
West  under  a  Christian  sovereign  of  German  blood,  Karl  the  Great, 
called  Charlemagne.  The  ancient  era  extends  over  the  first  eight 
centuries.  At  the  end  of  this  era  we  find  that  the  authority  once 
exercised  by  the  Eoman  Ctesars  has  been  transferred  to  the  new 
transalpine  races,  now  allied  to  the  Chui-ch  of  Rome,  and  linked 
to  the  papacy,  which  has  replaced  the  old  imjDerial  by  a  new 
spiritual  ascendency.  Now  begins  the  mediaeval  era,  which  extends 
over  the  long  interval  from  Charlemagne  to  Luther  and  the  Prot- 
estant Reformation,  at  the  opening  of  the  sixteenth  century.  Dar- 
ing the  Middle  Ages,  the  Eastern  Church,  Avhose  connection  with 
the  Church  of  the  West  was  gradually  sundered,  lay  benumbed 
under  the  despotic  rule  of  the  Byzantine  emperors.  A  lethargy, 
intellectual  and  moral,  pervaded  the  Christian  communities  in  the 
East.  In  the  West,  on  the  contrary,  this  era  was  full  of  life  and 
energy,  was  fertile  in  changes.     It  was  signalized  by  the  predom- 


SCOPE  AND  DIVISIONS  OF  CHURCH  HISTORY.  5 

inauce  of  the  Latin  hierarchy  and  of  the  papacy,  followed,  however, 
in  the  later  centuries  by  a  gradual  undermining  of  papal  authorit}'. 
At  the  Reformation,  the  dominion  of  the  popes  was  thrown  off  by 
the  nations  of  Teutonic  lineage  ;  the  traditional  creed  was  recon- 
structed in  the  light  of  the  Scriptures  ;  doctrinal  conflicts  were 
waged  among  the  different  Christian  bodies  ;  a  new  epoch  in  cult- 
ure and  civilization  appeared.  Out  of  this  change,  in  the  process 
of  adjusting  the  relations  of  philosophy  and  science  to  religion, 
earnest  inquiries  and  controversies  arose  ;  yet,  at  the  same  time, 
the  gospel  revealed  its  latent  energy  as  an  instrument  of  political 
and  social  reform,  and  the  chm-ches  with  a  new  zeal  engaged  in  the 
vv'ork  of  propagating  the  gospel  among  heathen  nations.  Such,  in 
brief,  are  the  characteristics  of  the  modern  era,  down  to  the  pres- 
ent time.  In  general,  the  ages  before  the  Reformation  may  be 
described  as  the  ecclesiastical  period  of  Church  history.  It  is  the 
period  when  the  polity,  the  ritual,  the  oflScial  personages,  the  entire 
fabric  of  a  complex  ecclesiastical  system,  were  more  prominent. 
On  the  other  hand,  in  the  recent  era,  other  elements,  including 
the  ethical  side  of  Christianity,  have  advanced  to  the  foreground. 
This  distinction  holds  good  especially  of  the  last  two  centuries,  in 
contrast  with  the  prevailing  spirit  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

Before  making  so  extensive  a  journey  it  is  well  to  sketch  the 
boundary  lines  of  river  and  mountain  with  some  particularity. 
Division  into  Each  of  the  principal  eras  —  ancient,  mediaeval,  and 
periods.  modern — breaks  into  distinct  sections.     As  we  descend 

the  historic  stream  we  ax-rive  at  intermediate  points  where  the 
channel  turns  in  another  direction  or  where  the  scenery  assumes 
a  new  aspect.  iTlie_first^  subordinate  period  covers  the  interval 
between  the  foundiuo;_jiLthe_Chuxch  and  the  end  of  the  Apostolic 
age,  or  the  close  of  the  first  century.  From  this  date  to  the  edict 
of  toleration,  issued  by  Constantine  in  312,  the  Church  was  a  sect 
in  the  Roman  Empire,  under  the  ban  of  the  laws  and  enduring 
at  times  severe  persecution.  Then  its  ascendency  was  assured  ; 
it  became  the  dominant  religion  in  the  Roman  state.  Within  the 
The  Old  cath-  h^its  of  this  period,  in  the  last  years  of  the  second  cen- 
oiic  Church,  tury,  there  occurs  another  epoch,  of  less  moment,  to  be 
sure,  yet  of  much  importance.  At  this  time  we  find  that  the  Church 
has  drawn  apart  from  heretical  parties  and  has  formed  a  more 
compact  organization  under  the  episcopate,  special  honor  and  credit 
being  accorded  to  prominent  sees  of  Apostolic  origin,  as  pillars 
of  orthodoxy.  Thus  the  Old  Catholic,  as  distinguished  from  the 
later  Roman  Catholic,  Church  emerges  into  being.     In  the  interval 


6  INTRODUCTION. 

from  about  300  to  GOO,  or  from  Coustantiue  to  Pope  Gregory  I., 
Christiauity  as  professed  by  the  ChurcL,  and  as  defined  through 
councils,  presents  itself  as  the  acknowledged  faith  of  the  Komau 
Empire,'  East  and  "West.  In  the  subsequent  two  centuries,  from 
GOO  to  800,  or  from  Gregory  I.  to  Charlemagne,  the  gospel 
is  received  by  tl^e  Teutonic  nations,  over  whom  the  sway  of  the 
Church  is  established.  In  the  tliree  centuries  that  follow  next,  the 
sway  of  the  papacy  is  more  and  more  built  up  in  "Western  Europe. 
They  bring  us  to  the  advanced  assertions  of  pontifical  authority, 
in  the  age  of  Hildebrand,  or  Gregory  VIL,  who  became  pope  in 
1073.  He  ushers  in  the  fiouiishing  era  of  papal  domination, 
which  continues  to  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century,  or  to  the 
papal  reign  of  Boniface  Vm.,  when  its  prestige  and  authority 
began  to  wane.  But  even  then  two  centuries  elapsed  before  the 
Protestant  revolt  began,  centuries  during  which  the  forces  that 
produced  that  great  revolt  were  slowly  gathering.  Thus  we  are 
carried  to  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century.  The  age  of  the 
Eeformation  was  attended  and  followed  by  contests,  both  doctrinal 
and  political,  down  to  the  Peace  of  Westphalia  in  1G48,  by  which 
the  Thirty  Years'  "War  was  brought  to  an  end.  At  about  this  date 
may  be  placed  the  dawn  of  the  recent  period.  It  is  characterized  by 
a  new  spirit  in  philosophy  and  culture,  b}^  discussions  consequent 
on  the  spread  of  scientific  investigation,  by  debates  on  the  founda- 
tions of  natural  and  revealed  religion.  It  is  characterized,  also,  by 
the  gx'owth  of  Christian  philanthropy,  the  progress  of  political  and 
social  reform,  and  the  fi'esh  awakening  of  missionary  effort. 

The  following  is  a  summary  view  of  the  course  of  Church  history,  to  which 
corresponds  the  plan  of  the  present  work  :  — 

Pekiod  I.  The  Beginnings  of  Christianity,  or  the  Apostolic  Age,  to  a.d.  100. 

Pekiod  II.  Tlie  Progress  of  Christianity  until  Constantine,  a.d.  312. 

Period  III.  The  Supremacy  of  the  Church  in  the  Roman  World,  to  a.d.  590. 

Period  IV.  Tlie  Founding  of  the  Church  among  the  Germanic  A'ations, 
to  A.D.  800. 

Period  V.  The  Growth  of  the  Papacy  :  to  the  Pontificate  of  Greirory 
VII.,  A.D.  1073. 

Period  VI.  The  Full  Sway  of  the  Papacy  in  Western  Europe  :  to  the 
Accession  of  Pope  Boniface  VIII.,  a.d    1394. 

Period  VII.  The  Decline  of  the  Papacy  and  Movements  toward  Reform  : 
to  the  posting  of  Luther's  Theses,  A.D.  1517. 

Period  VIII.  The  Reformation,  and  conflicts  of  the  different  Christian 
bodies  :  to  the  Peace  of  Westphalia,  a.d.  1G48. 

Period  IX.  Changes  and  Conflicts  consequent  on  a  new  era  in  Culture, 
Philosophy,  and  Science  ;  Social  Reform  ;  a  New  Stage  of  Missionary  Con- 
quest :   to  the  present  time. 


i/-^. 


THE  ANCIENT  ERA 

PERIOD  I. 
THE  APOSTOLIC   AGE  (1-100). 


CHAPTER  L 

THE  STATE  OF  THE  WORLD:  THE  GENTILE  AND  THE  JEW. 

The  condition  of  the  civilized  nations  at  the  bii-th  of  Christ  was 
propitious  for  the  introduction  and  spread  of  a  new  rehgion,  in  its 
The  times  uature  adapted  to  all  mankind.  Under  the  sovereignty 
propitiaus.  Qf  Eome,  beneath  the  shield  of  law  and  of  a  government 
that  enforced  order,  they  were  combined  into  one  vast  political 
body.  The  world  had  exi^erienced  the  benefit  of  two  potent  civil- 
izing agencies,  Greek  culture  and  Roman  sway.  The  old  mytho- 
logical religions,  which  sprung  originally  from  a  deifying  of  nature, 
had  fallen  into  decay  and  lost  their  hold  on  the  intelligent  class. 
Nothing  had  arisen  to  fill  the  void  thus  created.  The  loss  of  faith, 
as  might  be  expected,  engendered  the  two  extremes  of  superstition 
and  infidelity,  neither  of  them  satisfying,  and  both  repugnant  to 
the  best  minds.  Philosoj^hy  had  done  an  important  work  in  enlarg- 
ing and  educating  the  intellect,  bvit  it  had  proved  itself  in  the  main 
powerless  to  keep  alive  religious  faith,  to  curb  the  passions,  or  to 
provide  hope  and  consolation  in  distress.  "Having  no  hope  and 
without  God  in  the  world,"  an  Apostle's  description  of  the  heathen 
generally,  was  eminently  true  at  this  period.  Meantime  the  whole 
coui'se  ciL  events  which  resulted  in  the  upbuilding  of  imperial  Eome 
had  produced  and  diffused  abroad  in  the  civilized  nations  a  profli- 
gacy which  probably  has  had  no  parallel,  before  or  since,  in  the 
annals  of  the  race.  The  loosening  of  the  bonds  of  morality,  the 
prevalence  of  vice,  not  to  dwell  on  the  remorse  and  fears  of  con- 
science that  haunted  souls  not  hardened  in  evil,  could  not  fail  to 
awaken  in  many  a  sense  of  the  need  of  a  more  effectual  restraint 


8  THE   APOSTOLIC  AGE.  [Period  I. 

than  heathen  worship,  or  Greek  letters  and  philosophy,  or  Komau 
civil  law  could  furnish.  There  was  a  craving,  more  or  less  ob- 
scurely felt,  for  a  new  regenerating  force  that  should  enter  with 
life-giving  efficacy  into  the  heart  of  ancient  society.  The  age  was 
ripe  and  ready  for  the  incoming  of  such  an  epoch.  "In  the  ful- 
ness of  time  God  sent  forth  his  Son." 

When  Christ  was  born,  which  was  four  years  before  the  date 
assigned  in  our  calendar  for  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era,  the 
The  empire  Komau  world  was  governed  by  Augustus  Csesar.  His  tri- 
tij's'!*B.a"ii-"  umph  over  the  republican  leaders  by  whom  his  grand- 
A.D.  14.  uncle,  Julius  Casar,  had  been  slain,  and  his  subsequent 

naval  victoi-y,  at  Actium,  over  his  colleague  and  rival,  Mark  Antony, 
had  made  him  undisputed  master  of  the  empire.  His  authority  in 
the  capital  and  in  the  provinces  was  practically  absolute,  although 
it  was  exercised  under  the  forms  of  the  extinct  republic  which  the 
earlier  Csesar  had  subverted.  The  policy  of  Augustus  was  defen- 
sive and  peaceful.  It  was  after  his  reign,  in  the  first  century,  that 
Britain,  which  had  been  repeatedly  invaded,  was  at  last,  in  85, 
conquered  as  far  as  the  friths  of  Scotland,  and  later  still,  in  106, 
that  Dacia,  on  the  north  of  the  Danube,  became  a  province.  The 
Roman  dominion  extended  from  that  river  to  the  cataracts  of  the 
Nile  and  the  desert  of  Africa  on  the  south,  and  stretched  eastward 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Euphrates.  There  was  no  defined  boun- 
dary between  the  regions  of  the  East  and  of  the  West,  whose  dif- 
fering characteristics  had  much  to  do  afterwards  in  effecting  the 
political  separation  between  them,  and,  later  still,  in  dividing  the 
Greek  from  the  Latin  Church.  The  diffusion  of  political  privileges, 
including  the  boon  of  Roman  citizenship,  was  gradually  raising  the 
provinces  to  a  common  level,  and  converting  Rome  into  the  me- 
tropolis, instead  of  the  mistress,  of  the  empire.  Yet  to  be  a  Roman 
citizen  was  still  a  coveted  privilege  among  the  subjects  of  the  em- 
peror, whether  near  or  remote.  It  conferred  important  privileges. 
It  was  a  safeguard  against  various  indignities  and  dangers.  Nomi- 
nally, at  least,  it  made  the  possessor  of  it  a  member  of  the  ruling 
class  in  the  state. 

Whatever  tended  to  break  down  the  barriers  of  national  and  race 
antipathy,  and  to  produce  unity  and  a  sense  of  unity  among  men, 
Sense  of  unity  P^^^^^  ^^^  Way  for  a  just  appreciation  of  the  Christian 
Rorae°*"'  ^^  I'eligion  when  it  should  appear,  and  would  serve  to  help 
on  its  progress.  The  subjection  in  common  of  so  many 
nations  to  one  government  of  itself  acted  strongly  in  this  direction. 
Beyond  the  external  advantages,  such  as  the  protection  of  life,  the 


1-100.]  THE  STATE  OP  THE  WORLD.  9 

preservation  of  order,  and  the  facilitating  of  intercourse,  which  the 
sway  of  Rome  secured,  the  natural  effect  of  it  was  to  evoke  a  feeling 
of  unity.  The  system  of  Roman  law,  administered  wherever  there 
were  Roman  citizens,  was  an  educating  influence  of  a  like  tendency. 

The  mutual  influence  of  the  Greeks  and  Latins,  and  the  united 
effect  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  languages  and  culture,  not  only  en- 
The  Greeks  largcd  and  enriched  the  minds  of  meu,  but  also  served  to 
and  the  Latins.  fQj.jjj  ^  grouudwork  of  intellectual  and  moral  sympathy. 
Among  all  the  peoples  that  have  appeared  on  the  stage  of  history 
the  Greeks  are  the  most  eminent  for  literary  and  artistic  genius. 
Their  wonderful  creations  in  literature,  science,  philosophy,  and  art 
were  fast  becoming  the  common  property  of  the  nations.  It  was 
the  reasonable  boast  of  Plato,  that  while  other  races,  as  the  Phoe- 
nicians, had  been  devoted  to  money-making,  the  Greeks,  in  intel- 
lectual power  and  achievement,  excelled  them  all.  Greek  letters 
were  widely  disseminated  in  the  East  by  the  conquests  of  Alexander. 
To  him  the  populous  and  prosperous  city  of  Alexandria  in  Egypt, 
which  was  planted  in  332  b.c,  owed  its  foundation.  Alexandria 
became  a  flourishing  seat  of  Greek  learning,  a  centre  where  the 
streams  of  Hellenic  and  Oriental  culture  were  mingled.  A  rival 
city,  in  rank  the  second  city  in  the  East,  was  Antioch  in  Syria, 
founded,  in  800  b.c.,  by  Seleucus  Nicator.  The  fall  of  Greek  liberty 
and  the  subjugation  of  Greece  by  the  Romans  gave  an  additional 
impetus  to  the  spread  of  the  Greek  population  in  all  quarters.  In 
early  times  their  settlements  had  been  scattered  along  the  coasts 
and  on  the  islands  of  the  Mediterranean.  Greek  at  length  grew  to 
be  the  language  of  commerce,  the  vehicle  of  polite  intercourse,  and 
a  common  medium  of  communication  through  all  the  eastern  por- 
tion of  the  empire.  The  Latin  tongue,  the  language  of  Roman 
officials  and  of  the  Roman  legions,  was  carried  wherever  Roman 
conquests  and  colonies  went.  West  of  the  Adriatic,  especially  in 
Italy,  Gaul,  Spain,  and  North  Africa,  it  prevailed  as  the  Greek  pre- 
vailed elsewhere. 

Under  the  reign  of  Augustus  an  increased  stimulus  was  given  to 
travel  and  intercourse  between  different  parts  of  the  Roman  world. 
Travel  and  There  werc  journeys  of  civil  and  military  officers,  and  the 
intercourse,  marching  of  Icgions  from  one  place  to  another.  Piracy 
had  been  suppressed,  and  now  that  peace  was  established  there  was 
a  vast  increase  of  trade  and  commerce,  in  which  the  Jews  every- 
where took  an  active  part.  There  was  much  travelling  for  health 
and  for  pleasure.  Roman  youth  studied  at  Athens  and  visited  the 
antiquities  of  Egypt  and  of  the  East.     Provincials  were  eager  to 


10  THE  APOSTOLIC   AGE.  [Pekiod  I. 

see  Koine.  From  curiosity,  to  get  employment  or  largesses,  to  buy 
and  to  sell,  to  find  or  to  furnish  amusement,  they  flocked  to  the 
capital. 

As  all  religions  Avere  national,  -when  the  independence  of  a  na- 
tion broke  down,  a  shock  was  necessarily  given  to  religious  faith. 
Diffusion  of  Where  were  the  gods  that  they  did  not  shield  and  rescue 
skepticism.  their  worshijDpers  ?  The  mingling  of  so  mauj^  diverse 
systems  of  religion,  with  their  motley  varieties  of  ritual,  tended  to 
undermine  the  credence  W'hich  they  had  attracted  from  their  vota- 
ries. Still  more,  the  expansion  of  intellect,  the  observation  of  nat- 
ure, reflection,  and  philosophy  insjiired  disbelief  in  the  mythological 
legends  and  ideas.  Greek  skepticism  spread  through  the  Roman 
educated  classes.  Cultivated  men  wondered  that  soothsayers  who 
chanced  to  meet,  could  look  one  another  in  the  face  without  laugh- 
ing. Koman  ofiicials  whose  office  it  was  to  superintend  religious 
rites,  in  private  treated  them,  and  the  imaginary  divinities  in 
whose  honor  they  v^'ere  solemnly  practised,  with  derision.  This 
disbelief  among  the  educated  often  extended  to  the  essential  truths 
of  natural  religion,  such  as  the  existence  of  God  and  the  future  life. 
Where  these  truths  were  defended,  Avriters,  as  in  the  case  of  Cicero, 
frequently  made  no  reference  to  them  in  the  exigencies  where  an 
earnest  faith  would  have  been  likely  to  express  itself. 

The  ancient  philosophy  may  be  contemplated  from  two  points 

of  view,  either  as  comprising  attempts  to  answer  hard  questions,  to 

solve  problems  respecting   the  universe,  man  and  his 

The  ancient  ■'■  .  . 

philosophy :  its  destiu}",  or  as  a  means  of  practical  guidance  and  solace. 
Socrates  w^as  the  founder  of  philosophy'  in  its  higher 
departments.  With  the  exception  of  Pythagoras  (580-500  b.c),  a 
mystic  and  ascetic,  not  without  elevated  ideas,  the  earlier  specula- 
tion dealt  exclusively  with  physics  or  natural  philosophy.  With 
Socrates  (469-399  b.c.)  the  soul  was  the  absorbing  theme,  virtue 
and  moral  improvement  the  prime  objects  of  attention.  He 
asserted  theism,  divine  government  and  providence,  the  supreme 
obligation  to  obey  conscience,  the  guilt  and  folly  of  unrighteousness. 
He  believed,  though  not  without  a  mixture  of  doubt,  in  personal 
immortality  ;  but  he  shared  in  the  common  faith  in  a  multiplicity 
of  divinities,  and  laid  too  great  stress  on  knowledge  or  intellectual 
insight  as  a  necessary  ingredient  of  virtue.  By  the  earnestness  and 
nobleness  of  his  teaching,  enforced  by  the  serenity  with  which  he 
endured  death  as  a  martyr,  he  exerted  a  powerful  and  lasting  in- 
fluence. The  two  main  systems  that  sprung  up  on  the  basis  of 
his  doctrine  were  those  of  Plato  (429-348  b.c.)  and  of  Ai'istotle. 


1-100.]  THE  STATE  OF  THE  WORLD.  11 

The  lo%,  spiritual  character  of  Plato's  philosoiDhy  is  congenial  ^vith 
the  tone  of  the  gospel.  He  was  a  theist,  but  with  the  qualification 
that  he  not  only  held  matter  to  be  eternal,  but  also  believed  in  a 
realm  of  "  ideas,"  the  patterns  or  archetypes  of  all  realities,  and 
existing  side  by  side  with  the  Deit}-.  Virtue  he  defined  to  be  like- 
ness to  God  according  to  the  measure  of  human  ability.  Like  the 
other  philosophers,  however,  he  could  present  no  adequate  concep- 
tion of  God,  knew  of  no  form  of  human  association  or  brotherhood 
except  the  State,  and  made  the  highest  good  accessible  only  to 
the  more  gifted  in  intellect.  Aristotle  (384-322  b.c.)  was  a  theist, 
conceiving  of  God  as  the  first  cause  of  motion,  as  absorbed  in  self- 
contemplation,  and  with  a  personality  incomplete  and  obscure. 
His  mastery  is  chiefly  seen  in  the  discussion  of  practical  morals, 
but  especially  in  the  various  sciences  which  stand  in  no  vital  rela- 
tion to  religion.  After  Aristotle,  speculative  thought  declined.  In 
ruiioso  )h  •  philosophy,  the  spirit  of  individualism  gained  ground  ; 
utter  Aristotle,  the  State  was  no  longer  held  to  comprehend  all  the  good 
possible  to  man  ;  there  was  a  broader  outlook  on  humanity,  and  a 
quest  for  inward  strength  and  peace  amid  all  the  mutations  of  the 
world.  The  two  main  systems  that  emerged  were  the  Ej^icurean 
and  the  Stoic.  The  disciples  of  Epicurus  (342-270  b.c.)  made 
happiness  the  end  and  aim  of  life,  and  identified  virtue  with  pru- 
dence in  the  pursuit  of  it.  They  admitted  the  existence  of  the 
gods,  but  denied  that  they  take  any  interest  in  the  affairs  of  the 
world.  The  Cynics,  the  followers  of  Antisthenes  (c.  366  b.c.),  pre- 
sented a  caricature  of  the  doctrine  of  Socrates  by  carrying  the  low 
esteem  of  outwai'd  good  to  the  extreme  of  contempt,  and  of  disdain 
of  the  ordinary  comforts  of  life.  Diogenes  (412-323  b.c.),  whom 
Plato  described  as  Socrates  gone  mad,  and  whose  coarse  austerities 
gave  rise  to  the  story  that  he  had  made  his  abode  in  a  tub  or  cask, 
was  a  great  light  in  this  sect.  The  Stoics  did  not  cojjy  the  ex- 
travagance of  the  Cynics,  their  forerunners.  Zeno  (358-260  b.c.) 
and  Chrysippus  (280-207  b.c.),  the  founders  of  the  Stoic  sect,  de- 
clared virtue  to  be  the  supreme  good.  To  live  according  to  nature, 
was  their  chief  maxim.  Reason  was  to  dominate  in  the  soul ;  all 
rebellious  emotions  were  to  be  subdued.  The  individual  is  to 
acquiesce  in  whatever  occurs,  without  an  inward  murmur.  The 
apath}'  of  the  Stoic  is  not  a  mere  passive  mood  ;  it  is  an  active, 
willing  resignation.  An  impersonal  fate  rules  all,  but  the  course 
of  things  is  according  to  reason  and  law.  The  world  runs  through 
a  cycle  ;  fire  is  the  primary  element,  and  all  things  will  end  in  a 
final  conflagration.     The  sage,  from  the  serene  height  of  his  self- 


12  THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE.  [Period  1. 

control,  looks  with  tranquillity  on  whatever  may  take  place.  In 
the  later  Stoics,  the  harsh  features  of  the  system  were  softened. 
The  Stoic  idea  of  a  brotherhood  of  mankind  is  impressively  set 
Later  ^oi'^h  by  Epictetus  (c.  50-c.  120).    Marcus  Aurelius  (121- 

stoicism.  ;|^gQ^  stands  on  the  same  lofty  plane  ;  and  in  Seneca  (c.  3 
B.C.-65  A.D.),  the  tutor  of  Nero,  the  personality  of  God  and  the  reality 
of  a  future  life  are  distinctly  recognized,  while  in  various  precepts 
this  philosopher  breathes  a  humane  spirit  akin  to  the  gospel.  The 
Stoic  philosophy  offered  no  satisfactory  view  of  the  universe  and  of 
its  design.  As  a  practical  system,  it  lacked  humility,  and,  in  its 
unadulterated  foi-m,  hardened  the  heart ;  but  it  had  no  small  in- 
fluence in  diffusing  abroad  the  idea  of  mankind  as  forming  a  single 
community.  In  its  later  influence,  it  mitigated  the  severity  of 
Service  of  Romau  law.  On  the  whole,  the  ancient  'philosophy  did 
2\ateT''^"'  a  work  resembling  in  some  degree  that  of  the  Old 
phases.  Testament  law,  in  training  the  conscience.     It  kindled 

aspirations — for  example,  the  yearning  for  a  more  intimate  com- 
munion of  mankind — which  only  the  kingdom  of  God  could  meet. 
In  this  respect  it  was  unconsciously  prophetic.  But  philosophy,  in 
the  age  when  the  gospel  appeared,  in  the  hands  of  the  new  Platonic 
school,  had  lapsed  into  pantheism.  There  was  an  eclectic  tendency, 
a  disposition  to  cull  fragments  of  doctrine  here  and  there,  and  to 
amalgamate  systems  with  one  another,  just  as  there  was  a  prevailing 
drift  towards  what  is  called  syna'etisin  in  religion — the  combination 
of  elements  drawn  from  the  creeds  and  cults  of  different  nations. 

The  state  of  morals  in  the  Augustan  age  is  depicted  in  as  dark 
colors  by  Seneca  as  by  Paul.  Licentiousness  and  cruelty,  the  char- 
state  of  acteristic  vices  of  ancient  society,  had  been  fostered  by 
morals.  certain  forms  of  heathen  religion.  The  immoral  tales  of 
Greek  mythology  had  been  stigmatized  as  baneful  to  youth  by 
Plato  and  Ai-istotle.  By  the  downfall  of  liberty,  and  by  intestine 
strife,  Greek  social  life  was  demoralized.  "  The  individual  had 
begun  to  draw  away  more  and  more  from  the  State,"  and  sunk 
morally  to  the  position  of  "a  man  without  a  country."  Roman 
virtue  gave  way  under  the  temptations  to  luxury  and  sensuality 
that  followed  upon  the  conquest  of  Greece  and  the  plunder  of  the 
East.  All  ranks  of  Roman  society  were  infected  with  the  prevailing 
impurity.  Immense  sums  were  lavished  upon  luxurious  banquets. 
Vices  which  may  not  even  be  named,  were  practised  with  impunity, 
and  almost  without  reproach. '     The  multitude  of  slaves  furnished 

•  Bomaiiis  i.  24-28. 


1-100.]  THE  STATE  OF  THE  WORLD.  13 

boundless  opportunities  for  sensual  indulgence.  Slaves,  both  in 
city  and  country,  were  often  treated  with  extreme  rigor.  Infanti- 
cide was  freely  tolerated  and  practised.  In  the  favorite  Komau 
amusements,  the  stage,  the  circus,  and  the  amphitheatre,  the  deg- 
radation of  morals  is  most  apparent.  The  stage  became  a  school 
of  vice  and  corruption.  The  taste  for  gladiatorial  combats  daily  in- 
creased. In  Kome  and  in  other  principal  cities  of  the  empire,  multi- 
tudes of  both  sexes  and  of  every  age  assembled  to  witness  the  bloody 
contests  of  men  with  wild  beasts,  and  of  human  combatants  with 
one  another.  The  civil  wars  which,  with  occasional  intervals,  had 
raged  from  the  conflict  of  Sulla  and  Marius  to  the  triumph  of  Au- 
gustus had  not  only  entailed  unspeakable  suffeinng  upon  the  coun- 
tries desolated  by  them,  but  had  done  much  to  break 
up  habits  of  industry  and  morality.  The  picture  of 
ancient  society,  even  at  that  epoch,  has  a  brighter  as  well  as  a 
darker  side.  On  the  whole,  however,  the  state  of  things  was  far 
from  being  hopeful.  No  remedy  could  be  discerned  for  the  reign- 
ing evils.  Consequently,  not  a  few  minds  were  afflicted  with  de- 
spondency. It  is  remarkable  that  in  the  wreck  of  traditional  be- 
liefs, and  in  the  vague  yearning  for  an  anchor  in  the  dark  and 
troubled  sea,  many  were  inclined  to  turn  their  eyes  to  the  East, 
the  seat  of  ancient,  mysterious  religions,  in  the  hope  of  finding 
there  light  and  help.  At  this  crisis  in  the  world's  history,  the 
Saviour  was  born. 

Philosophy,  science,  culture,  in  the  broad  sense  of  the  term,  are 
the  gift  of  the  Greeks  to  mankind  ;  law  and  civil  polity  are  a  legacy 
from  the  Romans  ;  but  "  salvation  is  of  the  Jews."     They 
had  been  of  old  conscious  of  a  spiritual  eminence  among 
the  nations  of  the  earth.     "  For  what  great  nation  is  there  that  hath 
a  god  so  nigh  unto  them  as  the  Lord  our  God  is  whensoever  we  call 
upon  him  ?     And  what  great  nation  is  there  that  hath  statutes  and 
judgments  so  righteous  as  all  this  law?'"     Nor  had  they  lost  the 
sense  of  a  high  spiritual  office  that  belonged  to  them  in  relation  to 
the  rest  of  mankind.     But  their  national  independence  was  gone 
forever.     They  had  been  swallowed  up  in  the  wide-spread  "mon- 
archy of  the  Mediterranean."     From  the  time  of  Hyr- 
canus  n.,  the  last  of  the  Maccabean  rulers,  they  had 
been  subject  to  the  Romans.     By  their  will  and  consent, 
Herod,  the  son  of  Antipater,  an  Idumean  proselyte,  was 
made  king.     When  Herod,  an  able  ruler  but  a  tyrant,  died,  his  kiug- 

'  Deut.  iv.  7,  8  (Revised  Version). 


14  THE   APOSTOLIC   AGE.  [Pekiod  I. 

dom  was  parcelled  out  among  his  three  sons.  Of  these,  after  ten 
4B.C.-6A.D.  years,  Archelaus  tetrarch  of  Judea  was  dethroned,  and 
6-41  A.D.  banished  to  Vienne.  Then  Judea  was  annexed  to  the 
2G-36  A.D.  province  of  Syria,  and  ruled  by  procurators,  one  of  whom 
■11-14  A.D.  ■^\ra,g  Poutlus  Pllatc.  Latci',  for  a  short  time,  the  domin- 
ions of  Herod  were  united  under  his  grandson,  Herod  Agrippa  I. 
At  his  death  all  Palestine  was  placed  under  procurators  subordinate 
to  the  imperial  governor  of  Syria. 

Judea  was  the  hearth-stone  of  the  whole  Jewish  race,  and  con- 
tained within  it  the  sanctuary  to  which  Jews  resorted  at  the  great 
The  Jewish  religious  festivals.  Jews  were  found  in  large  numbers  in 
Diaspora.  a,lmost  all  parts  of  the  empire.  A  multitude  of  exiles 
had  planted  themselves  permanently  in  Babylonia,  instead  of  re- 
turning to  Jerusalem  with  the  caravans  that  followed  Ezra  (457  b.c.) 
and  Nehemiah  (-44:4  e.g.).  In  Alexandria  and  its  neighborhood  they 
numbered  not  less  than  a  million.  Under  the  Ptolemies  the  Old 
Testament  had  been  rendered  into  Greek  (c.  250  b.c.),  and  this 
version,  called  the  Septuagint,  was  in  general  use  among  the 
Hellenists,  or  Jews  of  the  Dispersion,  beyond  the  limits  of  Palestine. 
In  Antioch  and  in  other  places  in  Syria,  in  the  numerous  cities 
of  Asia  Minor,  in  Cyprus,  Crete,  and  other  islands  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean, in  the  cities  of  Greece,  in  Ulyricum,  in  Eome  and  in  other 
towns  of  Italy,  Jews  had  settled  in  large  numbers.  They  followed 
the  example  of  the  Phcenicians  :  wherever  there  was  a  prospect  of 
gain  through  ti-ade  and  commerce,  Jewish  merchants  swarmed. 

Since  the  days  of  the  Babylonian  exile,  when  their  political 
independence  was  extinguished,  never  to  be  regained  except  dur- 
Period  of  the  i^g  the  interval  after  the  Maccabean  revolt  (142-61  b.c.), 
hierocracy.  ^Yxe  Jews  had  cluug  to  their  faith  and  worship  with  an 
unyielding  tenacity.  The  loss  of  political  unity  had  the  effect  to 
tighten  the  bands  of  race  and  of  religion.  The  period  of  the 
prophets — the  ninth  and  eighth  centuries  b.c.,  when,  in  the  conflict 
with  idolatry,  and  in  the  trials  and  perils  of  foreign  invasion,  the 
faith  of  Israel  had  burst  forth  like  a  flame  of  fire — the  period  of 
Elijah  and  Elisha,  of  Hosea  and  Amos,  of  Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  and 
Ezekiel,  had  gone  by.  From  the  time  of  Ezra  and  the  rebuilding 
of  the  temple,  the  law  with  its  strictly  defined  ritual  was  in  full 
force,  and  the  priesthood  had  supreme  control.  This  is  termed  the 
period  of  the  hagiocracy  or  hierocracy — the  age  of  sacerdotal 
rule.  Even  the  Samaritans,  the  worshippers  on  Mount  Gerizim, 
although  they  accepted  the  Pentateuch,  were  yet,  as  being  of  a 
mixed  race,  considered  aliens  and  heretics.     The  steadfast   resist- 


1-100.]  THE  STATE  OF  THE   WORLD.  15 

ance  to  Gentile  error  find  corruption  was  maintained  by  the  Phari- 
sees, who,  with  the  Saddiicees,  formed  the  two  principal  parties. 
ThePhaii-  They  were  parties,  and  not  sects  in  the  modern  sense, 
d^cees'^the'^"  '^^^  Pharisees,  the  "  Separated,"  were  the  representa- 
Essenes.  Hves  of  the  strictest  orthodoxy.     They  clung  not  only  to 

tlie  law,  but  also  to  the  great  body  of  traditional  interpretation 
which  had  gathered  about  it.  Mixed  with  their  formalism  was  an 
intense,  fanatical  patriotism.  They  naturally  tended  to  casuistry 
and  quibbling,  which  gave  rise  to  hypocrisy,  and  too  often  con- 
nected itself  with  a  spirit  of  selfish  greed  and  with  joy  in  the  repu- 
tation of  sanctity.  The  Sadducees,  so  named  from  Zadok,  a  high- 
priest  in  the  time  of  David,  were  composed  mainly  of  the  priestly 
nobility.  The  high  sacerdotal  offices  were  generally  in  their 
hands.  They  were  not  so  hostile  to  foreigners  and  foreign  influ- 
ence. They  ascribed  normal  authority  to  the  law  of  the  Pentateuch 
alone.  They  were  infected  with  a  rationalistic  spirit,  had  no  sym- 
pathy with  the  prevalent  Messianic  hopes,  and  disbelieved  in  the 
doctrine  of  the  resurrection.  Both  parties  were  represented  in 
the  Sanhedrim,  the  great  court  or  council,  invested  with  judicial 
functions,  having  its  seat  at  Jerusalem.  In  connection  with  the 
Pharisees  stood  the  Scribes,  the  teachers  and  copyists  of  the  sacred 
books.  A  third  party,  which  may  properly  be  called  a  sect,  were 
the  Essenes,  numbering  a  few  thousands.  They  dwelt  chiefly  in 
village  communities,  eastward  of  Jerusalem,  towards  the  Dead  Sea. 
Their  strict  organization,  their  mingling  of  manual  labor  with  ex- 
ercises of  devotion,  their  renunciation  of  marriage  and  of  property 
apart  from  the  common  stock,  their  methodical  discipline  with  its 
fixed  round  of  employments,  gave  them  a  resemblance  to  monastic 
societies  or  brotherhoods  of  a  later  date.  The  abjuring  of  sacrifices, 
and  the  invocation,  in  some  obscure  way,  of  the  sun,  were  among 
Alexandrian  their  principal  differences  from  orthodox  Judaism.  Out- 
jiidaism.  gj(-|g  q£  Palestine,  at  Alexandria,  arose  a  peculiar  type  of 
Jewish  theology,  in  which  the  Platonic  philosophy  was  curiously 
blended  with  Old  Testament  teaching.  This  was  accomplished 
through  the  allegorical  interpretation  of  the  Scriptures.  At  Alex- 
andria the  books  which  we  call  apocryphal  were  taken  up  into  the 
Old  Testament  canon.  One  of  them,  The  Wisdom  of  Solomon,  was 
written  to  commend  the  Alexandrian  theology  to  the 
Jews  of  Palestine.  The  principal  expounder  of  the  Alex- 
andrian Jewish  philosophy  was  Philo,  who  was  born  about  20  b.c. 

The  centres  of  Jewish  instruction  and  worship  were  the  syna- 
gogues, which  sprung  up  during  and  after  the  Exile.     They  were 


16  THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE.  [Period  I. 

found  not  only  in  Palestine,  but  also  in  all  the  towns  of  the  Koinau 
Empire  of  an}'  considerable  size,  where  Jews  resided.  The  build- 
Thesyna-  "^o^  Were  plain,  rectangular  edifices,  either  placed  on 
gogue.^.  j^ji  eminence  or  marked  by  a  pole  rising  from  the  roof. 

The  synagogues  were  under  the  management  of  "  elders."  In  them, 
on  the  Sabbath,  all  faithful  Jews  met  for  prayer,  and  to  hear  and 
to  study  the  law. 

Although  the  Jews  were  hated  for  their  exclusiveness,  their  zeal 
in  making  proselytes  to  their  religion  was  attended,  as  the  heathen 
writers  attest,  with  great  success.  The  proselytes  were 
of  two  classes — "proselytes  of  righteousness,"  who  were 
circumcised  and  acquired  all,  or  nearly  all,  the  privileges  of  a 
born  Israelite,  and  "proselytes  of  the  gate."  These  last  were  ad- 
mitted to  certain  privileges  on  the  condition  of  obeying  what  were 
called  the  seven  Noachian  precepts,  which  comprised  the  prohibi- 
tion of  uncleanness,  of  idolatry,  and  of  the  eating  of  "flesh  with 
the  blood  thereof." 

In  this  way  monotheistic  faith  and  worshi]3  had  been  planted 
in  the  Roman  provinces  and  beyond  their  borders.  Along  with 
The  Messianic  their  immovable  faith  and  their  intense  devotion  to  the 
hope.  1^^^^  ii^Q  Jews  in  general  looked  for  the  coming  of  the 

day  when  the  relation  of  ruler  and  slibject  would  be  reversed. 
They  longed  for  the  hour  when  they  would  be  delivered  from  the 
galling  yoke  of  foreign  rule,  and  when  dominion  would  be  trans- 
feri'ed  to  Jehovah's  chosen  jDCople.  The  current  interpretations  of 
prophecy  varied  in  form,  and  were  more  or  less  spiritual  in  their 
tenor.  But  the  prevalent  hope  was  of  a  political  Messiah,  who 
would  throw  off  the  hateful  Eoman  domination,  and  give  victory, 
and  with  it  rest  and  comfort,  to  Israel.  His  throne  was  to  be 
erected  at  Jerusalem,  To  the  temple  on  Mount  Zion  all  nations 
were  to  bring  their  gifts  and  oblations 


CHAPTER  IT. 

THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

The  major  part  of  the  Jewish  people  were  pining  for  deliverance 
from  Roman  tyranny.  A  few  yearned  for  a  more  spiritual  blessing 
John  the  — ^°^'  pefice  of  conscience  and  purity  of  heart,  which  the 
Baptist.  Messiah  would  bring  to  them.     In  this  state  of  things 

there  occurred  a  new  and  grand  outburst  of  the  spirit  of  prophecy, 
the  final  epoch  in  the  progress  of  divine  revelation.  A  great  ex- 
citement was  kindled  by  the  preaching  of  John  the  Baptist,  a 
prophet  who  in  his  stern  and  fearless  spirit,  as  well  as  in  his  rough 
garb  and  austere  mode  of  life,  brought  to  mind  his  precursor,  the 
ancient  Elijah.  In  the  wild  and  thinly  settled  region  west  of  the 
Jordan  he  proclaimed  to  the  awe-struck  multitude,  who  flocked  to 
hear  him,  the  speedy  advent  of  the  Lord,  and  exhorted  them  to 
repentance.  One  of  those  who  presented  themselves  for  baptism 
was  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  son  of  Mary,  whose  husband  was  Joseph. 
John  woiild  fain  have  declined  to  baptize  him,  and  pointed  him 
out  as  the  predicted  Messiah.  Some  of  the  disciples  of  the  Baptist 
Ministry  of  attached  themselves  to  Jesus.  Beginning  at  that  time, 
Jesus.  ^]^g  ministry  of  Christ  continued  for  three  and  a  half 

years,  partly  in  Galilee,  and  in  part,  especially  towards  the  end,  in 
Jerusalem  and  its  neighborhood.  The  common  people  were  deeply 
moved  by  his  teaching,  for  he  spoke  as  one  having  authority,  out 
of  a  deep  well  of  spiritual  intuition,  and  as  one  in  intimate  com- 
munion with  God,  by  whom  he  declared  himself  to  be  sent.  They 
were  startled  and  impressed  by  his  miracles  of  healing,  and  by  other 
manifestations  of  supernatural  power  and  of  tender  sympathy  with 
human  distress.  But  when  he  refused  to  countenance  their  long- 
ing for  a  violent  revolution  and  for  a  temporal  kingdom,  the}'  were 
easily  persuaded  to  turn  against  him.  At  the  same  time,  the 
Pharisees,  stung  by  his  unsparing  exposure  of  their  hypocrisy  and 
spiritual  pride,  and  dreading  the  overthrow  of  their  influence,  con- 
spired to  destroy  him.  The  combination  of  leaders  and  populace 
resulted  in  his  seizure,  his  arraignment  before  Caiaphas  and  Pilate, 
3 


18  THE  APOSTOLIC   AGE.  [Period  I. 

and  bis  crucifixion.  He  had  looked  forward  to  this  result.  He 
liad  watched  the  thickening  cloud  of  envy  and  hatred  which  por- 
tended the  storm  that  was  to  burst  on  his  head.  At  the  last,  over- 
whelmed with  sorrow,  he  neither  yielded  to  distrust  nor  gave  way 
to  despair.  Nor  could  his  love  be  overcome  by  the  blindness  and 
malignity  of  those  to  whom  he  came  to  minister.  He  knew  that 
notwithstanding  his  death,  and  even  by  means  of  it,  the  purpose 
of  the  Father  to  save  the  world  through  him  would  be  accom- 
plished. It  was  expected  that  his  ignominious  death  as  a  criminal 
would  be  the  extinction  of  his  cause.  His  immediate  followers, 
despite  his  attempts  to  prepare  them  for  the  catastrophe,  were 
struck  with  sorrow  and  dismay.  But  an  event  soon  occurred  that 
raised  them  from  their  despondency,  and  inspired  them,  one  and 
all,  with  joy  and  courage.  On  the  third  day  after  his  death,  and 
afterwards  in  a  series  of  interviews,  running  through  a  definite  pe- 
riod, he  manifested  himself  alive  to  them,  under  circumstances  that 
dispelled  the  doul)ts  of  the  most  incredulous  man  among  them  as 
to  the  reality  of  his  resurrection.  Their  immovable  faith  in  this 
fact  was  the  basis  of  their  preaching.  It  nerved  them  to  endure 
ostracism  and  death.  It  lies  at  the  foundation  of  Christianity  as  a 
power  in  the  world's  history.  After  his  final  departure  out  of  their 
sight,  the  disciples  at  Jerusalem,  in  number  about  one  hundred  and 
twenty,  met  together.  Among  them  were  Mary  the  mother  of 
Jesus,  and  also  his  four  brothers,  whose  disbelief  had  probably 
been  vanquished  by  the  evident  fact  of  his  resurrection.  With 
The  eleven  them  wcrc  the  eleven — Peter,  the  brothers  John  and 
and  Matthias,  james,  Audrew  the  brother  of  Peter,  Philip  and  Thomas, 
Nathanael,  also  called  Bartholomew,  Matthew,  James  the  son  of 
Alphseus,  Simon,  who  before  his  call  by  Jesus  had  belonged  to  the 
faction  of  Zealots,  fierce  champions  of  the  Mosaic  ritual,  and  Judas 
the  son  of  a  James  not  otherwise  known.  All  the  twelve  were  Gali- 
leans except  Judas  Iscariot,  or  Judas  of  Kerioth,  a  place  in  Judea. 
On  the  lists  of  the  Apostles '  the  name  of  Peter  stands  first.  A  cer- 
tain i^recedence,  not  as  implying  rule,  but  conferred  for  his  qualities 
as  a  leader,  is  given  him  by  Jesus  himself.  Impulsive,  impetuous, 
warm-hearted,  he  might  falter  under  a  sudden  onset  of  temptation, 
but  speedy  penitence  followed  upon  error.  In  the  early  period 
of  Apostolic  histoid  he  is  foremost  in  the  Apostolic  company.  At 
one  of  the  meetings  where  the  one  hundred  and  twenty  were  all 
gathered,  it  was  on  the  proposal  of  Peter  that  a  certain  Matthias, 

'  Matt.  X.  2-4  ;  Acts  i.  13  ;  Matt.  xvi.  IS ;  Luke  xxii.  32 ;  John  xxi.  15-18. 


1-100.]         THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  CHURCH.  19 

who  had  been  one  of  the  companions  of  Christ,  was  appointed  in 
the  room  of  Judas  the  Betrayer,  to  be  associated  with  the  eleven 
as  a  witness  of  the  Lord's  resm-rection.  On  the  fiftieth  day  after 
the  Passover  and  the  crucifixion,  on  an  occasion  when  the  body 
of  disciples  were  assembled  togetlier,  startling  and  impressive 
tokens  appeared  of  the  presence  and  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
These  were  miraculous  manifestations.  Beyond  these  it  was  the 
permanent  indwelling  of  the  Spirit  in  the  souls  of  believers,  as  an 
illuminating  and  sanctifying  power,  that  united  them  in  one  body. 

With  the  day  of  Pentecost  the  career  of  the  "Church  militant" 
fairly  begins.  The  fervor  of  the  Apostles,  who  have  now  cast  off 
Day  of  Pente-  their  timidity,  produces  a  powerful  effect  on  the  throng 
•^o^*-  assembled  at  the  festival  from  all  quarters.'     The  speak- 

ing with  tongues,  according  to  Luke's  account,  went  beyond  the 
glowing,  ecstatic  utterances  that  are  described  under  the  same 
name  as  occurring  later  in  the  Apostolic  churches.  It  was  a  prel- 
ude to  a  thrilling  discourse  of  Peter,  in  which  the  guilt  of  putting 
to  death  the  Messiah  was  charged  with  piercing  emphasis  upon  his 
hearers,  and  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  and  his  reign  on  high  were 
proclaimed.  Thus  the  Apostles  began,  through  their  chief  spokes- 
man, to  give  their  testimony  to  the  world.  A  great  number — ac- 
cording to  Luke's  statement,  about  three  thousand — were  moved 
by  Peter's  exhortation  to  profess  repentance  and  to  receive  baj)- 
tism. 

The  Apostles  and  the  other  disciples  were  Jews  who  believed 
that  the  Messiah  had  come,  had  died,  had  risen,  and  ascended,  and 
The  Church  "would  again  appear  in  a  visible  form.  As  devout  Jews 
Se'^AposUef  ■  ^^^J  I'GSorted  to  the  temple,  and  kept  up  all  the  legal 
arraigned.  obscrvances  of  the  Mosaic  ritual.  But  they  formed 
together  a  brotherhood,  in  cordial  fellowship.  Their  converts 
multiplied.  The  commotion  caused  by  the  miraculous  healing  of 
a  cripple  at  a  door  of  the  temj^le  led  to  the  bringing  of  Peter  and 
John  before  the  Sanhedrim.  The  unabashed  courage  of  these  un- 
lettered men  excited  amazement  in  that  tribunal.  It  was  judged 
expedient  to  dismiss  them  with  a  prohibition  to  teach  in  the  name 
of  Jesus,  which,  however,  they  did  not  obey.*  The  increase  of  the 
popular  commotion  and  the  spread  of  it  beyond  the  limits  of 
the  city  caused  a  second  arraignment  of  Peter  and  John.  On  this 
occasion  the  Sadducees  in  the  council  showed  special  hostility, 
which  was  held  in  check  by  the  temperate  and  politic  advice  given 

^cts  ii.  6-14.  2  ^cts  iv.  18-21 


20  THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE.  [Period  I. 

by  the  Pharisaic  doctor,  Gamaliel. '  The  Apostles  were  scourged  and 
again  forbidden  to  preach  ;  but  they  were  set  free.  It  is  plain  that 
the  comparatively  peaceful  course  of  things  could  last  only  until  the 
disciples  should  be  recognized  as  a  distinct  community.  A  step  in 
this  direction  was  taken  in  consequence  of  complaints  of  neglect  in 
the  distribution  of  alms,  that  came  from  the  Hellenistic  Jewish  con- 
Appointment  vcrts.  This  resulted  in  the  appointment  of  a  class  of 
raan:^a°om'o!  officcrs  Called  deacons,  to  look  after  the  poor.  The  suc- 
stephen.  (,ggg  ^f  qjjq  Qf  ^hcm,  Stej)hen,  in  his  appeals  to  the  Helle- 
nists, his  victories  in  oral  debate,  and  especially  the  manner  in 
which  he  set  forth  the  universality  of  the  gospel — ^vhich  was  con- 
strued into  an  attack  on  the  Mosaic  system  as  destined  to  pass 
away — roused  bitter  indignation.  Dragged  before  the  Sanhe- 
drim, and  summoned  to  answer  his  accusers,  he  went  over  in  a 
rapid  review  the  whole  Jewish  history,  and  broke  out  at  length  in 
a  burning  denunciation  of  the  crimes  that  had  reached  their  climax 
in  the  murder  of  the  Righteous  One.  In  a  frenzy  of  rage  the 
crowd  would  hear  no  more,  but  hurried  him  beyond  the  limits  of 
the  city,  where  lie  was  stoned  to  death,  with  his  last  breath  im- 
ploring the  pardon  of  his  murderers. 

The  murder  of  Stej)hen  made  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  the 
infant  Church.  It  was  the  signal  for  a  persecution  that  drove 
Conversion  of  ^^^  disciplcs  from  Jerusalem  and  dispersed  them  in  the 
heathen.  neighboring  districts.  The  Apostles  alone  remained  in 
the  city  in  some  place  of  safety  ;  for  inasmuch  as  Jerusalem  was 
regarded  by  them  as  the  centre  of  the  new  community  and  king- 
dom, it  would  not  be  right  or  seemly  for  them  to  forsake  it.  One  of 
Converts  in  the  dcacous,  Philip,  probably  a  Hellenist,  made  converts 
Acta^'vih.'  ill  ^  city  of  Samaria.  In  Samaria,  good  seed  had  been 
^^-  sown  by  Jesus  himself.    Peter  and  John  visited  them,  and 

laid  their  hands  on  them.  They  received  thus  the  special  gifts  of 
the  Spirit.  It  was  these  miraculous  gifts  that  Simon  Magus  desired 
Conversion  of  to  purchasc.  There  followed  the  conversion  and  baj)tism 
Acts^vur'*'  of  the  chamberlain  of  the  Queen  of  Meroe,  whose  capi- 
^"^^^-  tal  was  at  Napata  on  the  Nile.     This  convert  was,  not  im- 

probably, a  proselyte  of  the  gate.  It  was  disclosed  to  the  mind  of 
Peter,  through  circumstances  connected  with  the  conversion  of  Cor- 
nelius, a  Roman  centurion,  and  a  few  of  his  friends,'  that  the  gospel 
might  be  a  means  of  salvation  for  Gentiles  as  well  as  for  the  circum- 
cised ;  and  in  this  proceeding  of  the  Apostle  the  brethren  at  Jeru- 

'  Acts  V.  17-41.  '  Acts  X. 


1-100.]  THK  FOUNDING  OF  THE  CHURCH.  21 

salem,  after  requiring  an  explanation,  acquiesced.'  Other  Helle- 
nistic disciples  of  Cyprus  and  Cjrene  preached  with  much  success 
to  the  "Grecians" — that  is,  the  heathen.  In  Antioch  in  Syria  a 
nucleus  was  established  for  this  class  of  disciples,  and  Barnabas, 
himself  a  native  of  Cyprus,  and  a  person  of  consideration  in  the 
Church  at  Jerusalem,  was  sent  there  to  look  after  this  new  move- 
ment.^ 

The  most  memorable  event  in  relation  to  the  carrying  of  the 
gospel  beyond  the  lines  of  Judaism  was  the  conversion  of  Saul  of 
Conversion  of  Tarsus,  or  Paul,  a  name  which  he  probably  adopted  as  a 
Paul,  35  AD.  Roman  citizen.  He  belonged  to  a  Jewish  family,  al- 
though his  father  was  possessed  of  the  rights  of  Roman  citizenship. 
Tarsus  was  a  cultivated  city  and  a  prominent  seat  of  Stoic  phi- 
losophy ;  yet  Paul's  training  was  exclusively  Jewish.^  A  scrap 
here  or  there  from  a  heathen  author,  which  had  probably  become 
a  current  saying,  does  not  indicate  that  he  had  read  the  classical 
writers.  He  was  brought  up  as  a  rigid  Pharisee,  and  sent  to  Jeru- 
salem, where  he  had  a  married  sister,  to  be  trained  in  the  school 
of  Gamaliel  for  the  office  of  rabbi.  He  had  learned  the  trade  of  a 
tent-maker,  on  which  he  depended  for  support.  He  was  an  approv- 
ing spectator  of  the  slaying  of  Stephen,^  and  enlisted  with  fanatical 
industry  in  the  work  of  persecuting  the  disciples.  It  was  while 
engaged  in  this  cruel  business,  in  the  full  assurance  that  it  was  a 
religious  and  meritorious  work,  that,  on  the  road  to  Damascus,  it 
2)leased  God  "  to  reveal  his  Son  "  to  him  that  he  "  might  preach 
him  among  the  heathen."  ^  The  next  three  years  he  spent  in  Arabia,* 
whether  passing  the  time  mostly  in  active  labors,  or  chiefly  in  re- 
tirement, we  have  no  means  of  knowing.  He  returned  to  Damas- 
cus, then  govex-ned  by  the  Arabian  king,  Aretas ;  but  the  hostility  of 
the  Jews  compelled  him  to  fly  from  that  city.'  Then  followed  (38 
A.D.)  a  visit  of  fourteen  days  to  Peter  at  Jerusalem,  where  Paul  also 
met  James  the  brother  of  the  Lord."*  After  a  sojourn  at  Tarsus  he 
repaired  to  Antioch  (43  a.d.),  at  the  solicitation  of  Barnabas,''  to  lend 
his  help  in  the  work  which  was  going  forward  there  in  connection 
with  the  fast-growing  Gentile  Church.  About  this  time  (44  a.d.) 
occurred  the  martyrdom  of  James,  the  brother  of  John,  who  was 
killed  by  the  order  of  Herod  Agrippa,'"  from  whose  hands  Peter, 

'  Acts  xi.  1-18.  -  Acts  xi.  32. 

3  Philip,  iii.  5  ;  Gal.  i.  13,  14  ;  Acts  xxii.  3  ;  xxiii.  6. 

*  Acts  vii.  58  ;  viii.  1.  ^  Gal.  i.  16  ;  Acts  ix.  1  sq. ;   xxii.  6  sq. 

«  Gal.  i.  17.  •>  Gal.  i.  17-19  ;  2  Cor.  xi.  33  ;  Acts  ix.  23  sq. 

8  Gal.  i.  19.  9  Acts  ix.  30  ;  xi.  25-26.  '»  Acts  xii.  3. 


22  THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE.  [Period! 

who  had  been  imprisoned  by  him,  was  dehvered.  Thenceforward 
James,  the  Lord's  brother — not  one  of  the  twelve,  but  having  virtu- 
ally the  standing  of  an  Apostle — takes  the  lead  in  the  affairs  of  the 
Jerusalem  Church. 

The  strength  and  zeal  of  the  Antioch  Christian  society  are  shown 
in  the  sending  forth  of  Paul  and  Barnabas,  with  Mark,  a  cousin  of 
Barnabas,  for  their  companion  for  a  part  of  the  way,  on 
sionary  jour-  a  preaching  tour  '  in  the  eastei-u  districts  of  Asia  Minor, 
ney  of  Paul,  j,.^.^^  ^^^^  visitcd  Cyprus,  wherc  Sergius  Paulus,  the  pro- 
consul, was  converted.  Thence  they  sailed  to  Attalia,  on  the  south- 
ern coast  of  Pamphylia,  and  near  Perga ;  from  Perga  they  proceeded 
to  Antioch  in  Pisidia,  and  frpm  there  eastward  to  Iconium,  and  as 
far  as  Lystra  and  Derbe  in  Lycaonia.  Retracing  their  steps,  they 
came  back  to  Attalia,  and  sailed  directly  to  Antioch.  Wherever  the 
missionaries  went  a  commotion  was  excited.  The  hostility  of  the 
Jews  was  stirred  up,  especially  by  the  Apostles'  offer  of  salvation, 
through  the  gospel,  to  the  Gentiles.  In  some  places  the  heathen 
were  persuaded  by  the  Jews  to  join  in  the  assaults  made  on  the 
preachers.  But  numerous  converts  were  won  and  churches  were 
organized.  This  was  the  first  incursion  of  Paul  into  the  domain  of 
heathenism. 

The  third  visit  of  Paul  to  Jerusalem — a  second  visit  had  taken 
place  to  carry  alms  to  the  Judean  brethren " — was  an  event  of  mo- 
The  confer  nieutous  importance  in  the  development  of  the  Church 
enceat  Jeru  and  in  the  history  of  Christianity.  It  was  necessary  that 
the  Antioch  teachers  should  come  to  an  understanding 
with  the  Apostles  and  the  Church  at  Jerusalem  respecting  the 
heathen  converts  and  their  relation  to  the  Mosaic  law.  That  the 
Messiah's  kingdom  was  to  comprehend  the  Gentiles  was  assumed  on 
all  hands.  But  the  heathen  converts  were  multiplying.  Meantime 
there  had  been  an  accession  of  members  to  the  Jerusalem  Church, 
among  Avhom  were  converted  Pharisees/  who  carried  into  the  Chris- 
tian society  a  stubborn  attachment  to  the  legal  observances.  What 
was  the  meaning  of  the  Old  Testament  promises,  what  was  to  be- 
come of  Jewish  precedence  in  the  Messiah's  kingdom,  what  was  the 
use  in  being  a  Jew  if  the  heathen  were  to  come  in  without  first 
becoming  Israelites  in  the  manner  ordained  by  the  law  of  Moses  ? 
By  no  definite  teaching  had  Jesus  explained  what  shape  the  new 
kingdom  was  to  take.  He  had  himself  observed,  not  in  a  servile 
spirit,  yet  faithfully,  the  ceremonies  prescribed  in  the  law.     His 

'  Acts  xiii.  1-xiv.  38.  •  Acts  xi.  29,  30.  ^  Acts  xv.  5. 


1-100.]         THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  CHURCH.  23 

personal  labors  had  been  among  "  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of 
Israel."  What  he  said  of  the  spiritual  nature  of  religion,  of  the 
folly  of  placing  merit  in  external  rites,  of  himself  as  superior  to  the 
Sabbath  and  the  temple,  of  the  higher  type  of  worship  that  he  had 
come  to  introduce,  of  faith  in  him  as  the  one  thing  essential,  con- 
tained the  seeds  of  the  destruction  of  the  Jewish  ceremonial  system. 
Through  his  death  and  his  rising  to  a  heavenly  life  and  a  spiritual 
throne,  its  office  was  fulfilled.  It  was  historically  undermined  ;  but 
it  was  left  to  time,  tinder  the  enlightening  influence  of  the  Spirit 
and  of  the  lessons  of  Providence,  to  effect  its  downfall. 

More  resolutely  than  any  other,  Paul  insisted  on  the  free  and 
universal  nature  of  the  gospel.  He,  like  the  Apostles  at  Jerusalem, 
first  carried  the  good  tidings  to  his  own  countrymen.  But  when, 
in  the  places  which  he  visited,  they  met  the  call  to  believe  in  Jesus 
with  a  scornful  rejection,  he  turned  to  the  Gentiles,  by  whom  the 
gospel  was  welcomed.  The  offer  of  salvation  to  them  was  not  to 
be  loaded  with  the  condition  that  they  should  take  on  them  the 
yoke  of  the  law,  and  by  circumcision  enter  within  the  fold  of 
Judaism.  Cornelius  and  other  individuals  had  been  recognized  as 
brethren  without  submission  to  this  rite  ;  but  they  were  few  in 
number,  and  the  circumstances  were  peculiar.  It  was  another 
question  when  whole  communities  were  springing  up,  in  which  the 
characteristic  rites  were  not  required  to  be  observed.  That  there 
should  be  perplexity  and  hesitation  among  the  Jewish  Christians, 
who  hoped  for  the  conversion  of  their  countrymen  as  a  body,  was 
natural.     There  were  symptoms  of  a  grave  conflict. 

The  threatened  division  was  averted.  Paul  and  Barnabas  had 
first  a  private  conference  on  the  subject  with  the  Apostles,'  and 
Paul  and  the  then  met  the  Jerusalem  Church  as  a  body."  The  Jeru- 
'^^^'^^-  salem  leaders,  Peter,  James,  and  John,  had  no  fault  to 

find  with  Paul's  teaching.'  When  they  saw  what  success  had  at- 
tended him,  they  gave  to  him  and  his  associate  the  right  hand  of 
fellowshij),  and  bade  them  God-speed.  The  great  argument  for 
catholicity,  be  it  observed,  was  the  same  as  that  which  had  convinced 
Peter  in  the  affair  of  Cornelius.  It  was  plain  that  the  Spirit  of 
God  had  followed  the  preaching  of  Paul  :  the  good  fruits  were 
apparent.  No  dogmatic  theory  could  stand  in  the  way  of  such 
unanswerable  facts.  The  verdict  of  Heaven  had  been  given.  The 
reason  then  assigned  for  fellowship  with  Paul  is  a  motive  to 
catholicity,  and  a  standing  rebuke  of  narrowness,  for  all  time.     The 

'  Gal.  ii.  2  sq.  «  Acts  xv.  4-39.  •  ^  q^^i   ^^  q^ 


24  THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE.  [Period  I. 

demand  of  judaizers  that  Titus,  one  of  Paul's  companions,  who  was 
of  Greek  parentage,  should  be  circumcised,  the  Apostle  absolutely- 
refused  to  comply  with.  The  case  of  Timothy,  whose  mother  was 
a  Jewess,  was  different.  In  this  case,  which  occurred  later,  no 
principle  was  at  stake  :  the  rights  of  Gentile  believers  were  not 
involved.  In  the  conference  of  the  Antioch  teachers  with  the  Jeru- 
salem Church,  Peter — as  might  be  expected,  in  view  of  the  light 
which  he  had  previously  received — spoke  on  the  side  of  free- 
dom. James  foUowed  with  an  approval  of  what  he  had  said,  quot- 
ing in  support  of  Peter's  opinion  a  passage  from  the  prophet 
Amos,  It  was  not  well,  he  added,  to  "  trouble  "  the  Gentile  con- 
verts. It  was  enough  to  enjoin  on  them  abstinence  fi'om  the  Hesh 
of  animals  which  had  been  sacrificed  to  heathen  gods,  from  blood, 
the  life  of  the  animal,  held  sacred  in  the  Mosaic  system,  from  ani- 
mals slain  with  the  blood  left  in  them,  and  from  fornication.  If 
this  moral  offence  does  not  refer  to  incestuous  marriages,  the 
mention  of  it  in  so  brief  a  catalogue  of  things  forbidden  indi- 
cates how  prevalent  and  how  little  condemned  the  sin  of  impurity 
was  among  the  heathen.  There  was  nothing  in  these  recommenda- 
tions at  variance  with  Paul's  ideas,  or  which  he  would  regard  as  an 
abridgment  of  the  freedom  demanded  for  his  converts.  It  is  im- 
probable that  James  w^ould  have  been  satisfied  if  anj^thing  less  had 
been  requii-ed.  That  he  luas  satisfied  Paul  himself  declares.  The 
reason  assigned  by  James  for  these  restrictions,  that  the  Old  Testa- 
ment law  was  always  read  in  the  synagogues,  may  signify  that  Jew- 
ish Christians  would  be  in  no  danger  of  forgetting  its  requirements. 
It  is  more  commonly  understood,  however,  to  mean  that  if  the 
Gentile  converts  failed  to  abstain  from  the  obnoxious  practices,  a 
bitter  prejudice  would  be  excited  against  them  among  all  persons 
of  Jewish  birth,  and  a  barrier  to  intercourse  between  the  two 
classes  would  be  erected.  In  writing  to  the  Galatiaus  and  to  the 
Corinthians,  Paul  makes  no  reference  to  this  decision  at  the  confer- 
ence. Among  the  Galatians  it  was  his  right  to  be  an  Apostle  that 
was  disputed,  and  on  this  point  he  does  refer  to  the  fellowship  ac- 
corded to  him  at  Jerusalem.  Among  the  Corinthians,  in  the  dis- 
pute about  the  eating  of  meat  offered  to  idols,  neither  Jews  nor 
judaizers  were  concerned.  Besides,  it  is  not  likely  that  Paul  re- 
garded the  act  of  the  conference,  in  itself  considered,  as  applicable 
to  Gentile  chiu-ches  which,  at  a  later  time,  he  had  planted  inde- 
pendently. There  is,  however,  no  evidence  of  an  opposition  on  his 
part,  at  any  period,  to  its  essential  purport.  Certainly,  while  de- 
fending the  liberty  of  the  Gentiles,  he  was  at  pains  not  to  scan- 


1-100.]         THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  CHURCH.  25 

clalize  the  Jews.  "With  the  Jews,"  he  said,  "I  became  as  a  Jew." 
The  message  of  fraternal  recognition  from  the  Church  at  Jerusalem 
was  sent  to  the  Gentile  converts  in  Syria  and  the  neighboring 
district  of  Cilicia.  There  was  rejoicing  at  Antioch,  where  believers 
in  Jesus  had  first  been  called  "Christians." 

The  judaizers  were  quelled  by  the  prevailing  temper  of  toler- 
ance in  the  "  pillar  "  Apostles  and.  their  Jewish  Christian  followers. 
The  iud;i-  ^ut  the  extreme  party  was  far  from  being  extirpated. 
trovVrs^ir"  They  continued  to  dog  the  steps  of  Paul,  and  to  foment 
Antioch.  suspiciou  agaiust  him  among  Christians  of  Jewish  ex- 
traction. They  went  so  far  as  to  deny  his  claim  to  be  an  Apostle, 
as  he  was  not  one  of  the  twelve.  The  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles  had.  a 
life-long  conflict  to  wage  with  this  busy,  implacable  faction.  At 
the  same  time,  by  the  Jews  who  were  not  converts  to  Christianity, 
he  was  jDursued  with  malignant  hate  as  an  apostate  from  the  relig- 
ion of  Moses.  Independently  of  the  points  contended  for  by  the 
judaizers,  there  were  questions  really  left  unsettled  by  the  Jerusa- 
lem conference.  Controversy  broke  out  anew  at  Antioch.'  There 
the  Jewish  Christians,  and  with  them  Petei',  at  a  time  when  he  was 
sojourning  at  Antioch,  sat  down  at  the  agapca,  or  love-feasts,  with 
their  Gentile  brethi-en.  Persons  of  influence  from  Jerusalem,  who 
came,  on  what  errand  we  know  not,  from  James,  appear  to  have 
regarded  the  agreement  at  the  conference  as  not  a  sufficient  war- 
rant for  this  sort  of  intercourse,  and  objected  to  it ;  so  that  even 
Barnabas  and  Peter  stayed  away  from  these  Christian  gatherings  at 
a  common  table.  This  vacillation  on  the  part  of  Peter  called  out 
an  indignant  remonstrance  from  Paul.  He  complained,  not  that 
Peter  adopted  a  too  narrow  construction  of  the  Jerusalem  settle- 
ment, but  that  he  was  now,  merely  out  of  fear,  departing  from  his 
real  conviction,  and  by  thus  changing  his  course  was  in  effect  say- 
ing to  the  Gentile  converts  that  they  ought  to  come  under  the  law. 
From  this  subjection  the  Jerusalem  confei-ence  had  declared  them 
free. 

From  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  his  career,  righteousness  was 
the  ideal  which  Paul  kept  in  view.  The  crisis  in  his  religious  life 
Justification  ^^^  ^^  ^^®  appalling  discovery  that  his  conception  of 
by  faith  rightcous  character  was  superficial,  and  that  when  tried 

alone.  °  ^ 

by  law  he  was  self-condemned.  On  the  legal  path  there 
was  no  deliverance  for  him.  This  could  only  come  by  the  unmer- 
ited bestowal  of  forgiveness  through  Christ.     Receiving  Christ  as  a 

'  Gal.  ii.  11-14. 


26  THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE.  [Period  I. 

Saviour  iu  faith,  he  was  conscious  of  being  lifted  to  the  plane  of 
lilial  communion  with  God.  The  faith-method  of  salvation  was  in 
absolute  contrast  with  the  law-method.  To  mingle  this  last  with  the 
one  gospel  requirement  to  believe  in  Christ,  was  to  call  in  question 
the  adequacy  of  the  work  of  redemption,  and  it  was  equivalent  to 
making  man  partl}^  his  own  saviour.  These  thoughts  Paul  utters, 
with  a  force  that  sjDrings  from  the  deepest  conviction,  in  the  com- 
ments that  he  makes  on  the  controversy  with  Peter. '  They  undei-lie 
his  epistles,  notably  those  to  the  Galatians  and  to  the  Eomans.  In 
the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians,  and  in  the  later  Epistle  to  the  Colos- 
sians,  Paul  goes  so  far  in  the  combat  with  judaizers  as  to  call  the 
Mosaic  ordinances  the  "rudiments,"  or  a  part  of  the  rudimentary 
stage  of  religion.  They  were  adapted  to  the  period  of  childhood 
and  were  a  species  of  "  bondage."  The  disuse  of  the  Mosaic  I'itual 
among  Jewish  Christians  would  naturally  follow  as  a  logical  con- 
sequence from  the  relinquishment  of  the  hope  of  converting  the 
Jews  as  a  body.  The  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  which  is  held  by 
most  critics  to  have  been  written  by  a  Pauline  disciple,  aims  to 
persuade  Jewish  believers  to  give  up  the  old  rites  on  the  ground 
that  they  are  typical  of  realities  by  which  they  have  been  sup- 
planted. 

The  outcome  of  the  interview  of  Paul  with  the  other  Apostles, 
in  connection  with  the  more  public  conference,  was  an  amicable 
The  career  of  division  of  labor.  He  was  to  go  to  the  heathen  ;  Peter 
I'eter.  ^^^^  ^^  „q  ^q  ^j^g  Jews,     It  was  not  a  partition  of  terri- 

tory :  it  was  an  ethnographic,  not  a  geographic,  arrangement. 
Among  his  countrymen,  the  success  of  Peter,  we  are  told,  had  been 
parallel  with  that  of  Paul  beyond  the  Jewish  pale.  But  about  the 
earlier,  as  well  as  the  later,  missionary  career  of  Peter,  we  have 
scanty  information,  for  the  reason  that  Luke,  in  the  Acts,  gives  his 
principal  attention  to  the  labors  of  the  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles. 
This  was  natural,  considering  that  Luke  was  himself  a  Gentile,  was 
vv^riting  specially  to  instruct  Gentiles,  and  was  for  a  time  a  personal 
attendant  of  Paul.  He  will  describe  how  the  heathen  attained  to 
the  privileges  of  the  gospel.  We  find  Peter  writing  an  epistle  from 
Babylon,  where  the  Jews  were  numerous.  He  addresses  the  Gen- 
tile believers  in  Asia  Minor,  calling  them  "  the  Dispersion  " — the 
Diaspora — the  old,  familiar  designation  of  the  Israelites  residing 
abroad.  There  is  no  doubt  that  a  long  history  of  travel,  and  exer- 
tion, and  suffering,  on  the  part  of  the  Apostle  to  the  Jews  was  left 

•  Gal.  ii.  15-31. 


1-100.]         THE  POUNDING  OP  THE  CHURCH.  27 

unrecorded.  The  tradition  that  Peter  at  last  suffered  martyrdom 
at  Kome,  under  Nero,  is  probably  entitled  to  credit.  It  is  of  earlier 
origin  than  the  unfounded  legends  respecting  his  particular  rela- 
tion to  the  Roman  Church, 

Our  knowledge  of  the  Apostle  Paul's  missionary  life  is  far  from 
being  complete.  We  have  only  a  brief  sketch  of  journeys  and  toils 
The  career  ^^^^  extended  over  a  period  of  thirty  years.  Large 
of  Paiii.  spaces  are  passed  over  in  silence.     For  example,  in  the 

catalogue  of  his  sufferings,  incidentally  given,'  he  refers  to  the  fact 
that  he  had  been  shipwrecked  three  times,  and  these  disasters  were 
all  prior  to  the  shipwreck  on  the  island  of  Malta  described  by 
Luke.^  Shortly  after  the  conference  at  Jerusalem  he  started  on  his 
second  missionary  tour.  He  was  accompanied  by  Silas,  and  was 
Paul's  second  joined  by  Timothy  at  Lystra.  He  revisited  his  converts  in 
i^urae"'"'^  Eastern  Asia  Minor,  founded  churches  in  Galatia  and 
53A.D.  Phrygia,  and  from  Troas,  obedient  to  a  heavenly  sum- 

mons, crossed  over  to  Europe.  Having  planted  at  PhiliiDpi  a  church 
that  remained  remarkably  devoted  and  loyal  to  him,  he  followed  the 
great  Roman  road  to  Thessalonica,  the  most  important  city  in  Mace- 
donia. Driven  from  there  and  from  Berea,  he  proceeded  to  Athens. 
In  that  renowned  and  cultivated  city  he  discoursed  on  Mars  Hill 
to  auditors  eager  for  new  ideas  in  philosophy  and  religion,  and  in 
private  debated  with  Stoics  and  Epicureans.'  At  Corinth,  which 
had  risen  from  its  ruins  and  was  once  more  rich  and  prosj)erous, 
he  remained  for  a  year  and  a  half.  It  was  there,  probably,  that  he 
wrote  his  two  Ej^istles  to  the  Thessaloniau  Christians.  After  a  short 
stay  at  Ephesus  he  returned  to  Antioch  by  way  of  Cesarea  and  Jeru- 
salem. It  was  not  long  before  Paul — a  second  Alexander,  but  on  a 
paurs  third  psaceful  expedition — began  his  third  great  missionary 
Surne'r^^  joumcy.  Taking  the  land  route  from  Antioch,  he  trav- 
55A.D.  ersed  Asia  Minor  to  Ephesus,  a  flourishing  commercial 

mart,  the  capital  of  the  Roman  province  of  Asia.  There,  with  occa- 
sional absences,  he  made  his  abode  for  upwards  of  two  years.  Prom 
Ephesus,  probably,  he  wrote  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians.  The 
malignant  and  partially  successful  efforts  of  judaizers  to  prevail 
on  his  Galatian  converts,  who  were  of  Celtic  lineage,  to  adopt  the 
Mosaic  ceremonies,  together  with  the  judaiziug  assault  on  his  title 
to  be  considered  an  Apostle,  called  out  from  him  the  sharpest 
denunciation  that  we  have  from  his  pen  of  these  conspirators 
against  Christian  liberty.     From  Ephesus  Paul  also  wrote  the  First 

'  2  Cor.  xi.  23-39.  'Acts  xxvii.  ^  ^cts  xvii.  18,  21. 


28  THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE.  [Period  I. 

Epistle  to  the  Corinthians.  The  Second  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians 
he  probably  wrote  from  Philippi.  Parties  had  sprung  up  among 
them.  One  party  professed  to  look  to  Paul  as  its  head  ;  another 
preferred  to  follow  Apollos,  the  eloquent  Alexandrian  convert, 
who  had  been  instructed  by  Aquila  and  Priscilla,  the  friends  of 
Paul ;  a  third  named  themselves  after  Peter,  but  appear  not  to 
have  attacked  the  teaching  of  the  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles,  or  to  have 
preached  to  the  heathen  disciples  the  necessity  of  circumcision  ; 
a  fourth,  "the  Christ  party,"  would  seem  to  have  been  judaiziug 
in  its  character,  and  to  have  proposed  to  confine  their  allegiance 
to  the  original  Apostles  appointed  by  Jesus.  Paul  rebuked  the 
sectarian  spirit,  protested  against  party  names,  and  reminded  the 
Corinthian  believers  that  their  teachers,  one  and  all,  were  only 
servants  of  Christ  and  of  the  flock.  Coming  down  through  Greece, 
he  remained  there  three  months.  There  he  composed  his  Epistle 
to  the  Komans.  At  Kome  there  was  less  of  judaizing  rancor,  and 
his  tone  is  milder  than  in  writing  to  the  Galatians. 

The  untiring  Apostle  now  turned  his  face  towards  Jerusalem. 
He  desired  to  be  present  at  the  festival  of  the  Pentecost.  In  order 
to  save  time,  he  sailed  past  Ej)hesus,  and  at  Miletus  bade  a  tender 
farewell  to  the  Ephesian  elders.  He  had  fulfilled  his  pledge  giv- 
en at  the  conference,  and  he  now  carried  contributions  from  the 
Christians  of  Macedonia  and  Achaia  for  the  poor  at  Jerusalem. 
Yet  he  was  not  wholly  without  misgivings  as  to  the  reception  that 
would  be  accorded  to  him  even  by  the  brethren  there. '  From  the 
unbelieving  Jews  he  could  expect  nothing  but  venomous  hostility 
Paul  at  jeru-  ^^^  outbreakings  of  violence.  He  found,  indeed,  that 
eaiein.  |.^g  Jewish  Christians,  gathered  in  great  numbers  at  the 

festival,  had  been  told  by  Jews  and  judaizers  that  he  was  an  active 
opponent  of  the  legal  observances,  even  when  practised  by  believers 
of  Jewish  birth.  As  at  the  earlier  conference,  James  and  the  elders 
were  cordial  in  their  feeling  and  expressions.  James  looked  on  the 
act  of  the  conference  as  a  settlement  in  relation  to  the  Gentile 
converts  everywhere.  His  prudent  device  for  convincing  the  mis- 
informed and  prejudiced  that  Paul  was  not  waging  a  war  against 
Moses,  failed  of  its  full  effect,  owing  to  a  false  rumor  that  Paul  had 
taken  Trophimus,  a  heathen  convert  from  Ephesus,  within  the 
sacred  walls  of  the  temple.  The  Apostle  was  rescued  by  a  detach- 
ment of  the  Roman  garrison  from  a  mob  of  Jewish  malignauts,  was 
held  in  custody  for  two  years  at  Cesarea,  and  was  finally  enabled 

'Rom.  XV.  31,  32. 


1-100.]         THE  POUNDING  OF  THE  CHURCH.  29 

to  accomplish  a  long-clierisliecl  intention  to  go  to  Rome,  by  being 
conveyed  there  as  a  prisoner,  he  having  made  an  appeal  to  Caesar. 
After  being  wrecked  on  the  Mediterranean  and  cast  ashore  on  the 
island  of  Malta,  under  the  circumstances  related  in  Luke's  graphic 
and  accurate  description  of  the  voyage,'  he  went  on  his  way  in 
safety  to  the  capital.  There  he  was  under  the  sui'veil- 
Paui  at  ome.  j^^^^^  q£  ^-^^  Prffitorian  guard,  but  was  allowed  to  i-eceive 
in  his  own  hired  apartments  those  who  wished  to  see  him.  He 
counted  among  his  converts  some  of  "Caesar's household."  Of  the 
circumstances  of  the  forming  of  the  Church  at  Rome  we  have  no 
knowledge.  That  Paul,  neither  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Romans  nor 
in  the  Epistle  to  the  Philippians  written  from  Rome,  makes  men- 
tion of  Peter,  shows  that  the  legend  which  ascribes  its  foundation 
to  him  is  a  fiction.  This  has  been  admitted  even  by  noted  Roman 
Catholic  scholars.  It  is  possible  that  Jews,  converted  at  Pentecost, 
or  driven  from  Jerusalem  on  the  occasion  of  the  first  persecution, 
found  their  way  to  the  capital  and  formed  the  nucleus  of  the 
Church  there.  It  comprised  both  Jewish  and  Gentile  Christians. 
Among  them  there  were  judaizing  adversaries,  but  the  body  of  the 
Jewish  believers  in  the  Roman  Church  regarded  Paul  with  sym- 
pathy and  respect.  At  Rome,  during  this  period,  were  written  the 
Epistles  to  the  Ephesians,  to  the  Colossians,  to  the  Phihppians, 
and  to  Philemon.  The  Pastoral  Epistles — I.  and  II.  Timothy  and 
Titus — imply  a  release  from  imprisonment.  In  the  interval  before 
his  second  imprisonment,  he  appears  to  have  gone  to  Macedonia 
and  to  have  twice  visited  Asia  Minor ;  and  it  is  not  improbable  that 
he  journeyed  as  far  "West  as  Spain.  This  second  imprisonment  was 
Death  of  Paul,  brought  to  an  end  by  his  martyrdom.  He  was  put  to 
G7or68A.D.  (jg^th  near  the  close  of  Nero's  reign.  Being  a  Roman 
citizen,  we  may  assume  that  he  was  beheaded — probably  outside  of 
the  gate,  upon  the  road  leading  to  Ostia.  No  man  living  in  that 
age  stands  on  so  high  a  plane,  intellectually  and  morally,  as  the 
Apostle  Paul.  No  fact  in  the  history  of  that  period  is  more 
sublime  than  the  unfaltering  constancy  of  his  faith.  In  how  many 
of  the  great  cities  of  the  Roman  world,  forming,  as  it  were,  a  chain 
from  Antioch  to  Rome,  had  he  planted  churches,  which  were  or- 
ganized, were  in  communication  with  one  another,  and  by  their 
charitable  collections,  if  in  no  other  way,  in  connection  with  the 
Mother  Church  in  Jerusalem !  An  historian  has  adverted  to  the 
fact  that  shortlv  after  "  his  noble  head  fell  under  the  executioner's 


30  THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE.  [Period  I. 

sword,"  the  great  temples  of  Kome  and  of  Jerusalem,  tlie  temple  of 
Capitoline  Jupiter,  the  august  sanctuary  of  the  Eoman  people,  and 
the  temple  on  Mount  Zion,  were  destroyed  by  fire — as  if 
to  signalize  the  death  of  the  hero  of  the  faith,  who  had 
'^'^  ^■°"  smitten  with  a  fatal  blow  the  stupendous  fabrics  of  Gen- 

tile and  Jewish  worshij). 

As  long  as  Christians  were  confounded  with  the  Jews,  it  was 
only  from  the  Jews,  who  alone  understood  the  difference,  that  they 
Persecution  at  1^'^^^  ^o  fear  persecutiou.  It  was  natui-al  that  the  heathen 
first  by  Jews.  ^^^  ^-^^  outset  should  look  on  Christians  as  nothing  more 
than  a  Jewish  party.  It  was  in  the  Jewish  synagogues  that  the 
Christian  preachers  appeared.  They  Avere  designated  as  "Jews" 
at  Thyatira'  by  those  who  did  not  like  to  lose  the  profits  which  they 
had  reaped  through  a  female  diviner.  The  Proconsul  Gallio  would 
not  hear  an  accusation  which  he  naturally  supposed  to  relate  to 
points  of  Jewish  theology.^  At  Ephesus  the  Jews  brought  forward 
Alexander,  one  of  their  own  number,  to  make  it  clear  that  they  had 
no  concex'n  in  the  new  preaching,  which  exposed  them  to  attack.'' 
Generally,  in  the  book  of  Acts,  the  Komans  appear  as  upholders  of 
order,  protecting  the  Apostles  of  the  new  faith  from  the  violence 
of  Jewish  fanatics.  But  this  advantage  was  lost  the  moment 
Christianity  was  distinctly  seen  by  the  Roman  authorities  and  by 
Persecution  by  ^'^i^  heathen  populace  to  be  a  religion  separate  from 
the  heathen,  juclaism.  Theu  it  no  longer  stood  under  the  shield  that 
was  extended  over  a  national  system  of  worship.  It  was  an  illegal 
religion.  Moreover,  the  attempt  to  make  proselytes,  the  organiza- 
tion of  fraternities,  and  the  holding"  of  unlicensed  meetings,  were 
special  offences  against  Roman  law.  (^  The  animosity. of  the  common 
people  was  roused  on  account  of  their  superstitious  devotion  to  the 
old  divinities,  their  idea  that  the  gods  were  incensed  by  the  deser- 
tion of  the  heathen  altars  and  hence  inflicted  terrific  calamities, 
such  as  famine  and  pestilence,  and  their  general  antipathy  to  the 
ways  of  the  Christians.  The  withdrawal  of  these  from  employ- 
ments and  diversions  which  involved  in  some  form  either  a  counte- 
nance of  heathen  worship  or  of  some  species  of  immorality,  exposed 
them  to  the  charge  of  being  unsocial.  The  absence  of  any  images 
in  their  worship  suggested  the  charge  of  atheism.]  The  entire  cru- 
sade of  the  Christians,  peaceful  though  it  was,  against  the  spirit  of 
the  world,  and  their  unrelenting  demand  of  repentance  and  regen- 
eration, could  not  fail  to  give  rise  to  virulent  opposition.    As  far  as 

'  Acts  xvi.  20.  '^  Acts  xviii.  15,  17.  ^  Acts  xix.  33. 


1-100.]  THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  CHURCH.  31 

the  persecution  of  the  Church  by  Roman  rulers  is  concerned,  the 
motive  was  not  religious  zeal  or  intolerance.  In  the  first  century 
the  cruelties  of  Nero  and  Domitian  sprving  from  personal  spite  or 
selfish  interest.'  Afterwards  the  chief  incentive  was  political  —  the 
desire  to  suppress  a  religion  that  was  held  to  be  contrary  to  law 
and  divisive  in  its  influence.  As  Mommsen  explains,  the  laws  ex- 
cluding the  new  religion,  as  those  excluding  robbery  or  any  other 
crime,  were  always  on  the  statute-booh.  To  what  degree  they 
should  be  enforced  was  dependent  on  the  Avill  of  the  local  tribunals, 
or  on  the  prompting,  whether  it  were  harsh  or  gentle,  of  the  central 
authority  at  Rome.  The  same  historian  thinks  that  it  was  made 
the  special  business  of  the  chief  priest  in  each  province  to  see  that 
the  arrangements  for  emperor- worship,  and  other  religious  obliga- 
tions, should  be  carried  out. 

The  first  marked  instance  of  heathen  enmity  on  record  was  the 
persecution  under  Nero.  It  is  described  by  the  Roman  historian 
Persecution  by  Tacitus.'  Fi'om  his  accouut  we  see  that  the  Christians 
Nero,  64  a.d.  -^g^.g  then  wcil  knowii  as  a  distinct  sect.  Nero,  who  was 
justly  detested  for  his  brutal  tyranny,  in  order  to  avert  from  him- 
self what  was,  perhaps,  a  groundless  suspicion  of  having  set  Rome 
on  fire,  accused  the  Christians  of  having  kindled  the  flames  which 
had  laid  in  ashes  a  great  part  of  the  city.  "A  vast  multitude  were 
convicted,"  writes  Tacitus,  "  not  so  much  on  the  charge  of  making 
the  conflagration,  as  of  hating  the  human  race.  And  in  their  death? 
they  were  made  the  subjects  of  sport,  for  they  were  covered  witL; 
the  hides  of  wild  beasts,  and  worried  to  death  by  dogs,  or  nailed  to 
crosses,  or  set  fire  to,  and  when  day  declined  were  burned  to  serve 
for  nocturnal  lights.  Nero  had  offered  his  own  gardens  for  this  ex- 
hibition, and,  also,  exhibited  a  game  of  the  circus,  sometimes  ming- 
ling in  the  crowd  in  the  dress  of  a  charioteer,  sometimes  standing 
in  his  chariot."  Tacitus  adds  that  at  last  compassion  was  felt  foij 
the  victims  of  Nero's  ferocity,  culpable  though  they  wei-e  deemetil 
to  be.  As  to  other  cruelties  which  Christians  may  have  suffered  in 
the  provinces  at  about  this  time,  we  have  no  authentic  info^  mation. 

The  dread  and  horror  inspired  by  Nero,  the  fact  of  liis  df.-ath 

by  his  own  hand — the  last  of  the  Csesarean  family — at  the  early 

age    of   thirty,    and   of   his    entombment   in    a   pdvate 

sepulchre,  engendered  a  rumor  that  he  had  not  really 

perished.     Among  Christians  it  took  the  form  that  he  had  retired 

beyond  the  Euphrates,  and  would  reappear  in  the  character  of 

'  Annal  xv.  44. 


32  THE   APOSTOLIC   AGE.  [Pekiod  I. 

Antichrist,  to  fiuisli  the  destruction  of  Eome,  the  mystic  Babylon, 
an  event  to  be  followed  immediately  by  the  second  coming  of 
Christ.  The  appearance  of  a  number  of  pretenders  to  the  name 
and  station  of  the  vanished  emperor,  fostered  this  belief.  Long 
after  all  doubt  respecting  Nero's  death  was  dispelled,  the  idea  that 
he  -would  revisit  the  earth,  as  the  detestable  forerunner  of  the 
Lord's  advent,  still  lingered  in  the  Church. 

At  the  time  of  Paul's  death,  the  great  Jewish  war — the  result  of 
which  was  the  capture  of  Jerusalem  by  Titus — had  already  begun. 
The  Jewish  The  growiug  fanaticism  of  the  Jews  broke  out  against 
war,  66  a.d.  ^j^^  Clii'istians,  who  did  not  sympathize  with  their  deter- 
mination to  revolt.  James,  the  Lord's  brother,  was  put  to  death 
(62  A.D.).  As  to  the  circumstances  of  his  murder  the  traditions  vary. 
They  describe  him  as  a  model  of  righteousness,  an  ascetic,  obeying 
the  Nazarite  rule,  and  as  frequently  on  his  knees  in  the  temple. 
Removal  of  "^*-*^  ^^^'  ^^'°^  ^^^  beginning  of  the  war  the  Apostle  John 
John  and  oth-  transferred   himself   to  Asia   Minor.     He   took   up  his 

ers  to  Asia  -i-,i  it-  -i  ^ 

Minor,  abode  at  Ephesus,  w'here  he  uvea  to  an  advanced  age 

and  died  near  the  close  of  the  century.  Besides  John, 
others  prominent  in  the  Church  joined  in  this  migration.  The 
Apostle  Philip  spent  his  last  days  at  Hieropolis,  in  Phrygia,  where 
he  lived  with  his  daughters.  At  least  two  other  disciples  of  Jesus 
— John,  "the  Presbyter,"  and  Aristiou,  are  known  to  have  lived  in 
this  region.  The  canonical  book  of  Revelation  was  composed  under 
the  impressions  produced  either  by  the  Neronian  persecution,  or 
by  other  cruelties  of  a  like  character.  Its  authorship  is  ascribed  by 
the  ancient  ecclesiastical  tradition  to  John  the  Apostle.  Near  the 
close  of  his  Hfe,  "  the  Disciple  whom  Jesus  loved  "  wrote  the  Gospel 
and  the  Epistles  which  bear  his  name.  Among  the  legends  pertain- 
ing to  his  last  years  is  the  story  of  his  courage  and  kindness  in  the 
reclaiming  of  a  robber  whom  he  had  once  baptized.  It  is  related 
that  when  too  old  to  stand  he  was  wont  to  sit  in  a  chair  and  to  re- 
iterate before  the  Christian  flock  the  simple  words,  "  Little  chil- 
dren, love  one  another."  Authentic  reminiscences  of  his  benign 
influence,  and  traces  of  his  activitj-  long  remained  among  the 
churches  and  the  teachers  of  the  gospel  in  the  district  of  which 
Ephesus  was  the  centre. 

The  fall  of  Jerusalem  and  the  destruction  of  the  temple  by  aV 

Faiiofjeiu-    fii^'ehraud  thrown  into  it  by  a  soldier  of  Titus,  were  a 

S  Bar  cMhab  <^^eath-blow  to  judaizing,  and  even  to  Jewish  Christianity. 

It  is  not  certain  that  the  rites  of  Jewish  worship  were 

permitted  in  Jerusalem  after  its  capture  by  Titus.    It  is  certain  that 


1-100.]  THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  CHURCH.  33 

after  the  fierce  uprising  under  Bar-cochab,  a  pretended  Messiah,  in 
the  time  of  Hadrian  (135),  which  was  crushed  with  tremendous 
slaughter,  the  old  rites  were  wholly  excluded  from  that  city.  The 
enmity  of  the  bulk  of  the  Jews  to  the  Christian  faith,  and  the  ver- 
Fateof  juda-  clict  uttered  against  them  as  a  nation,  through  appalling 
jewfsh"*^  acts  of  Providence,  extinguished  all  hope  of  a  triumph 
Christianity.  ^£  ^j^g  j-,g^  kingdom  uiider  Judaic  auspices,  and  with  it 
the  main  support  of  the  Mosaic  rites  as  practised  in  the  Church. 
The  rapid  progress  of  the  Church  among  the  Gentiles  conduced  to 
the  same  result.  The  Gospel  and  the  Epistles  of  John  are  as  cath- 
olic in  their  tone  as  are  the  WTitings  of  Paul.  Judaic  Christianity 
was  a  thing  outgrown.  The  religion  of  Jesus  had  broken  the  chain 
of  bondage  to  the  Old  Testament  system.  Thenceforward,  such  as 
clung  to  the  observances  of  the  law  more  and  more  sink  into  the 
position  of  heretical  parties,  tenacious  of  life,  but  isolated  and  des- 
tined to  extinction. 

Among  the  many  unfounded  legends  respecting  the  labors  of 
the  Apostles  is  the  tale  that  it  was  determined  by  lot  among  them 
Legends  of  ^^  what  countrics  they  should  go,  and  that  the  Apostles 
the  Apostles,  -^g^e  divided  for  this  purpose  into  three  groups.  An- 
cient, but  untrustworthy,  traditions  represent  Andrew  as  preaching 
in  Scythia,  Thomas  in  Parthia,  and,  according  to  later  accounts,  in 
India,  and  Mark  as  the  founder  of  the  Church  in  Alexandria.  The 
ambition  to  trace  national  churches  back  to  the  apostolic  age  ac- 
counts for  the  claim  of  the  Spaniards  that  James,  the  brother  of 
John,  preached  in  Spain,  and  that  his  body  was  transported  to 
that  country  and  was  biiried  at  Compostella  ;  of  the  French,  that, 
among  others,  Dionysius  the  Areopagite,  and  Lazarus  planted  the 
gospel  in  their  land  ;  of  the  English,  that  Simou  Zelotes,  Joseph  of 
Arimathea,  and  even  Paul,  labored  in  Britain,  etc.  The  truth  is 
that  the  lives  of  most  of  the  Apostles,  as  well  as  the  circumstances 
of  their  death,  are  involved  in  the  deepest  obscurity. 

There  was  an  early  tradition,  which  is  not  incredible,  that  the 
Emperor  Domitian  had  oi'dered  the  descendants  of  David  to  be 
Persecuton  ^lain  ;  that  the  grandchildren  of  Judas,  the  brother  of 
by  Domitian,    Jesus,  wcrc  brought  before  him  ;  but  that  finding  that 

c.  95  A.D.  »  D  »  » 

they  were  poor,  harmless  rustics,  expecting  no  earthly 
kingdom,  he  dismissed  them  with  contempt.  Toward  the  close  of 
his  reign  Domitian  subjected  the  Christians  at  Eome  to  savage  per- 
secution. His  naturally  morose  and  jealous  temper  was  further 
soured  by  military  reverses.  He  took  up  the  charge  of  atheisin, 
which  was  beginning  to  be  made  against  Christians  as  well  as  Jews. 


34  THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE.  [Period  1. 

Among  the  converts  who  perished  was  Flavius  Clement,  the  em- 
peror's cousin.  This  martyr's  wife,  Flavia  Domitilla,  was  banished. 
A  cemetery  of  "  Domitilla,"  one  of  the  early  burial-places  of  Chris- 
tians, was  not  unlikely  her  gift  to  her  Christian  brethren.  Other 
Christians  were  put  to  death,  some  were  banished,  and  the  property 
of  others  was  confiscated. 

When  we  take  into  view  the  results  of  the  preaching  of  the 
Apostles  we  see  that  great  things  were  effected.  With  some,  at 
Results  of  the  ^  time  whcu  miracle  and  mystery  had  a  peculiar  fasci- 
pieaching.  uation,  the  signs  and  wonders  wrought  by  the  Apostles 
had  a  decisive  influence.  Others,  like  the  Ethiopic  proselyte  at 
Gaza,  saw  how  conformed  to  ancient  prophecies  was  the  death  of 
Jesus  on  the  cross.  "To  many  whose  burdens  were  heavy,  the 
peace  of  God,  which  Christianity  announced,  brought  hope  in  the 
room  of  hopelessness,  strength  where  there  was  weakness,  an  at- 
tractive influence  that  lifted  them  above  all  misgivings  and  diffi- 
culties, even  under  the  scoffs  of  philosophers.  Intercourse  with 
kindly  Christians  and  glimpses  of  their  quiet  domestic  virtues, 
mingled  as  these  were  with  the  courage  with  which  a  man  like  Paul 
bade  defiance  to  danger,  aroused  the  yearning  for  God  which  Christ 
had  implied  would  appear  when  the  disciples  should  let  their  light 
shine  before  men.  The  great  proclamation  of  the  gospel  and  the 
powerful  religious  awakening  everywhere  consequent,  produced 
the  most  extraordinary  commotion."  At  Jerusalem,  as  we  have 
seen,  thousands  at  one  time  embraced  the  gospel.  At  Antioch,  in 
Pisidia,  almost  the  whole  population  were  drawn  together  to  hear 
Paul.  At  Ephesus,  Jewish  and  Greek  magicians  cast  their  books 
into  the  fire.  Hostile  Jews — exorcists — used  the  name  of  Jesus 
to  conjure  with.  Silversmiths  who  made  shrines  of  Diana  were 
afraid  that  their  business  Avould  be  gone.  The  goddess  was  in 
danger  of  being  deserted  by  her  votaries.  The  churches  at  Je- 
rusalem, Antioch,  Corinth,  Ephesus,  and  Rome  were  very  large. 
The  Church  at  Jerusalem  comprised  thousands  of  members.  At 
Rome,  Tacitus  informs  us,  the  Christians  were  a  great  multi- 
tude. The  cry  at  Thessalonica  was  that  the  Apostles  had  turn- 
ed the  world  upside  down.  Paul  could  say  that  the  gospel  had 
been  preached  to  every  creature,  and  was  in  all  the  world  bear- 
ing fruit'  The  Apocalypse  indicates  that  the  number  of  converts 
was  very  great.  ^     If  they  were  generally  from  the  ranks  of  the 

'  Col.  i.  23,  6.  «  Rev.  vii.  4-9;  xiv.  1,  4. 


1-100.]         THE  FOUNDING  OP  THE  CHURCH.  36 

poor  and  the  suflfering,  this  was  not  uniformly  the  fact.  Among 
them  were  persons  who  belonged  to  the  imperial  household.  In 
the  Church  there  were  women  of  wealth  and  social  position,  as 
Lydia  in  Philippi,  and  even  Domitilla,  the  kinswoman  of  Domi- 
tian.  There  were  also  men  of  distinction,  "Such  were  Sergius 
Paulus,  proconsul  of  Cyprus  ;  Publius,  the  Eoman  ruler  in  Malta  ; 
Flavins  Clement,  who  had  held  the  oflSce  of  consul  at  Rome  ; 
the  Asiarchs,  or  chief  officers  of  Asia,  at  Ephesus  ; "  Dionysius, 
a  member  of  the  Council  of  Areopagus  at  Athens  ;  Erastus,  the 
public  treasurer  at  Corinth  ;  the  centurion  Cornelius,  at  Csesa- 
rea  ;  Luke,  the  physician,  and  Theophilus,  to  whom  he  addressed 
his  writings  ;  Crispus,  ruler  of  the  Jewish  synagogue  at  Corinth  ; 
and,  among  the  Jews,  members  of  the  Sanhedrim,  Pharisees,  and 
priests." 

The  basis  of  ecclesiastical  organization  was  the  fraternal  equal- 
ity of  believers.     "All  ye  are  brethren."  "     Instead  of  a  sacerdotal 

order  there  was  a  universal  priesthood.'  Jesus  had 
churchorgan-  spokcu  of  "the  Church,"  in  a  sense  answering  to  the 

"congregation"  of  Israel,  a  conception  familiar  to  Old 
Testament  readers.  Of  this  Church  he  was  to  be  the  builder. 
Complaints  on  the  part  of  one  disciple  against  another  were  to  be 
carried  to  "the  Church,"  the  body  of  disciples,  with  the  Apostles  at 
their  head.  His  injunctions  to  the  Apostles  to  superintend  the 
flock,  and  the  rites  of  baptism  and  of  the  Lord's  supper,  imply 
definite  association.  The  synagogue  naturally  served  as  a  model 
in  the  organization  of  churches.  They  are  even  called  by  that  name 
in  the  Ejoistle  of  James. ^  This  was  their  character  at  the  outset. 
Yet  the  first  office  created,  that  of  deacons,  sprung  out  of  the  special 

needs  of  the  Church  at  Jerusalem,  there  being  no  of- 
and  the  elder- '  ficc  just  like  it  in  the  synagogue.  The  organization  of  the 
^^^^'  Gentile  bi'otherhoods  was  gradual.     In  writing  to  Cor- 

inth, Paul  does  not  distinctly  refer  to  officers  as  existing  there  ;  yet 
he  speaks  of  those  called  of  God  to  help  and  to  govern.^  At  first 
the  deacons  had  it  for  their  business  to  see  to.the  poor.  Luke  gives 
no  account  of  the  institution  of  the  eldership,  perhaps  because  this 
same  office  was  a  well-known  feature  in  the  Jewish  synagogues.  In 
the  Church,  as  in  the  synagogue,  the  elders  or  presbyters  were  equal 
in  rank,  although  one  of  the  "  rulers  of  the  synagogue  "  among  the 

'  Acts  xix.  31.  2  Matt,  xxiii.  8.  '  1  Pet.  ii.  5,  9. 

*  James  ii.  2  (Revised  Version).  ^  1  Cor.    xii.  28. 


36  THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE.  [Period  I. 

Jews  may  have  sometimes  acted  as  president  of  the  board.  In  the 
Gentile  churches,  the  presbyters  are  also  called  "bishops,"  the 
translation  of  a  Greek  word  meaning  "  overseers."  The  two  words 
are  applied  in  the  New  Testament  to  the  same  officers  indiscrim- 
inately. The  word  bishop,  or  "  overseer,"  was  familiar  in  this  sense 
to  readers  of  the  Old  Testament  in  the  Septuagint  version.  Both 
tei-ms,  "  presbyter  "  and  "  bishop,"  appear  to  have  been  in  use  in 
Syria  and  Asia  Minor  to  designate  officers  of  municipal  and  of 
private  corporations.  What  influence  was  exerted  from  this  use  of 
the  terms,  and  from  the  Gentile  example  of  similar  offices,  remains 
to  be  determined.  The  work  of  the  council  of  elders  in  all  the 
churches  was  primarily  to  superintend  religious  worship,  and  in 
part  to  watch  over  the  temporal  well-being  of  the  brotherhood. 
They  were  first  chosen  "  to  rule,"  not  to  teach  ;  yet  the  ability  to 
teach  was  soon  deemed  an  important  qualification,  and  became  both 
an  essential  and  a  leading  function  of  the  office.' 

The  capacity  to  hold  office,  or  to  minister  in  whatever  way  to 
the  spiritual  upbuilding  of  the  Church,  was  regarded  as  a  gift  of 
the  Spirit — a  charisma.      Of  course,  the  designation  to 
how  ap-  ^"      these  varied  ministries  accorded  with  the  natural  talents 
^°^^  ^  ■  and  aptitudes  of  the  individuals  thus  selected  and  em- 

powered by  the  Holy  Spirit.  As  far  as  spiritual  quickening  and 
instruction  were  concerned,  they  comprised  the  gift  of  tongues,  a 
form  of  ecstatic,  unintelligible  utterance,  which  those  possessed  of  a 
gift  of  interpretation  explained  ;  the  gift  of  prophecy,  or  of  fervent 
speech,  which  deeply  moved  the  auditors,  whether  believers  already, 
or  heathen  who  came  into  the  meetings ;  the  gift  of  discerning  spirits, 
or  of  judging  whether  the  addresses  made  came  from  a  true  and 
divine  source  ;  and  the  gift  of  teaching,  or  of  discovirsing  in  a  more 
quiet  and  connected  style.  Those  perceived  to  be  endowed  with 
this  last  gift  were  recognized  as  "teachers,"  and  formed  a  class 
called  by  this  name.  "  Evangelists  "  were  missionaries,  deputies  of 
the  Apostles,  selected  by  them  to  assist  in  their  missionar}''  work. 
Timothy,  Titus,  Silas,  and  others  belonged  to  this  class.  The 
elders  and  deacons  in  the  several  churches  were  chosen  by  the  body 
The  churches  ^f  disciplcs.  There  was  but  one  organization  within  the 
thefrlonnec-  lii^its  of  a  town.  The  church  "  in  the  house  "  of  this 
tion.  oj.  ^ijjit  individual  was  simply  a  religious  meeting  held 

there  as  a  matter  of  convenience,  the  term  "  church  "  being  used  in 
its  ordinary  sense  of  "assembly."     The  connection  of  the  churches 

'  Heb.  xiii.  7,  17,  24  ;  1  Tiin.  iii.  2 ;  2  Tim   ii.  24, 


1-100]  CHRISTIAN  LIFE.  37 

was  not  organic.  Tliey  were  bound  together  only  by  ties  of  sym- 
pathy, save  that  they  acknowleged  in  common  the  supervision  of 
the  Apostles.  To  the  Apostles  had  been  given  the  power  of  the 
keys  and  the  power  of  binding  and  loosing,  that  is,  the  authority 
to  exercise  Christian  discipline,  and  a  legislative  or  judicial  func- 
tion in  connection  with  the  planting  of  the  gospel.  Yet  at  Corinth 
it  is  the  Church  as  a  body,  acting  under  the  monition  of  the  Apos- 
tle, that  excommunicates  an  unworthy  member.'  Influential  in 
promoting  mutual  knowledge  and  a  spirit  of  union  among  the 
scattered  Christian  societies,  were  the  journeys  of  the  Apostles, 
especially  of  Paul,  their  letters,  which  were  sometimes  sent  from 
one  church  to  another,^  the  journeys  of  apostolic  helpers  and  of 
other  Christians,  almsgiving,  and  the  liberal  exercise  of  hospitality. 


CHAPTEK  III. 

CHRISTIAN  LIFE  :   CHRISTIAN  WORSHIP  :   CHRISTIAN  TEACHING. 

According  to  the  picture  given  us  by  Luke  of  the  Church  at  Je- 
rusalem, it  was  at  the  beginning  like  a  family.  Yet  the  surrender 
The  Church  at  of  goods  iuto  the  commou  treasury  was  purely  voluntary. 
fhI'i^^J,TJ„    It  was  neither  universal  on  the  part  of  the  members  nor 

the  common  -c^ 

treasury.  "vvas  it  a  permanent  custom.^  It  was  a  part  of  the  first 
outpouring  of  brotherly  love  among  the  followers  of  the  risen  Jesus. 
Galilean  disciples  who  remained  at  Jerusalem  may  have  sold  their 
possessions  at  home  and  offered  the  proceeds  as  a  gift  to  the 
brotherhood.  Such  a  practice  could  not  continue.  The  Church 
was  not  to  supplant,  but  to  sanctify,  natural  relations,  such  as  give 
rise  to  individual  ownership  and  underlie  the  family  and  the  state. 
Yet  this  example  of  giving  up  private  property,  coupled  with  the 
going  forth  of  the  Apostles  without  wallet  or  gold  or  silver,  had 
great  effect  in  after  ages,  when  the  desire  sprung  up  for  a  literal 
imitation  of  the  first  disciples. 

In  addition  to  the  ordinary  Jewish  worship  at  the  stated  hours 
in  the  temple,  the  disciples  met  daily  in  groups  at  private  houses. 

.  In  these  meetings  they  sat  at  the  table  together,  and  par- 

meetings  ;  the  took  of  a  commou  meal,  the  agape,  or  love-feast.  At  the 
close  of  this  repast,  whoever  presided  handed  round  the 
bread  and  wine,  as  Jesus  had  done  at  the  Last  Supper.  This  was 
the  primitive  form  of  the  sacrament.     As  time  went  on,  the  Jewish 

1  1  Cor.  V.  3-5.  2  Col.  iv.  16.  «  Acts  v.  4:  vi.  1  ;  xii.  13. 


38  THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE.  [Period  I. 

Christians  manifested  a  steadfast  spirit  in  enduring  persecution, 
■which  is  praised  by  the  Apostle  Paul. '  A  spirit  of  forgiveness,  which 
was  not  a  native  quality  of  theii"  race,  a  spirit  that  appeared  in  the 
dying  intercession  of  Stephen,  was  one  of  the  effects  of  the  gospel. 
The  Master  on  the  cross  had  prayed  for  his  enemies.  In 
the^GmiiJe  the  Gentile  churches  the  contrast  between  the  Chris- 
chnstians.  ^jj^j^g  g^^^j  ^jj^g  world  about  them  was  of  necessity  more 
marked.  They  had  more  to  cast  off,  for  the  heathen  religious  system 
mingled  itself,  in  one  form  or  another,  in  very  many  of  the  occupa- 
tions and  amusements  of  life.  The  striking  reformation  of  morals 
among  the  heathen  converts  is  brought  to  our  notice  in  various  pas- 
sages of  the  apostolic  epistles.''  Especially  was  this  change  remark- 
able in  respect  to  chastity  ;  for  licentiousness  was  a  prevaihng  vice 
of  heathen  society.  Domestic  purity  took  the  place  of  sensual  in- 
dulgence, and  of  that  laxness  of  the  marriage  tie  which  made 
divorces  an  every-day  occurrence.  Woman  was  raised  to  be  a  com- 
panion of  man,  instead  of  an  instrument  of  his  passions  and  a  victim 
of  his  tyranny.  The  Gentile  converts  had  their  peculiar  faults. 
The  appetites  were  not  at  once  stripped  of  their  power.  ^  Christian 
principle  might  give  way  in  the  conflict  with  the  seductions  of  sense. 
On  the  other  hand,  a  fondness  for  speculation,  and  with  it  a  pride 
of  intellect  and  an  arrogant  feeling  toward  those  inferior  in  talents, 
were  Greek  vices  that  occasionally  reasserted  themselves  within 
the  Christian  fold.''  Women  in  some  of  the  churches  manifested  a 
love  of  finery  and  of  display,^  and  at  Corinth,  with  their  newly 
gained  sense  of  equality,  overstepped  the  bounds  of  modesty  and 
reserve  prescribed  by  ancient  sentiment."  Disorders  arose  there 
which,  had  they  been  allowed  to  spx-ead,  instead  of  being  checked 
as  they  were  by  the  energetic  remonstrances  of  Paul,  would  have 
brought  the  Christian  societies  into  disrepute  and  have  broken 
them  up.  Paul  had  occasion  to  discom-age,  as  unchristian  and 
scandalous,  litigation  before  the  heathen  tribunals,  and  to  recom- 
mend in  such  cases  arbitration  within  the  Church,  or  even  the 
patient  endurance  of  wrong.  The  powerful  reaction  against  world- 
liness,  and  the  deep  corruption  of  morals,  engendered  in  some  an 
ascetic  spirit.  At  Corinth  there  appear  to  have  been  two  parties 
on  the  subject  of  marriage — one  that  insisted  on  it,  and  another 
that  abjured  it  altogether.     Here  Paul  took  a  middle  ground,  ex- 

'  1  Thess.  ii.  14  sq.  *  Eph.  iv.  17  sq. ;  v.  8  ;  1  Cor.  vi.  9-11. 

M  Cor.  V.  1  sq.;  Tit.  i.  10-14. 

^  Epp.  to  the  Corinthians  ;  Rom.  xiv.  1  sq.  ^1  Tim.  ii.  9  ;  1  Pet.  iii.  3. 

6 1  Cor.  xi.  2-17  ;  xiv.  34  :  1  Tim.  ii.  11,  13. 


1-100.]  CHRISTIAN  LIFE.  39 

pressing  his  personal  preference  for  the  unmarried  state.'  The 
counsel  that  he  gave  was  based  on  "  the  present  distress,"  which 
made  it  expedient  for  every  one  to  remain  as  he  was.  It  is  remark- 
able that  as  regards  this  counsel,  which  is  founded  apparently  on 
The  civil  the  expected  nearness  of  the  Lord's  Advent,  or  Parousia, 
authority.  ^j^g  Apostlo  disclaims  the  authority  of  inspiration.  It  is 
given  as  a  private  judgment  of  his  own.  The  authority  of  the  civil 
magistrate  was  assei-ted  by  Jesus  and  by  the  Apostles.^  They  af- 
firmed the  divine  origin  of  government  and  the  binding  force  of 
human  law  whenever  it  did  not  clash  with  the  commandments  of 
God.  Paul  availed  himself  of  his  privileges  as  a  Roman  citizen.^ 
Prayers  were  offered  up  for  rulers  who  were  inflicting  cruel  per- 
secution. Nevertheless,  injunctions  to  abstain  from  teaching  the  / 
gospel,  and  commands  to  pay  religious  honors  to  the  emperor, 
were  disobeyed.  A  higher  law,  an  authority  exalted  above  that  of 
the  state,  was  thus  recognized."  In  this  promulgation  of  the  rights 
of  conscience  lay  the  germs  of  civil  liberty.  The  ancient  theory  of 
the  omnipotence  of  the  state  was  now  withstood,  not  by  a  single 
philosopher  Uke  Socrates,  but  by  a  multitude,  most  of  them  be- 
longing to  the  humbler  social  class. 

Wherever  Christianity  went,  slavery  existed.  Slavery  was  not 
forbidden  by  the  Christian  teachers.  Slaves  and  their  masters  were 
Christianity  fouud  together  in  the  same  churches.  The  ethics  of  the 
and  slavery,  gospel  as  regards  civil  and  social  relations,  it  took  time 
fully  to  develop.  It  was  enough  for  the  Apostles  to  exhort  masters 
to  be  just  and  kind, ^  and  Bervants  to  be  obedient  and  jDatient. 
Paul  even  counselled  the  slave  who  might  be  free  to  decline  the 
boon.'  He  sent  back  Onesimus,  as  a  brother  beloved,  yet  to  become 
once  more  subject  to  Philemon.  In  the  fellowship  with  Christ,  on 
that  plane,  there  was  neither  bond  nor  free,  but  an  equality  before 
a  common  Lord  and  Judge.'  At  his  table  and  at  the  love-feast 
master  and  slave  sat  side  by  side.  It  was  left  for  the  genius  of 
Christianity  to  sweep  away  barriers  and  to  level  inequalities  by  a 
process  not  the  less  effective  because  it  was  indirect. 

With  the  foundation  of  the  Christian  Church  the  reign  of  love 

'  1  Cor.  vii.  1-7 ;  also,  vv.  26,  31-35. 
''  Matt.  xxii.  21  ;  Rom.  xiii.  1  sq.;  Tit.  ill.  1. 
3  Acts  xvi.  37  ;  xxv.  11.  4  j^^ts  v.  29. 

"  Col.  iv.  1  ;  cf.  1  Tim.  v.  18. 

« Eph.  vi.  5  sq.  ;  Col.  iii.  22  ;  1  Tim.  vi.  1  ;  Titus  ii.  9 ;  1  Pet.  ii.  18  ;  1  Cor. 
vii.  21 ;  Ep.  to  Philemon. 

'  Gal.  iii.  28  ;  Col.  iii.  22 ;  EpL.  vi.  8 ;  Col.  iv.  1. 


40  THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE.  [Period  I. 

on  earth  began.  Kindness  and  charity  to  the  poor,  Jesus  had  incul- 
cated by  precept  and  example.  The  diaconate  was  instituted  for 
Christian  their  Sake,  and  in  some  of  the  churches  was  committed 
chanty.  ^q  womcu  as  Well  as  to  men. '  It  belonged,  however,  to 
the  elders  to  dispense  the  charities  of  the  Church ;  the  deacons  and 
deaconesses  rendered  them  aid  in  this  work.  Widows  and  orphans 
were  sjDecially  cared  for.  A  class  of  widows  are  spoken  of  as 
"  enrolled." '  They  were  wholly  supported  by  the  Church,  and 
rendered  special  services,  although  they  are  not  to  be  confounded 
with  the  "order  "  of  widows  which  grew  up  in  the  second  centur5^ 
Industry  and  frugality  are  enjoined  in  order  that  the  Christian  may 
have  the  means  of  helping  the  needy.  Church  members  are  urged 
by  Paul  to  set  aside  on  every  Sunday  what  they  can  spare  for  the 
poor.'  A  selfish,  niggardly  spirit  on  the  part  of  the  rich  is  de- 
nounced by  James.  ^  The  love-feasts,  where  the  provisions  were 
furnished  by  the  disciples,  gave  an  opportunity  for  the  more  pros- 
perous to  make  liberal  contributions  for  the  sustenance  of  poorer 
brethren. 

The  Jewish  Chi-istians  at  first  frequented  the  synagogues. 
They  continued  to  obseiwe  the  festivals  appointed  in  the  law,  and 
Worship ;  the  ^uly  by  degrees  connected  with  them  Christian  ideas  and 
tianstthe™"  ^'^^ts.  They  kept  the  Sabbath  on  Saturday,  according  to 
Lord's  day.  tjjg  Mosaic  Commandment.  But,  side  by  side  with  this 
observance,  there  grew  up  the  custom  of  meeting  for  Christian 
worship  on  the  first  day  of  the  week,  the  day  of  tBe  Lord's  resur- 
rection. We  find  a  few  references  to  meetings  on  that  day  among 
Gentile  Christians.  In  the  Apocalypse  it  is  designated  as  the  Lord's 
day.^  In  these  apparently  spontaneous  gatherings  of  the  first 
Christians,  beginning  with  the  meeting  of  the  eleven  Apostles  in 
the  upper  chamber,  we  discern  the  first  steps  in  the  rise  of  an 
institution  that  was  to  supersede  the  weekly  observance  of  the  Old 
Testament,  and  to  commemorate  the  world's  redemption,  as  that 
had  been  a  memorial  of  its  creation.  We  have  no  distinct  mention 
of  any  yearly  festivals  among  the  Gentile  Christians.  It  seems 
probable,  however,  tliat  in  some  churches— for  example,  in  Asia 
Minor  —  where  Jewish  and  Gentile  converts  were  mingled,  the 
Passover  continued  to  be  kept,  but  transformed  itself  into  a  com- 
memoration of  the  closing  scenes  in  the  life  of  the  Lord. 

The  meetings  of  Christians  were  held  at  first  in  private  houses. 

'  Rom.  xvi.  1,  12.  ''  1  Tim.  v.  9  ;  cf.  ver.  11. 

^  1  Cor.  xvi.  2.  *  Jas.  ii.  16  ;  v.  1  sq. 

»  Mark  xvi.  14  ;  John  xx.  19,  26  ;  Acts  xx.  7 ;  1  Cor.  xvi.  2  ;  Rev.  i.  10. 


^/ 


Ny 


1-100.]  CHRISTIAN  WORSHIP.  41 

Aquila  and  Priscilla,  being  tent-makers,  had  need  of  a  large  room. 
We  find  that  both  at  Corinth  and  at  Eome  they  provided  a  place 
of  assembly  in  their  house.  At  Ephesus,  Paul  held  meetings  in  the 
"school  of  Tyrannus,"  which  was  no  doubt  hired  for  the  purpose. 
It  was  either  a  school-house  for  the  teaching  of  philosophy,  or 
one  of  the  numerous  buildings  bearing  the  name  of  schola,  which 
were  used  for  a  meeting-place  by  religious  associations  among  the 
heathen. 

Worship  in  the  apostolic  age  was  a  spontaneous  expression  of 
devout  feeling.  The  order  of  worship  was  a  free  copy  of  the  syna- 
gogue service.  Selections  from  the  Old  Testament  were  read.  Ex- 
position of  Scripture  and  spontaneous  speaking  followed.  If  a 
Order  of  letter  f  rom  an  Apostle  had  arrived,  it  was  read  to  the 
worship.  assembly.'  Prayer^was  in  part  the  function  of  the 
leader  in  the  service,  and  in  part  sprung  from  the  free,  momen- 
tary impulse  of  the  worshippers  present.  No  doubt  the  Lord's 
Prayer  was  repeated,  and  it  may  be  that  benedictions  and  short 
forms  of  devotion  were  transferred  from  the  synagogue  service  ; 
but  there  are  no  traces  of  a  definite  liturgy.  The  hymns  were, 
some  of  them,  sung  by  individuals,  and  some  by  the  whole  as- 
sembly.^ Most  of  them  were  from  the  Psalter,  but  there  were 
Christian  hymns,  fragments  of  which  are  found  in  the  epistles." 
The  ordinary  mode  of  baptism  was  by  immersion.  Whether  in 
this  rite  the  pouring  of  water  on  the  head  was  some- 
^^  ^^^'  times  practised  then,  as  it  certainly  was  subsequently, 
is  an  open  question.  The  first  distinct  reference  to  baptism  by 
affusion  is  in  the  early  writing  called  the  "  Teaching  of  the  Twelve 
Apostles,"  written  perhaps  about  120,  where  the  direction  is  given, 
in  case  there  is  not  a  sufficiency  of  watery  to  pour  water  on  the 
head  thrfce.  The  baptism  of  infants  is  neitlier  explicitly  required 
nor  forbidden  in  the  New  Testament.  Whether  this  early  practice 
can  be  traced  as  far  back  as  the  Apostles  themselves,  is  a  point  on 
which  the  evidence  is  not  so  decisive  as  to  produce  a  settled  opin- 
ion among  scholars.  When  Irenseus  wrote  (about  180),  it  was  an 
established  custom  ;  but  he  is  the  first  author  whose  recognition  of 
it  can  with  certainty  be  inferred.  A  ground  for  it  was  found  in 
the  words  spoken  by  Jesus  to  little  children,*  and  in  the  idea  of 
Paul  that  the  offspring  of  a  believing  parent  are  "holy,"  or  within 
the  pale  of  God's  people.^     The  connection  of  the  Lord's  Supper 

'  Col.  iv.  16  ;  1  Thess.  v.  27.  ^  1  Cor.  xiv.  26 ;  Col.  ill.  16.  . 

3  Eph.  V.  14 ;  1  Tim.  iii.  16  ;  1  Pet.  iii.  10-12. 

4  Matt.  xix.  14.  6  1  Cor.  vii.  14. 


42  THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE.  [Period  L 

with  the  love-feasts  appears  to  have  continued  through  the  apos- 
tohc  period. 

The  one  article  of  faith  at  the  outset  was  that  Jesus  is  the  Mes- 
siah. Whoever  acknowledged  him  in  this  character  was  baptized. 
Doctrinal  ^^^'  after  his  death  and  resurrection,  the  ancient  prophecy 
teaching.  ^f  ^  Suffering  Messiah,  and  the  recollected  teaching  of 
Jesus,  disclosed  the  meaning  of  these  events.  Enlightened  by  the 
Spii-it,  the  Apostles  saw  in  his  death  the  ground  of  forgiveness  and 
reconciliation.  The  belief  in  his  divine  sonship  appears  in  the 
first  three  gospels,  most  evidently  in  the  predicates  applied  to  him 
as  judge  of  the  world.  By  Paul  and  John,  his  pre-existence  and 
/  divinity  are  explicitly  taught.  The  early  Church,  conscious  that 
revelation  had  reached  its  climax,  or  that  the  "  last  times "  had 
come,  looked  and  yearned  for  the  speedy  return  of  the  Lord  for 
the  consummation  of  his  kingdom.  But  in  the  mystery  that 
2  ThcBs.  ii.  shrouded  the  subject,  the  Apostle  Paul  did  not  allow 
^^^-  this  hope  and   expectation  to  alai-m   and   confuse  the 

churches  under  his  care.  Types  of  doctrinal  teaching  were  un- 
folded by  the  Apostles,  in  which  the  same  gospel  was  presented  from 
Paul.  different  points  of  view — by  Paul  in  a  more  dialectic 

method,  and  with  predominant  reference  to  the  relation 
John.  q£  gospel  to  law  ;  by  John,  from  the  intuitions  of  the 

disciple  whom  Jesus  loved,  and  who  found  in  love  a  clew  to  the 
solution  of  all  problems.  Yet  the  same  pre-eminence  of  love  is 
depicted  in  rhythmical  periods  by  Paul  in  one  of  his  most  impres- 
sive passages  ; '  and  in  Paul  a  deep  mystical  vein  blends  with  the 
dialectic  spirit.  James  is  concerned  to  guard  against  the  substitu- 
tion of  theoretical  soundness  of  doctrine  for  the  practical  perform- 
ance of  duties. 

It  was  no  part  of  the  intention  of  the  Apostles  and  their  helpers 

to  create  a  permanent  literature,  nor  did  they  foresee  that  their 

writings,  which  were  called  into  being  by  special  wants 

TheNewTes-  .,       °  .  „,         ,  .       ■,  .-...^   .    "^    .K     . 

tamentwrit-  and  emergencies,  often  by  an  inability  to  visit  m  person 
™^^'  the  churches  which  they  addressed,  would  be  compiled 

into  a  volume  and  stand  in  the  eyes  of  posterity  on  a  level  with 
"  the  law  and  the  prophets. "  For  a  considerable  time  the  words 
and  works  of  Jesus  were  orally  related  by  the  Apostles,  and  by  other 
witnesses,  to  their  converts.  As  the  Apostles  for  a  number  of  years 
spent  much  time  together  at  Jerusalem,  this  oral  teaching  would 
naturally  tend  to  assume  a  stereotyped  form.  This  fact  of  an  oral 
tradition  preceding  written  narratives  must  be  taken  into  account 
1  1  Cor.  xiii. 


1-100.]  CHRISTIAN  TEACHING.  43 

in  explaining  the  characteristics  of  the  first  three  gospels.  How 
far  these  are  dependent  on  one  another  is  a  problem  which  critical 
analysis  has  not  yet  fully  determined.  That  they  existed  in  theii- 
present  comj)ass  at  about  the  time  of  the  destruction  of  the  temple 
by  Titus,  in  the  year  70 — the  first  two,  at  least,  prior  to  that  event 
— is  proved  by  the  fact  that  in  the  record  of  the  last  discourse  of 
Jesus,  the  second  coming  of  the  Lord  is  so  closely  associated  with 
that  catastrophe.  That  the  second  Gospel  is  an  independent  com- 
position of  Mark,  who  wrote  what  he  had  heard  from  Peter ;  that 
the  first  Gospel  is  to  such  an  extent  the  production  of  Matthew, 
that  it  could  properly  bear  his  name  ;  that  the  third  Gospel  ema- 
nates from  a  Gentile  Christian,  who  was  for  a  while  a  companion  of 
Paul  on  his  journeys,  are  well-established  conclusions.  Whatever 
difficulties  attend  the  supposition  that  the  fourth  Gospel  was  writ- 
ten by  John,  they  are  outweighed  by  the  perplexities  that  arise  in 
attributing  it  to  any  other  origin.  The  book  of  Acts  was  composed 
by  Luke  after  the  writing  of  the  Gospel.  We  shall  not  be  far  out 
of  the  way  in  assuming  a.d.  80  as  the  date  of  this  book.  Of  the 
General  or  Catholic  Epistles,  the  Epistle  of  James,  the  brother  of 
Jesus,  is  probably  the  earhest,  and  is,  perhaps,  the  oldest  of  all  the 
New  Testament  writings.  It  was  not  improbably  written  as  early 
as  A,D.  50.  The  doubts  that  existed  to  some  extent  in  the  ancient 
Church  as  to  the  origin  of  Second  Peter  and  of  Jude,  did  not  extend 
to  the  First  Epistle  of  Peter,  which  must  have  been  indited  before 
A.D.  67.  The  Second  and  Third  of  John,  like  the  Gospel  by  the 
same  author,  are  among  the  latest  of  the  New  Testament  docu- 
ments. Of  the  thirteen  epistles  of  Paul,  Colossiaus,  Ephesians,| 
Philippians,  and  Philemon  were  written,  as  we  have  already  said, ' 
during  his  first  imprisonment  at  Rome.  Between  the  first  and  a 
second  imprisonment  is  the  probable  place  of  Seec^  Timothy  and 
Titus,  while  ¥i^  Timothy  appears  to  have  been  composed  during 
the  second  season  of  captivity,  and  to  have  been  the  last  product 
of  the  aged  Apostle's  pen. '  The  question  about  the  authorship  of 
the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  which  was  debated  in  ancient  times, 
still  occasions  diversity  of  opinion.  The  prevailing  judgment  is 
adverse  to  the  Pauline  authorship.  Luther  is  one  of  those  who 
have  ascribed  it  to  the  eloquent  Alexandrian,  Apollos.  Many  have 
attributed  this  writing  to  Barnabas.  That  it  was  composed  while 
Jerusalem  was  still  standing,  is  plain.  Its  design  was  to  dissuade 
Jewish  Christians  from  being  betrayed  by  their  fondness  for  the 
old  rites  into  a  desertion  of  the  Christian  faith.  It  exhibits  the 
'2Tim.  iv.  7,8. 


44  THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE.  [Period  I. 

typical  character  of  these  rites.  The  Apocalypse,  at  about  the  same 
time,  foretold  things  shortly  "to  come  to  pass" — the  downfall  of 
Jewish  and  heathen  ecclesiasticism,  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  and  the 
prostration  of  the  pagan  dominion  of  Rome.  On  Rome,  designated 
as  Babylon,  "  drunken  with  the  blood  of  the  saints,  and  with  the 
blood  of  the  martyrs  of  Jesus,"  '  the  heaviest  penalties  are  to  fall. 
Beyond  these  events  in  the  near  future,  the  author,  after  the  man- 
ner of  the  Old  Testament  prophets,  lifts  the  veil  on  the  final  scenes 
of  triumph  and  of  judgment. 

'  Eev.  xvii.  6. 


PERIOD  IL 

FKOM    THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE    TO    CONSTANTINE 

(100-312). 

PEOGKESS  OF  CHRISTIANITY  IN  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 


CHAPTEE  I. 

THE  SPREAD  OF  THE  GOSPEL  :  ROMAN  PERSECUTIONS. 

MissioNAEY  effort  in  this  period  was  mainly  directed  to  the  con- 
version  of  the   heathen.      On  the  ruins  of  Jerusalem,  Hadrian's 
colony  of  iElia  Capitolina  was   planted  ;   so  that  even 

Terntonal  ,  i.-i       r^^  i      •       -j        i  ■, 

extension  of  mere  tne  Cnurch,  m  its  character  and  modes  of  worship, 
■was  a  Gentile  community.  Christianity  was  early  carried 
to  Edessa,  the  capital  of  the  small  state  of  Osrhene,  in  Mesopota- 
mia. After  the  middle  of  the  second  century,  the  Church  at  Edessa 
was  sufficiently  flourishing  to  count  among  its  members  the  king, 
Abgar  Bar  Manu.  At  about  this  time  the  gospel  was  preached  in 
Persia,  Media,  Parthia,  and  Bactria.  We  have  notices  of  churches 
in  Arabia  in  the  early  part  of  the  third  century.  They  were  visit- 
ed several  times  by  Origen,  the  celebrated  Alexandrian  Church 
teacher  (185-254).  In  the  middle  of  the  fourth  century  a  mission- 
ary, Theophilus,  of  Diu,  found  churches  in  India.  In  Egypt, 
Christianity  made  great  progress,  especially  at  Alexandria,  whence 
it  spread  to  Cyrene  and  other  neighboring  places.  In  upper 
Egypt,  where  the  Coptic  language  and  the  superstition  of  the 
people  were  obstacles  in  its  path,  Christianity  had,  nevertheless, 
gained  a  foothold  as  early  as  towards  the  close  of  the  second  cen- 
tury. At  this  time  the  gospel  had  been  planted  in  proconsular 
Africa,  being  conveyed  thither  from  Rome,  and  there  was  a  flour- 
ishing church  at  Carthage.  In  Gaul,  where  the  Druidical  system, 
with  its  priesthood  and  sacrificial  worship,  was  the  religion  of  the 
Celtic  population,  several  churches  were  founded  from  Asia  Minor. 
At  Lyons  and  Vienne  there  were  strong  churches  in  the  last  quarter 
of  the  second  centmy.     At  this  time  Irenaeus,  Bishop  of  Lyons, 


46  FROM  THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE  TO  CONSTANTINE.     [Period  11. 

speaks  of  the  establishment  of  Christianity  in  Germany,  west  of  the 
Rhine,  and  Tertullian,  the  North  African  presbyter,  speaks  of  Chris- 
tianity in  Britain.  The  fathers  in  the  second  century 
ressof^chris-  describe  in  glowing  terms,  and  not  without  rhetorical 
tiamty.  exaggeration,  the  rapid  conquests  of  the  Gospel.     The 

number  of  converts  in  the  reign  of  Hadrian  must  have  been  very 
large.  Otherwise  we  cannot  account  for  the  enthusiastic  language 
of  Justin  Martyr  respecting  the  multitude  of  professing  Christians. 
Tertullian  writes  in  a  similar  strain.  Irenasus  refers  to  Barbarians 
who  have  believed  without  having  a  knowledge  of  letters,  through 
oral  teaching  merely. 

From  the  accession  of  Vespasian  (69-79),  the  first  of  the  Flavian 
emperors,  the  Church  had  been  left  at  peace  for  almost  thirty 
Trajan  and  years.  The  Cruelties  of  Domitian  (81-96)  have  been 
the  Antonines.  related  on  a  previous  page.  Nerva  (96-98),  who  suc- 
ceeded this  tyrant,  was  a  mild  prince.  He  reversed  in  aU  points  the 
policy  of  his  predecessor.  With  Trajan  (98-117)  there  began  a 
new  era  in  the  administration  of  the  world's  government.  A  re- 
gard for  the  public  welfare  took  the  place  of  the  personal  passions 
and  the  irresponsible  despotism  of  the  preceding  period,  Trajan 
was  equally  eminent  in  camp  and  in  council.  Sagacious,  just, 
good-tempered,  simple  in  his  ways,  taking  pleasure  in  the  company 
of  men  like  Tacitus  and  the  younger  Pliny,  he  might  be  expected 
to  be  averse  to  severe  measui-es  against  his  Christian  subjects. 
But  he  was  a  conservative,  with  a  will  to  uphold  the  old  Eoman 
system  of  public  order,  and  to  strengthen  the  empire  against  dis- 
integrating forces  within,  as  well  as  against  enemies  on  its  borders. 
Of  the  rapid  growth  of  the  Church,  at  least  in  certain  places,  we 
have  an  interesting  proof  in  the  correspondence  of  Trajan  with 
Pliny,  who  was  propraetor  in  Bithynia.  These  letters,  moreover, 
bring  us  to  a  landmark  in  the  record  of  Roman  persecutions. 
Pliny,  writing  in  111,  represents  that  in  that  region  many  of  both 
sexes,  of  all  ages,  and  of  every  rank  were  accused  of  being  Chris- 
tians. This  "  superstition,"  as  he  calls  Christianity,  had  diffused 
itself  in  country  places  as  well  as  in  cities.  The  temples  of  the 
heathen  gods  had  been  almost  forsaken.  Victims  for  sacrifice  had 
found  few  purchasers.  He  desired  special  instruction  as  to  the 
method  of  dealing  with  this  sect  that  had  grown  to  be  so  numer- 
ous. In  reply,  Trajan  decides  that  they  are  to  be  let  alone,  unless 
they  are  pi-osecuted  by  an  accuser  who  gives  his  name.  If  con- 
victed, in  case  they  refuse  to  supplicate  the  gods,  they  are  to  be 
punished.     This  response  of   Trajan  is  generally  considered  an 


100-312]  THE  SPREAD  OF  THE  GOSPEL.  47 

epoch  in  the  conflict  of  the  gospel  with  the  Roman  state,  as  mark- 
ing the  date  when  Christianity  was  expressly  made  an  illegal  re- 
ligion. No  new  statute,  however,  was  issued  by  Trajan.  There 
was  simply  an  injunction  to  enforce  existing  law.  But  the  atti- 
tude of  the  state,  as  thus  defined  in  relation  to  the  Christian  faith, 
was  adhered  to,  with  intervals  of  lenity  and  indulgence,  from  that 
time.  According  to  the  more  common  belief  respecting  the  date  of 
the  death  of  Ignatius,  bishoj)  of  Antioch,  it  was  during  this  reign, 
in  110,  that  he,  more  than  willing  to  lay  down  his  life  for  the  Chris- 
tian cause,  was  transported  to  Rome,  and  perished  as  a  martyr  in 
the  amphitheatre.  Hadrian  (117-138)  was  versatile  and  cultivated, 
fond  of  literature  and  art,  a  vigorous  ruler  who  spent  the  larger 
portion  of  his  reign  in  travelling  through  the  provinces,  personally 
attending  to  their  condition  and  wants.  His  temper  was  moody, 
and  in  his  last  days  cruel.  He  built  costly  temples  and  was  a  strict 
adherent  of  the  old  religion.  Yet,  in  reply  to  the  inquiries  of  a 
proconsul  in  Asia  Minor,  he  said,  in  substantial  accordance  with  the 
mandate  of  Trajan,  that  mere  petitions  and  outcries  of  the  popu- 
lace, demanding  the  death  of  the  Christians,  were  not  to  be  heeded. 
There  must  be  a  responsible  complainant,  and  a  trial  and  convic- 
tion in  the  usual  way.  False  accusers  were  to  be  punished.  Under 
Marcus  Aurelius  (161-180),  Christians  suffered  both  from  poprdar 
fury  and  from  the  government.  The  virtuous  emperors  were  the 
most  resolute  in  the  attempt  to  keep  out  religious  innovation.  This 
wise  and  philosophic  rviler  finds  in  the  bearing  of  Christian  martyrs 
only  signs  of  obstinacy,  and  their  exultation  appears  to  him,  as  it 
naturally  might  to  a  Stoic,  a  "  tragic  show."  In  this  reign,  risings 
of  the  populace  against  the  Christians  were  frequent.  These  were 
occasioned  by  the  terrible  calamities  which  the  empire  suffered. 
There  was  not  only  warfare  without  cessation ;  there  were  earth- 
quakes and  inundations.  Famine  and  pestilence  swept  away  mul- 
titudes of  men.  In  166,  there  was  a  plague,  from  the  destructive 
effects  of  which,  Niebuhr  tells  us  that  the  empire  never  recovered. 
Death  of  Thcse  Sufferings  were  all  charged  to  the  account  of  the 
a55)^^and  of  Christians  and  their  alleged  impiety.  There  was  perse- 
justin  (i(i6).  cution  in  Asia  Minor.  One  of  the  martyrs  was  the  ven- 
erable Polycarp,  bishop  of  Smyrna,  who  had  sat  at  the  feet  of  John 
the  Apostle.  It  was  at  the  time  of  the  Christian  Easter  festival, 
when  the  heathen  were  having  their  races  and  other  games  in  the 
presence  of  the  proconsul,  Titus  Quadratus.  The  aged  saint  was  ar- 
rested by  soldiers  in  a  house  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  city,  where 
he  had  taken  refuge.     He  declined  to  avail  himself  of  another  oppor- 


48  FROM  THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE  TO  CONSTANTINE.      [Pekiod  II 

tunity  to  escape.  When  be  was  required  to  curse  Christ,  he  an- 
swered :  "  Six  and  eighty  years  have  I  served  him,  and  he  has  done 
me  nothing  but  good  ;  and  how  could  I  curse  biro,  my  Lord  and  my 
Saviour !  "  Eef  using  to  renounce  the  faith,  he  was  burned  to  death. 
Justin — Justin  Martyr,  as  he  is  generally  styled — whose  writings 
present  us  with  very  valuable  information  concerning  the  Church 
of  his  time,  was  put  to  death  at  Eome.  The  Gallic  clmrches  of 
Lyons  and  Vienne  suffered  most.  The  details  of  their  persecution 
are  given  in  a  letter  from  them  to  the  churches  of  Asia  Minor. 
Slanderous  charges  of  incest  and  of  other  abominations  practised  in 
their  meetings,  were  propagated  and  believed.  Such  rumors  were 
common  in  the  case  of  Christians  and  of  other  sects  whose  assem- 
blies Avere  private.  The  severity  of  the  tortures,  endured  without 
flinching,  even  by  young  maidens,  at  the  hands  of  heathen  magis- 
trates, almost  surpasses  belief.  The  story  of  the  torments  borne  by 
Ponticus,  a  youth  of  sixteen,  and  by  Blandina,  a  female  slave,  are 
of  this  character.  Tortures  prolonged  from  morning  until  night 
could  only  elicit  from  this  delicate  maiden  the  exclamation  :  "  I  am 
a  Christian ;  among  us  no  evil  is  done."  Pothinus,  the  aged  bishop, 
who  was  past  his  ninetieth  year,  was  brutally  treated,  and  after  two 
days  expired  in  prison.  The  tale  of  an  alleged  miracle  of  a  shower 
of  rain,  falling  in  answer  to  the  prayers  of  "  the  thundering  legion," 
a  Christian  body  of  soldiers  in  the  army  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  is 
largely,  if  not  wholly,  fabulous.  An  interval  of  rest  for  the  Church 
followed.  The  cruel  Commodus  (180-192),  the  ignoble  son  of  a 
noble  father,  was  indifferent  to  religious  divisions  and  rivalries. 
From  the  death  of  Commodus  to  the  accession  of  Diocletian,  a 
period  of  ninety-two  years,  the  emperors  were  appointed  and  de- 
posed at  the  pleasure  of  the  soldiers.  Their  treatment  of  Chris- 
tianity depended  on  their  personal  character  and  on  the  degree  of 
The  "  fioidier  their  zeal  for  the  maintenance  of  the  old  Roman  system 
emperors."  q£  pi^ii^ijc  order.  It  was  not  until  Decius  that  a  general 
persecution  was  undertaken.  The  closing  part  of  the  reign  of  Sep- 
timius  Severus  (193-211)  witnessed  a  reversal  of  the  mild  policy 
which  had  marked  the  preceding  years.  There  was  persecution, 
especially  in  North  Africa,  where,  among  the  martyrs,  were  two 
women,  Perpetua  and  Felicitas,  who  evinced  beyond  most  others 
the  power  of  the  Christian  faith.  To  the  former,  as  she  said, 
"the  dungeon  became  a  palace."  She  did  not  yield  to  the  pathetic 
entreaties  of  her  aged  father  that  she  would  recant.  The  persecu- 
tion was  continued  under  Caracalla  (211-217).  The  disposition  of 
succeeding  emperors  to  amalgamate  different  religions,  and  the  in- 


100-313.]  THE  SPREAD  OF  THE  GOSPEL.  49 

terest  they  felt  in  Oriental  religious  systems,  contributed  to  the 
security  of  Christian  worshippers.  This  was  true  in  the  case  of  the 
savage  and  i^rofligate  Elagabalus  (218-222),  and  the  more  noble 
and  devout  Alexander  Severus  (222-235.)  Under  Maximinus,  the 
Thracian  (235-238),  the  fury  of  the  heathen  populace,  which  was 
stimulated  by  governors  who  were  hostile  to  Christianity,  was  al- 
lowed to  vent  itself  without  check.  Earthquakes  in  Cappadocia 
and  Pontus,  and  signal  calamities  elsewhere,  excited  their  super- 
stitious rage,  which  displayed  itself  in  the  slaughter  of  Christians,  to 
whose  "  impiety  "  these  judgments  were  always  attributed.  Under 
the  next  tAvo  reigns,  that  of  Gordian  (238-244),  and  that  of  Philip, 
the  Arabian  (244-249),  Christians  were  not  molested  by  their 
rulers.  Their  numbers  had  so  multiplied  that  Origen  for  the  first 
time  expresses  the  belief,  which  Christian  teachers  before  him  had 
not  ventured  to  entertain,  that  the  gospel,  by  its  inherent  power, 
and  without  help  of  miracle,  would  supplant  the  religion  of  the 
heathen.  The  prosperity  and  the  bright  prospects  of  the  Church 
rekindled  the  hostility  of  its  opjDOsers.  The  Emperor  Decius,  af 
Deems,  Panuouiau  by  birth,  set  out  to  restore  the  unity  and' 

249-251.  vigor  of  the  empire.  He  was  bent  on  bringing  back  the' 
virtue  and  oixler  of  a  former  day,  and  deemed  a  revival  of  the 
policy  of  Trajan  and  Marcus  Aurelius  the  best  means  to  that  end. 
Resolved  to  extirpate  Christianity,  Decius  adopted  a  systematic 
method  for  attaining  his  object.  All  Christians,  within  a  given 
time,  were  to  appear  before  a  magistrate,  abjure  their  religion,  and 
offer  sacrifice  to  the  gods  of  Rome.  Many  remained  steadfast. 
Not  a  few  gave  way  to  terror,  and  either  joined  in  some  way  in 
heathen  worship,  or  procured  false  certificates  that  they  had  done 
so.  Fortunately  for  the  Church,  the  reign  of  Decius  was  short. 
Under  Gallus  (251-253),  pestilence,  spreading  over  the  empire,  and 
the  occurrence  of  drought  and  famine  in  various  provinces,  once 
more  stirred  up  the  wrath  of  the  heathen.  An  imperial  edict  was 
sent  forth  requiring  all  Roman  subjects  to  sacrifice  to  the  gods. 
Among  the  martyrs  were  two  Roman  bishops,  Cornelius  and  Lu- 
cius. The  Avork  left  unfinished  by  Decius  was  taken  up  by  Valerian 
(253-260),  v/hose  decrees  against  the  Church  were  skilfully  framed. 
They  included  special  enactments  against  all  Christians  of  rank  and 
distinction.  In  this  persecution  Cyprian,  the  venerable  bishop  of 
Carthage,  was  put  to  death,  and  also  the  Roman  bishop  Sixtus  and 
four  deacons  of  his  church.  In  the  case  of  Cyprian,  the  courtesy 
of  the  Roman  officials  and  the  external  decorum  of  the  whole  pro- 
ceeding, on  which  Gibbon  dilates,  only  enhance  the  horror  of  such 
4 


50  FROM  THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE  TO  CONSTANTINE.      [Period  II. 

a  deed  performed  under  the  sanctions  and  forms  of  law.  Gal- 
lienus  (260-268),  the  son  of  Valerian,  reversed  his  father's  policy, 
restored  exiled  bishops  to  their  places,  and  granted  to  Christians  a 
practical  toleration.  Now,  for  about  forty  years,  the  Church  en- 
joyed an  almost  unbroken  rest.  Then  the  last  and  most  formidable 
of  all  the  persecutions,  not  excepting  the  persecution  of  Decius, 
Diocletian,  broke  out.  Dioclctian,  a  man  of  great  talents  as  a  states- 
284-305.  man,  associated  with  him  Maximianus  as  co-regent,  and 

appointed  two  more  Gcesars,  each  to  rule  an  extensive  district  of 
the  empire.  One  of  these  was  Constantius  Chlorus.  The  other 
was  Galerius,  who  married  Diocletian's  daughter.  Instigated  by 
Galerius,  and  stimulated  by  the  old  Eoman  conservative  feeling, 
\  Diocletian,  in  303,  determined  to  exterminate  the  Christian  religion 
j  and  to  reinstate  the  ancient  system  of  worshijD.  In  pursuance  of 
/  this  plan,  a  series  of  edicts,  each  more  rigorous  than  the  preceding, 
were  deliberately  framed  for  the  accomplishment  of  his  purpose. 
The  Roman  prisons  were  soon  filled  with  bishops  and  other  clergy. 
After  the  abdication  of  Diocletian,  the  influence  of  Constantius 
Chlorus,  who  presided  over  Gaul,  Britain,  and  Sj^ain,  and  had  used 
his  power  to  protect  Christians,  became  more  potent.  But  the  new 
Caesar,  Maximinus,  and  Galerius  kept  up  their  savage  proceedings. 
At  length,  in  311,  Galerius  utterly  changed  his  course  and  pro- 
claimed toleration.  In  312  Constantine,  now  the  sole  ruler  of  the 
West,  in  connection  Avith  his  colleague  in  the  empire,  Licinius, 
issued  an  edict  of  toleration  for  both  religions. 

During  the  succession  of  jDersecutions  which  came  to  an  end  on 
the  accession  of  Constantine  to  supreme  power  and  his  adoption  of 
Behavior  of  ^^^  Christian  faith,  there  were  very  many  who  submitted 
under  p"c''-  ^^  imprisonment,  torture,  and  death.  Not  a  few,  espe- 
secution.  cially  after  long  seasons  of  quiet,  lacked  the  courage  to 
face  the  terror,  and  saved  their  lives  at  the  cost  of  their  Christian 
fidelity.  To  offer  sacrifice  to  the  heathen  gods,  to  procure  from  the 
heathen  false  testimonies  to  the  effect  that  they  had  renounced  Chris- 
tianity, or  to  give  up  copies  of  the  Scriptures  on  the  demand  of 
the  magistrates,  excluded  those  guilty  of  these  ofi"ences  from  Chris- 
tian fellowship.  As  to  the  total  number  of  martyrs  in  the  first 
three  centuries,  it  was  doubtless  over-estimated  b}'  the  Church 
fathers,  but  it  has  been  underrated  by  Gibbon,  who  draws  a  larger 
inference  than  is  warranted  from  a  passage  in  Oi'igen.  Gibbon, 
moreover,  fails  to  take  into  account  the  multitude  of  instances 
where  tortures  were  inflicted  that  resulted,  not  at  once,  yet  eventu- 
ally, in  death.     It  was  the  heroic  age  in  the  history  of  the  Church, 


100-313.]     GOVERNMENT  AND  DISCIPLINE  IN  THE  CHURC  51 

when,  with  no  aid  from  an  arm  of  flesh,  the  whole  might  of  the 
Komau  empire  was  victoriously  encountered  by  the  unarmed  and 
unresisting  adherents  of  the  Christian  faith.  Imperial  Eome,  the 
conqueror  of  the  world,  was  herself  overcome  by  the  bands  of 
Christian  disciples,  whose  meek  but  dauntless  courage  was  more 
than  a  match  for  all  her  power. 


CHAPTER  IL 

GOVERNMENT   AND   DISCIPLINE   IN   THE   CHURCH. 

"We  have  now  to  consider  the  organization  of  the  churches. 
Among  the  special  topics  are  the  rise  of  episcopacy,  the  incoming 
of  the  sacerdotal  idea  of  the  ministry,  the  growth  of  the  hierar- 
chical system  until  the  close  of  this  period. 

In  the  New  Testament,  as  we  have  seen,  there  are  two  classes  of 
officers  in  each  church,  called,  respectively,  elders  or  bishops,  and 
Rise  of  the  "  dcacons.  After  we  cross  the  limit  of  the  first  century 
episcopate.  .^g  gjj^j  ^^j^g^^^  y^^Q^  q^q]^  board  of  elders  there  is  a  person 
to  whom  the  name  of  "  bishop  "  is  specially  applied,  although,  for 
a  long  time,  he  is  likewise  often  called  a  presbyter.  In  other  words, 
in  the  room  of  a  twofold,  we  have  a  threefold,  ministry.  The  period 
that  elapsed  between  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  and  about  the 
middle  of  the  second  century  is  obscure.  For  this  interval  our  means 
of  information  are  scanty.  Much  of  the  early  Christian  literature 
has  perished.  There  is  a  list  of  authors  who  are  known  only  through 
fragments  preserved  in  later  writers.  Hence  there  are  many  ques- 
tions about  which  we  are  left,  more  or  less,  in  the  dark.  This 
Episcopate  qucstioii  of  the  origin  of  the  episcopate,  as  a  distinct 
from  thfi^^  office  from  the  presbyterate,  is  one  of  them.  To  Tim- 
presbytery.  othy,  Titus,  and  othcr  evangelists  there  was  committed 
a  certain  superintendence  of  churches.  But  they  discharged  a 
special  mission,  and  if  it  may  be  called  a  "  movable  episco- 
pate," it  is  not  thus  described  in  Scripture,  and  was  quite  distinct 
from  the  localized  episcopate  with  which  we  have  to  do.  It  is 
probable,  to  quote  the  language  of  Bishop  Lightfoot,  "  that  the 
solution  suggested  by  the  history  of  the  word  'bishop,'  and  its 
transfer  from  the  lower  to  the  higher  office,  is  the  true  solution, 
and  that  the  episcopate  was  created  out  of  the  presbytery  ;  "  "  that 
this  creation  was  not  so  much  an  isolated  act  as  a  progressive 


52  FROM  THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE  TO  CONSTANTINE.       [Period  H. 

development,  not  advancing  everywhere  at  a  uniform  rate,  but  ex- 
hibiting at  one  and  the  same  time  different  stages  of  growth  in 
different  churches."  Polycarp  is  designated  as  bishop  by  Irenseus, 
who  knew  him.  But  Polycarp,  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Church  at 
Philippi,  makes  no  mention  of  a  bishop  there  in  distinction  from 
jjresbyters.  The  Corinthians  had  no  bishop  when  Clement,  in  the 
year  96,  wrote  to  them  his  epistle.  If  the  office  had  existed  there,  the 
character  and  purpose  of  his  epistle  would  have  led  him  to  make 
-mention  of  it.  In  promoting  the  rise  of  the  episcopate,  the  example 
of  the  presidency  exercised  by  James  at  Jerusalem  would  have  its 
effect  in  Syria,  An  early  tradition  ascribes  a  special  agency  in  this 
matter  to  the  Apostle  John,  who  is  said  to  have  appointed  bishops 
in  the  churches  of  Asia  Minor.  Irenreus  tells  us  that  Polycarp  was 
appointed  by  apostles.  It  was  in  these  Syrian  and  Asian  churches 
that  the  episcopate  appears  to  have  first  taken  root.  Personal  emi- 
nence, derived  it  might  be,  as  in  the  case  of  Polycarp,  John's  dis- 
ciple, and  of  Clement  of  Rome,  a  pupil  of  Paul,  from  an  intimate 
relation  to  an  apostle,  or  from  some  other  source  of  special  esteem, 
would  tend  to  give  precedence  to  particular  individuals,  and  to  ele- 
vate them  above  their  associate  pi'esbyters.  It  accords  with  expei'i- 
ence  that  a  presidency  should  arise  in  a  body  of  peers  such  as  the 
elders  of  a  church  were.  The  Greek  term  for  bishop,  which  had 
been  used  to  designate  presbyters,  was  familiar  to  readers  of  the 
Septuagint,  where  it  denotes  an  overseer.  The  same  term,  it  would 
appear,  was  sometimes  employed  to  designate  an  analogous  office 
in  heathen  societies,  both  voluntary  and  municij^al.  The  rise  of 
sects  and  heresies,  and  the  consequent  demand  for  stricter  disci- 
pline and  for  united  action,  would  favor  the  rise  of  the  episcopate. 
The  bishop  acquired  importance,  also,  as  the  steward  of  the  chari- 
table funds  of  the  church.  He  was  the  superintendent  of  the  dea- 
cons in  their  work.  This  financial  responsibility  had  something  to 
do  with  the  building  up  of  the  office.     But  reminiscences  of  the 

primitive  parity  of  ministers  long  continued.  Jerome, 
parity  of         the  great  scholar  of  the  fourth  century,  as  an  illustration 

of  this  fact,  adverts  to  a  peculiarity  in  the  Church  of 
Alexandria.  "With  the  ancients,"  he  says,  "  presbyters  were  the 
same  as  bishops  ;  but  gradually  all  the  resjDonsibility.was  deferred 
to  a  single  person,  that  the  thickets  of  heresies  might  be  rooted 
out."  The  subjection  of  presbyters  he  designates  as  a  "custom 
of  the  churches."  Down  to  near  the  middle  of  the  third  century, 
Jerome  says,  when  a  bishop  died  at  Alexandria,  the  twelve  presby- 
ters placed  one  of  their  own  number  in  the  episcopal  office.     That 


100-312.]     GOVERNMENT  AND  DISCIPLINE  IN  THE  CHURCH.  53 

this  "was  done  without  any  subsequent  ordination  is  implied  in  his 
statement,  and  is  affirmed  by  later  authorities. 

New  light  has  been  thrown  on  the  early  constitution  of  the 

Church  by  an  ancient  writing,  lately  discovered,  the  "  Teaching  of 

the  Twelve  Apostles."     It  Avas  composed,   it  would   appear,   very 

early  in  the  second  centuiy.     Two  classes  of  permanent  officers  of 

the  local  church  are  referred  to — bishops  and  deacons. 

*'  Tejichinff  of 

the  Twelve  Nothing  is  said  of  a  marked  distinction  of  rank  between 
them.  A  high  importance  is  attributed  to  "apostles," 
who  were  travelling  evangelists  supported  by  the  alms  of  the 
churches,  and  to  "projAets  "  and  "  teachers,"  who  were  also  itiner- 
ants, but  might  settle  in  a  particular  place.  These  three  classes 
are  the  prominent  guides  in"  matters  relating  to  doctrine.  The 
office  of  bishops  and  deacons  is  primarily  administrative  ;  but 
they,  too,  perform  this  work  of  prophets  and  teachers.  Later, 
there  was  a  gradual  displacement  of  the  three  classes  of  spiritual 
guides,  whose  call  to  their  work  dejoended  on  gifts  of  the  Spirit, 
and  who  were  tied  to  no  particular  flock.  The  bishops,  the  perma- 
nent officers  of  the  local  church,  in  the  main  absorbed  their  func- 
tions, and,  while  retaining  their  local  relation,  each  to  his  ovnx 
jurisdiction,  were  considered  as  standing  in  a  general  relation  to 
the  entire  Church.  The  episcopal  office  thus  assumed  an  altered 
aspect  and  an  increased  dignity. 

The  change  to  which  we  have  just  adverted  was  one  element  in 
the  consolidation  of  the  churches.  It  was  a  factor  in  the  develo]D- 
ment  of  "  catholic  "  Christianity.  As  we  pass  the  middle  of  the 
second  century,  and  advance  to  its  close,  we  discern  the  means  by 
which  this  important  transformation  was  effected.  The  motive 
leading  to  it  was  the  peril  in  which  the  churches  were  involved  by 
Gnostic  errors,  of  which  an  account  will  be  given  hereafter.  To 
erect  safeguards  against  the  corruption  of  the  faith  was  an  impulse 
strongly,  even  when  unconsciously,  operative.  One  of  these  pro- 
tective agencies  was  the  general  adoption  of  a  "  rule  of  faith " 
as  a  touchstone  for  the  detection  of  heresy.  Another  was  the  for- 
mation of  a  canon  of  New  Testament  Scriptures.  A  third  was  an 
increased  authority  of  bishops,  and  the  position  ascribed  to  them 
of  successors  of  the  apostles.  Along  with  these  means  of  union, 
the  change  in  worship,  by  which  the  Lord's  Supper  came  to  be  re- 
garded as  a  sacred  mystery,  from  which  the  presence  of  all,  save 
communicants,  was  excluded,  deserves  to  be  mentioned.  Moreover, 
a  more  definite  theology  was  called  into  being  as  an  antidote  to 
heretical  novelties.    In  this  complex  progress  toward  "  catholic  " 


54  FROM  THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE  TO  CONSTAJJ^TINE.      [Pekiod  11. 

organization,  the  particular  feature  on  which  we  are  now  comment- 
ing, relates  to  the  powers  and  functions  of  the  clergy. 

More  important  than  mere  alterations  in  government  and  disci- 
pline was  the  introduction  and  spread  of  the  idea  that  the  ministiy 
are  possessed  of  the  attributes  of  a  priesthood.  It  was  an  idea 
that  borrowed  support  from  the  okL  J-ewish  economy  to  which  the 
Rise  of  sacer-  Christian  system  was  imagined  to  be  analogous.  Its 
dotaiism.  g^.g^  suggestiou  may  have  come  from  the  example  of  the 
heathen  priesthood.  This  conception,  once  adopted,  had  the 
effect  to  exalt  the  clergy,  especially  bishops,  in  the  popular  estima- 
tion, and  to  separate  the  ministry,  as  a  higher  order,  from  the 
"laity."  Episcopacy  at  the  outset  was  a  governmental  arrange- 
ment. The  sacerdotal  theory  does  not  make  its  appearance  prior 
to  the  end  of  the  second  century.  Tertullian  is  the  first  author  by 
whom  it  is  suggested,  and  even  he  does  not  make  an  earnest  mat- 
ter of  it.  It  is  evidently  with  him  nothing  more  than  a  passing 
thought.  In  other  places  he  asserts  emphatically  the  universal 
priesthood  of  believers.  "  From  his  writings,"  says  Harnack,  "  one 
must  infer  that  before  a.d,  200  the  term  priest  was  not  in  use  to 
designate  the  bishop  and  presbyters  of  Carthage."  The  same  thing 
is  asserted  by  Bishop  Lightfoot.  The  prerogatives  of  the  episco- 
Fimctton  of  P^l  office  Were  gradually  acquired.  In  the  ordination  of 
bishops.  presbyters  it  is  probable  that  bishoi3s  and  presbyters 

acted  together.  It  is  probable  that  the  bishop  might,  in  certain 
cases,  act  alone.  The  question  whether  presbyters  could  act 
alone,  is  still  a  subject  of  controversy.  There  are  instances  on 
record  where  such  ordination  was  disallowed,  but  earlier  it  may 
have  been  permitted.  In  the  Western  Church,  confirmation  by  the 
imposition  of  hands  became  separated  from  baj^tism.  As  early  as 
the  middle  of  the  third  century,  with  the  advance  of  the  sacerdotal 
theory,  confirmation  became  an  exclusive  prerogative  of  the  bishop. 
In  the  East,  this  change  did  not  take  place.  Infant  baptism,  infant 
confirmation,  and  infant  communion  were  associated  together. 
The  right  to  confirm  remained  with  the  presbyters. 

Clement  of  Eome  tells  us  that  the  apostles  set  over  the  churches 
presbyters  and  deacons,  and  provided  that  their  places  should  be 
The  choice  of  filled  by  othcr  worthy  men  to  be  appointed  by  them  with 
toUc'luccer-"^  the  concurrence  of  the  Church.  The  design  is  repre- 
"*'°"  sented  to  be  to  prevent  disorder  by  keeping  up  an  uii- 

broken  succession  of  officers.  This  idea  of  succession  was  familiv'j: 
in  municipal  administration  and  in  private  corporations.  To  Ire- 
naeus  and  Tertullian,  the  chain  of  Bishops — link  within  link — had 


ll 


100-313.]     GOVERNMENT  AND  DISCIPLINE  IN  THE  CHURCH.  55 

come  to  be  the  guarantee  of  the  transmission  of  genuine  apostolic 
teaching  in  the  churches.  There  is  even  a  "gift  of  truth "^ — a 
charisma — quaUfying  them  for  the  service.  EarHer,  we  find  in  the 
Epistles  of  Ignatius  that  it  is  not  the  bishops,  but  the  presbyters, 
who  are  the  successors  of  the  apostles  ;  and  later,  in  the  school  of 
Cyprian,  when  the  sacerdotal  idea  has  taken  root,  this  new  ele- 
ment modifies  the  theory  of  succession.  The  privilege  of  propos- 
ing names  for  election  caused  the  clergy  to  exercise  more  and 
more  agency  in  the  choice  of  their  successors,  until  nothing  was 
left  to  the  people  but  the  expression  of  appi'oval.  The  bishop 
was  chosen  by  the  neighboring  bishops,  together  with  the  clergy 
and  laity  of  the  particular  church  over  which  he  was  to  preside. 

With  the  increase  in  the  number  of  Christians  and  the  advance 

of  clerical  powers,  the  number  of  offices  increased.     As  early  as  the 

middle  of  the  third  century,  mention  is  made  of  a  class 

Increased  .1 

number  of  of  subdcacoiis.  Still  earlier  there  is  a  notice  of  lectors 
or  readers.  There  was  a  body  of  singers  ;  a  company  of 
door-keepers,  who  sometimes  formed  a  separate  order  ;  a  body  of 
acolytes,  who  were  attendants  of  the  bishop  ;  and  a  class  of  exor- 
cists, whose  function  it  was  to  repeat  formulas  of  abjuration  for 
the  expulsion  of  evil  spirits.  All  these  were  loosely  reckoned 
among  the  clergy,  and  contributed  to  raise  the  importance  of  the 
higher  officers  among  them. 

The  clergy  were  supported  partly  by  collections  and  gifts  of  the 
congregation.  But  they  pui'sued  the  customary  employments  of 
Occupations  socicty — tilled  the  ground,  kept  shop,  worked  at  trades, 
of  the  clergy,  j^gj^-j  ^j^jj  officcs,  ctc.  Cyprian  protests  against  a  long 
absence  of  the  clergy  on  errands  of  business,  and  against  the  ac- 
ceptance by  them  of  civil  offices,  which  would  take  up  their  time. 
Several  centuries  elapsed  before  trade  was  forbidden  to  the  clergy, 
first  in  the  West,  and  later  in  the  East.  Even  then  they  were  ex- 
pected to  learn  some  handicraft. 

No  one  was  allowed  to  become  a  clergyman  who  had  been  sub- 
jected to  Church  discipHne.  In  the  ancient  Church,  as  among 
Qualifications  ^^^  Contemporary  heathen,  there  was  a  feeling  averse  to 
of  the  clergy,  ggcond  marriages.  A  second  marriage  was  a  bar  to 
entering  the  Christian  ministry.  In  the  East,  marriages  before 
receiving  baptism  were  not  counted  as  a  part  of  this  disqualifica- 
tion. No  one  who  had  married  a  widow,  courtesan,  slave,  or  mistress 
could  be  ordained  ;  but  at  what  date  this  rule  was  adopted  we  can- 
not determine. 

The  connection  of  churches  with  one  another  was  partly  infdr- 


56  FROM  THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE  TO  CONSTANTINE.      [Period  II. 

mal  in  its  character,  and  partly  organic.  Christians  made  visits  to 
other  churches  than  those  to  which  they  belonged,  sometimes  for 
the  express  purpose  of  ascertaining  their  constitution  and  customs. 
Christian  brethren  on  their  journeys  were  hos2Ditably  entertained, 
j)rovided  they  brought  with  them  commendatory  letters  from  their 
bishop.     These  letters  admitted  them  to  fraternal  com- 

The  connec-  ■  -kt  n  ±^  i.  ^  j.  •  i 

tion  of  munion.     News  oi  threatened  persecution  was  conveyed 

c  urc  es.  fj-Qm  One  church  to  another.  If  a  member  was  excom- 
municated, information  of  the  fact  was  given  by  the  bishop  to 
other  churches. 

The  first  three  centuries  witnessed  the  gradual  growth  of  a 
hierarchical  organization.  In  this,  as  in  earlier  Church  arrange- 
Growth  of  ments,  secular  and  political  models  had  a  large  influence, 
the  hierarchy,  rpj^g  spread  of  the  saccrdotal  idea,  and,  along  with  it,  the 
tendency  to  imitate  the  Jewish  system,  were  not  without  a  strong 
effect. 

Country  churches,  formed  under  the  auspices  of  a  neighboring 
city  church,  were  aiSliated  with  it,  and  had  for  their  pastor  a  pres- 
Countrvand  byter  from  the  parent  church,  subject  to  its  bishop. 
city  bishops.  ;R,ui.rij  churches  planted  independently  had,  each  of  them, 
its  own  bishop.  The  country  bishops,  for  a  considerable  time, 
kept  up  their  independence  ;  but  most  of  these  churches,  before  the 
beginning  of  the  fourth  century,  were  subordinated,  like  the  class  of 
rural  churches  first  mentioned,  to  the  neighboring  city  community. 
Thus  each  city  bishop  had  a  jurisdiction  covering  the  town  and 
the  vicinity.  At  first  the  clergy  of  the  principal  church  in  a  town 
officiated,  in  an  appointed  order,  in  the  several  places  of  worship. 
At  a  later  day  it  became  common  to  assign  a  presbyter  to  each  of 
them  as  a  permanent  pastor,  subject,  of  course,  to  the  bishop  of  the 
town,  whose  special  connection  was  with  the  principal  church. 

The  bishop  of  the  metropolis  of  each  Eoman  province  naturally 
acquired  a  precedence  over  other  bishops  within  its  limits.  This 
was  owing  to  the  rank  of  the  city,  for,  generally  speak- 
veiopment  of  iug,  it  was  this  Consideration,  more  than  any  other,  that 
the  hierarchy,  ^-jgj^g^.jjjij^e^;!  ^]^g  relative  dignity  of  bishops.  Another 
consideration  was  the  fact  that,  not  unfrequently,  from  the  provin- 
cial capital  the  gospel  was  planted  in  many  other  places.  The 
metropolitan  arrangement  was  slow  in  being  introduced  in  the 
West,  because  in  that  region  the  cities  were  comparatively  few. 
The  prerogatives  of  metropolitans  were  for  a  long  time  undefined. 
The  theory  of  the  equality  and  independence  of  bishops  continued 
to  be  held,  and  on  occasions  was  boldly  asserted. 


100-312.]     GOVERNMENT  AND  DISCIPLINE  IN  THE  CHURCH.  57 

The  hierarchical  tendency  led  to  the  elevation  to  a  still  higher 
position  of  the  bishops  of  a  few  principal  cities,  which  were, 
moreover,  regarded  as  having  been  seats  of  the  apostles  in  a  pecu- 
liar sense.  The  designation  "  archbishop,"  first  applied  to  all 
metropolitans,  came  at  length  to  be  a  title  of  these  metropolitans 
of  the  first  rank.  They  were  also,  eventually,  styled  primates  or 
patriarchs.  They  were,  in  this  period,  the  bishops  of  Antioch, 
Alexandria,  and,  especially,  Rome.  The  political  division  of  the 
empire  into  dioceses,  when  it  was  made,  served  to  define  the  boun- 
daries of  the  larger  hierarchical  districts. 

The  dignity  of  metropolitans  was  enhanced  through  synods,  in 
which  they  were  the  presiding  officers.  Synods,  analogous  to  what 
was  familiar  in  Greek  political  affairs,  began  to  be  held  in  the  sec- 
ond century.  Their  acts  were  called  canons,  and  were  considered 
to  be  binding  on  those  who  took  part  in  them.  The  synods  were 
held  to  be  guided  in  their  deliberations  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  From 
them  the  lay  element  was  gradually  excluded. 

The  Church  stood  forth,  after  the  middle  of  the  second  century, 
as  a  distinct  bod}-.  It  claimed  to  be,  in  opposition  to  heretical 
The  "  catho-  ^^^  scliismatical  parties,  the  "  Catholic  "  Church.  Mem- 
lic"  Church,  bership  in  this  one  visible  Church  was  believed  to  be 
necessary  to  salvation.  Within  the  Church,  and  not  bej'ond  it,  the 
Holy  Spirit  had  his  abode.  The  unity  of  the  Church  was  secured 
and  cemented  by  the  episcopate — by  the  bishops,  viewed  as  suc- 
cessors of  the  apostles.  The  episcopate,  like  the  apostolate,  in 
which  Peter  was  the  centre  of  unity,  was  a  unit.  This  idea  is  de- 
veloped and  insisted  on  by  Cyprian,  who  was  involved  in  hard  con- 
tests with  dissenting  sects. 

The  conception  of  the  visible  Church  as  one  body,  together 
with  the  exaggerated  notion  of  Peter's  precedence  among  the  apos- 
tles, created  a  silent  demand  for  a  continuance  of  this 
of  the  Church  primacy.     Where  should  this  be  found — where    could 

ome.  ^j^^  central  point  of  episcopal  authority  be  discovered — 
save  at  the  capital  of  the  world,  in  the  Church  which,  as  men  were 
coming  to  believe,  Peter  had  founded,  and  of  which  he  had  been 
the  first  pastor  ?  This  relation  of  Peter  to  the  Church  of  Eome  is 
first  alleged  not  earlier  than  about  170.  It  was  a  representa- 
tion which  easily  found  credence.  The  association  of  Peter  and 
Paul  M'ith  Rome  made  the  Church  there  an  apostolic  see  of  the 
loftiest  rank.  The  exalted  political  importance  of  Rome,  and  its 
transcendent  fame  among  cities,  lent  an  unequalled  dignity  to  its 
bishop.     The  Roman  Church  was  one  of  the  largest ;  it  included 


58  FROM  THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE  TO  CONSTANTINE.      [Period  II. 

persons  of  rank  ;  it  had  been  active  in  founding  many  other 
churches  ;  its  gifts  had  flowed*  out  to  needy  brethren  in  many 
places  ;  it  was  the  first  to  feel  the  cruel  hand  of  persecution,  and 
often  the  first  to  make  known  to  the  churches  the  approach  of  dan- 
ger ;  its  officers  stood  in  the  most  exposed  place,  and  not  unfre- 
quently  perished  as  martyrs.  All  these  influences  conspired  to  di- 
rect the  eyes  of  Christians  to  Kome  as  the  foremost  of  the  seats  of 
ecclesiastical  authority.  Irenseus,  in  a  remarkable  passage,  gives 
the  highest  place  to  the  Roman  Church  as  a  reliable  guardian  of 
the  traditions  of  apostolic  teaching.  Even  dement^  the  first  writer 
after  the  ajDOstles,  speaking  for  the  church  of  Rome,  chides  the 
Corinthian  church  in  a  tone  of  almost  imperious  admonition.  The 
distinction  of  Rome,  however,  in  the  age  of  Irenseus,  and  even  in 
the  age  of  Cyprian,  was  that  of  a  guardian,  not  an  expounder,  of 
apostolic  teaching.  No  right  of  dictation  or  control,  no  infallibility 
in  interpreting  the  Gospel,  were  conceded  to  it.  And  the  sort  of 
superiority  attributed  to  the  Roman  bishop  was  accorded  much 
more  in  the  West  than  in  the  East. 

Excommunication  was  the  first  step  in  Church  discipline.  It 
was  a  custom  that  had  existed  among  the  Jews  in  the  case  of  liere- 
Church  disci-  tics  and  wrong-docrs.  Excommunicated  Christians,  who 
piine.  showed   signs  of  contrition,  formed  a  class  of  "  peni- 

tents." They  had  a  special  seat  in  the  meetings  for  worship,  and 
had  to  go  through  a  course  of  public  humiliation,  the  duration  and 
severity  of  Avliich  were  appointed  by  the  clergy.  This  was  the  ori- 
gin of  penance,  and  formed  the  "satisfaction"  rendered  by  the  i-e- 
pentiug  offender.  Yet  inward  compunction  was  always  exacted  and 
implied,  and  absolution  was  granted  on  the  condition  of  its  pres- 
ence. The  bishop  and  other  clergy  laid  their  hands  on  the  head  of 
a  penitent  thus  restored,  and  admitted  him  to  the  Lord's  Supper. 

A  distinction  was  made  between  venial  and  mortal  sins.  These 
last  were  held  to  forfeit  the  grace  bestowed  in  baptism.  A  wide- 
spread and  long-continued  difference  of  opinion  arose  on  the  ques- 
tion whether  persons  cut  off,  as  being  guilty  of  mortal  sin,  from 
the  fellowship  of  the  Church — for  example,  those  who  had  given 
way  to  terror,  and  renounced  the  faith — should,  on  the  profession  of 
repentance,  be  taken  back  to  its  communion.  Schisms  were  made 
by  the  stricter  as  against  the  more  lenient  party,  which,  on  the 
whole,  maintained  its  ascendency.  Such  were  the  schisms  of  Feli- 
cissimus,  in  opposition  to  Cyprian,  in  North  Africa  ;  of  Novatian, 
in  Rome  ;  and  the  schism  of  Meletius,  which  was  of  a  later  date,  in 
Egypt. 


100-312.]  CHRISTIAN  LIFE  AND  WORSHIP.  59 

The  ecclesiastical  spirit  gained  an  increasing  predominance  over 
the  free,  prophetic  element.  This  was  gradually  superseded  by  the 
more  regular  forms  of  official  guidance.  The  teachings  and  pre- 
scriptions of  the  clergy  were  taking  the  place  of  the  spontaneous 
utterances  of  inspired  individuals — the  ecstatic  forms  of 
inspiration.  But  there  was  resistance  to  this  tendency, 
which  was  moving  in  the  direction  of  clerical  authority  and  sacer- 
dotalism. One  fruit  of  the  reaction  against  it  was  Moutanism,  so 
Montanus,  Called  froui  Moutauus,  a  Phrygian,  whom  his  followers 
c.  150  A.D.  regarded  as  the  incarnation  of  the  promised  Paraclete. 
The  Montanists  laid  emphasis  on  the  miraculous  gifts  of  the  Spirit. 
Among  them  were  numerous  prophets  and  prophetesses.  One  of 
their  tenets  was  a  belief  in  the  speedy  second  coming  of  Christ. 
They  were  strenuous  for  strict  discipline  in  the  Church,  in  oj^posi- 
tion  to  what  they  deemed  laxness  and  false  lenity.  There  were 
many  disciples  of  this  system,  especially  in  the  West ;  but  Montan- 
ism  was  regarded  and  treated  as  a  heresy.  Its  faith  in  continued 
prophetic  inspiration,  however,  was  shared  by  many  who  did  not 
accept  other  peculiarities  of  the  sect.  The  most  conspicuous  con- 
vert to  Montanism  was  the  enthusiastic  Tertullian. 


CHAPTER  III. 

CHRISTIAN  LIFE  AND  WORSHIP. 

The  surprising  effect  of  Christianity  in  reforming  the  lives  of 
men  is  amply  attested  by  Christian  writers.     Justin  Martyr,  in  an 
.  eloquent  passage,  dwells  on  the  fact  that  the  slaves  of 

power  ot  the  scnsuality  have  become  pure  in  morals,  the  avaricious 
and  miserly  freely  give  to  those  in  need,  the  revengeful 
pray  for  their  enemies.  Origen  inquires  if  the  recovery  of  so  great 
a  number  of  persons  from  licentiousness,  injustice,  and  covetous- 
ness  could  have  been  accomplished  without  divine  help.  Yet,  he 
elsewhere  observes,  there  are  found  in  the  churches  "a  greater 
number  of  those  who  have  been  converted  from  a  not  very  wicked 
life  than  of  those  Avho  have  committed  the  most  abominable  sins." 
-,  ^      ,        The  love  of  Christians  for  each  other  astonished  the 

ijraternal 

love :  char-      heathen.     There  was  a  truth  in  the  iibe  of  Lucian,  which 

Ity.  " 

the  humorist  himself  did  not  understand.  "  Their  Mas- 
ter," he  said,  "has  persuaded  them  that  they  are  all  brothers." 
The  fraternal  kindness  extended  to  strangers,  and  to  Christians  of 


60  FROM  THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE  TO  CONSTANTINE.      [Period  II. 

foreign  nations,  occasioned  special  surprise.  Hospitality  and  alms- 
giving were  universal  among  believers.  Collections  were  regularly 
taken  in  the  cliurcbes  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor.  New  converts 
would  sometimes  give  their  entire  property  to  the  Church.  Spe- 
cial contributions  were  often  taken  for  fellow-disciples — it  might 
be,  in  distant  places — who  were  in  distress.  In  the  case  of  those 
who  were  under  arrest,  or  otherwise  persecuted  for  their  faith,  there 
were  perilous  expressions  of  sympathy  and  helpfulness.  When  a 
pestilence  broke  out,  it  was  noticed  that  the  Christians  did  not 
desert  the  sick  or  neglect  the  burial  of  the  dead.  They  even  took 
care  of  the  heathen  who  had  none  to  befriend  them.  Charity  was 
not  unknown  before  among  the  heathen  ;  but  the  word  acquired  a 
new  force  of  meaning  from  the  obedience  rendered  to  the  "  new 
Faults  of  commandment"  which  Christ  had  given:  "Love  one 
Christians.  another."  While  the  early  writers  laud  Christianity  for 
the  effects  wrought  by  it,  in  contrast  with  the  influence  of  pagan- 
ism, the  complaints  which  they  make  of  the  faults  of  Christians, 
such  as  vanity,  untruthfulness,  and  covetousness,  show  that  ideal 
perfection  is  not  to  be  claimed  for  the  Church  even  in  the  days  of 
its  comparative  purity. 

One  of  the  marked  results  of  the  gospel  was  the  purification  of 

domestic  relations.     Under  the  gospel  there  was  "neither  male  nor 

female."     Woman  was  exalted  as  being  a  partaker,  on  a 

Thefamily.  .  „  •,.,  -,1  •        ii  . 

footmg  of  equality,  with  man,  m  the  communion  with 
God  and  Christ.  Marriage  acquired  a  new  sanctit3^  To  the  civil 
contract  was  added  a  religious  service,  in  which  the  officers  of  the 
Church  were  present.  The  bride  and  bridegroom  sat  down  to- 
gether at  the  Lord's  Supper  and  presented  an  offering  to  the 
Church.  In  the  prayer  connected  with  the  communion  service  the 
divine  blessing  was  invoked  upon  them.  Marriage  with  a  heathen 
was  discountenanced,  one  main  reason  being  that  it  would  be  im- 
possible for  the  believer  to  perform,  without  interference,  the  du- 
ties of  the  Christian  life.  Marriage  with  a  heretic  was,  likewise, 
not  allowable. 

The  profession  of  Christianity,  of  necessity,  placed  a  gulf  be- 
tween the  convert  and  the  heathen  around  him.     There  was  a  wall 

of  separation  in  social  and  political  life.     This  was  the 

Separation  ,  .1  ■  ,, 

from  hea-  casc  eveu  whcu  there  Avas  no  unnecessary  rigor  on  the 
part  of  the  disciple  of  Jesus.  Where  there  was  a  need- 
less rigor,  or  undue  religious  enthusiasm,  the  division  between  the 
two  classes  was  still  more  wide.  All  agreed  that  the  emperor 
should  be  obeyed  unless  he  commanded  the  doing  of  an  unright- 


100-313.]  CHRISTIAN   LIFE  AND   WORSHIP.  61 

eons  act.  Some  doubted  whether  a  civil  office  should  be  held  by 
a  Christian — whether  it  was  consistent  with  humility.  There  was 
a  strong  feeling  against  holding  an  office  which  obliged  the  incum- 
bent to  inflict  capital  punishment.  Many  doubted  the  lawfulness 
of  serving  in  war  ;  but  it  was  allowed  that  a  soldier,  converted 
after  taking  service,  might  continue  in  the  same  vocation.  All  em- 
ployments which  involved  a  recognition  of  idolatry,  magic,  and 
astrology,  were  shunned.  This  rule  cut  off  the  Christian  from  a 
variety  of  luci-ative  occupations.  Mythological  conceptions,  and 
heathen  worship  in  some  form,  were  involved  in  many  branches  of 
industry.  This  rule  of  itself  excluded  Christians  from  taking  part, 
even  by  being  present,  in  many  customary  amusements, 
in  numerous  festivals  of  different  kinds,  where  idolatrous 
beliefs  were  implied  or  idolatrous  practices  were  involved.  The- 
atrical entertainments  were  disallowed,  both  on  account  of  the  im- 
morality connected  with  them,  and  as  being  incompatible  with  the 
sobriety  becoming  a  Christian.  Actors  and  those  who  trained 
them  were  excluded  from  the  Church.  Cyprian  will  not  consent 
to  the  continuance  of  one  of  the  last-named  class  in  his  former  em- 
ployment. The  faithful  bishop  preferred  to  contribute  to  his  sup- 
port out  of  his  own  purse.  All  gladiatorial  combats  were  in  the 
highest  degree  repugnant  to  Christian  feeling. 

Christianity  had  a  negative  and  a  positive  work  to  accomplish. 

On  the  one  hand,  it  was  obliged  to  opj)Ose  the  world  so  far  as  the 

world  was  under  the  power  of  evil.     It  had  to  take  an 

Worldliness  .  .  ,      . 

and  asceti-  aggressive  posture  m  relation  to  all  institutions  and  do- 
ings at  war  with  the  Christian  spirit.  Ou  the  other 
hand,  it  was  a  part  of  the  task  imposed  on  Christianity  to  take  up 
and  assimilate  whatever  in  the  world's  life  was  truly  natural.  To 
purify  and  elevate,  not  to  withstand  or  destroy,  what  was  not 
wrong  and  was  Avorth  preserving,  was  incumbent  on  the  Church. 
Hence,  if  there  was  danger  of  laxness,  there  was  a  danger,  like- 
wise, of  an  unwholesome  austerity.  Worldliness  and  asceticism 
were  the  Scylla  and  Charybdis  between  which  the  Church  was  called 
to  steer  its  way. 

Asceticism  is  a  natural  product  of  the  oriental  religions,  espe- 
cially of  the  religions  of  India,  where  monasticism  has  flourished. 
Origin  of  Among  Christians,  oriental  influences  played  a  very  minor 
asceticiBui.  ^^^,^  ^^  fostering  ascetic  tendencies.  Such  tendencies 
existed  to  some  extent  among  the  heathen  in  the  Roman  empire, 
in  consequence  of  the  decay  of  the  old  religions,  the  conflict  with 
evil  within  the  soul,  and  the  despondent  mood  of  men's  minds. 


62  FROM  THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE  TO  CONSTANTINB.       [Period  II. 

But  Christian  asceticism  grew  mainly  out  of  that  conflict  between 
the  flesh  and  the  spirit,  which  the  disciples  of  Christ  were  bound  to 
wage,  and,  especially,  out  of  the  reaction  against  the  prevalent  sen- 
suality and  worldliness.  It  was  a  natural  impulse  to  forsake  liter- 
ally a  world  which  every  holy  feeling,  not  less  than  the  precepts 
of  the  Master,  prompted  the  Christian  to  forsake  in  spirit. 

There  was  a  rudimental  form  of  asceticism  in  the  Church,  a 
"  continence,"  or  mortification  of  the  appetites,  which  manifested 
Its  earliest  itsclf  iu  an  increased  value  attached  to  fasting,  and  in  a 
forms.  preference  of  celibacy  to  the  married  state.     Not  only 

did  individuals  set  apart  days  of  fasting  for  their  own  benefit  ;  the 
custom  was  established  of  observing  Wednesday  and  Friday,  until 
Fasting:  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  as  fast-days.  They  were 
celibacy.  called  dles  stationum,  or  sentry-days,  when  the  Christian 
soldier  stood  on  the  watch.  The  penitent,  when  under  Church 
discipline,  practised  fasting.  The  belief  in  the  perpetual  virginity 
of  Mary,  the  celibate  life  of  Jesus  and  of  John  the  Baptist,  and 
the  advantages  sometimes  belonging  to  the  unmarried  state  as 
furnishing  better  opportunities  for  doing  good,  did  much  to  create 
the  impression  that  to  abstain  from  marriage  is  a  praiseworthy  act 
of  self-denial.  The  most  esteemed  writers,  from  Cj^prian  back  as 
far  as  Justin  Martyr,  give  special  honor  to  the  class  of  women  who, 
from  early  times,  chose  to  remain  single  and  to  devote  themselves 
to  doing  good.  Consecration  to  virginity  by  a  vow  solemnly  taken, 
which  it  was  a  great  sin  to  violate,  was  an  established  custom  in 
Cyprian's  time.  The  order  of  -virgins  continued.  In  the  fourth 
century  it  was  already  the  custom  for  them  to  wear  a  dark-coloi'ed 
dress,  and  to  be  invested  by  the  hands  of  the  bishop  with  a  bridal 
veil,  a  symbol  that  they  were  wedded  to  the  Lord.  It  may  be 
here  added  that  an  order  of  widows,  distinct  from  the  class  of  poor 
widows  noticed  in  the  Pastoral  Epistles,  appears  in  the  fourth  cen- 
tury. They  are  pledged  to  remain  unmarried  and  to  devote  them- 
selves to  doing  good.  From  them  the  class  of  deaconesses  was 
often  recruited,  the  duties  of  both  classes  being  similar.  Bishops 
and  presbyters  did  not  marry  after  their  ordination.  The  eventual 
exclusion  from  clerical  office  of  those  who  had  married  previously, 
was  a  natural  step  to  take,  but  it  was  not  taken  iu  the  Western 
Church  until  a  later  period.  In  the  West  the  prejudice  iu  favor  of 
a  celibate  clergy  was  carried  to  a  further  extreme  than  in  the  East. 
The  more  the  clergy  were  exalted  above  the  laity,  the  higher  rose 
the  demands  for  a  peculiar  sanctity  which  were  made  upon  them 
by  the  popular  feeling.     After  the  fourth  century,  with  the  devel- 


100-313.]     ^  CHRISTIAN   LIFE  AND    WORSHIP.  63 

opment  of  monasticism,  there  was  a  disposition  to  expect  of  the 
clergy  forms  of  self-mortification,  of  which  the  monks  had  given 
the  example. 

As  the  number  of  Christians  increased,  larger  rooms  or  edifices 
were  required  for  their  meetings.  For  a  time  they  probably  hired 
Church  edi-  OT  erected  plain,  rectangular  buildings,  without  nave  or 
'^'^''''-  aisles.     Such  buildings  were  numerous  in  Eoman  towns 

When  these  were  no  longer  adequate,  they  constructed  churches 
on  the  model  of  the  Koman  basilicas.  The  basilica  was  both  a 
court-house  and  an  exchange  for  commercial  transactions.  Its 
form  was  usually  a  rectangle,  parted  by  rows  of  columns  into 
aisles,  that  in  the  middle  being  the  widest,  and  with  a  semicircular 
apse  at  one  end  where  the  tribunal  of  the  magistrate  was  placed. 
In  the  houses  of  wealthy  Romans  there  were  domestic  basilicas  on 
the  same  general  plan,  but  without  columns  at  the  ends,  and  with 
the  roof  of  the  nave  carried  higher.  The  variations  of  the  church 
edifice  from  the  public  basilica  have  been  thought  by  some  to  imply 
a  copying  of  the  similar  apartments  in  private  dwellings.  It  has 
been  thought,  also,  that  the  atrium  in  front  of  the  church  indi- 
cates that  the  Roman  house  afforded  the  model  for  the  structure. 
But  neither  of  these  conclusions  is  established.  The  basilica,  with 
its  nave  and  aisles,  and  with  the  apse  in  the  rear,  affording  places  of 
honor  for  the  bishop  and  presbyters,  was  reproduced  for  Christian 
uses.  In  front  of  the  dais  in  the  apse,  additional  sj)ace  was  inclosed 
on  a  floor  somewhat  elevated.  This  was  the  choir,  where  were  the 
ambones  or  reading-desks,  of  which  there  were  one  or  more.  Above 
the  aisles  there  were  sometimes  galleries  for  strangers  and  spectators. 
Communicants  occupied  the  main  flooi*,  while  in  the  vestibule,  open- 
ing into  the  nave,  were  catechumens  and  penitents.  In  the  quadran- 
gular atrium,  in  front,  was  a  water-tank  for  the  washing  of  hands 
before  entering  the  church — an  old  Jewish  custom.  In  the  time 
of  Diocletian  there  existed  in  some  places  stately  church  edifices. 
In  Nicomedia  the  church  towered  above  the  emj^eror's  palace.  It  is 
after  Constantine's  accession,  however,  that  the  era  of  church-build- 
ing on  a  scale  of  magnificence  fairly  begins.  He  built  sj)lendid 
basilicas  in  Jerusalem,  Bethlehem,  and  Constantinople.  For  a  long 
period  images  in  worshij)  were  conscientiously  discarded.  They 
Pictures  and  ^^'st  camc  iuto  usc  ill  families.  The  pagan  custom  of 
emblems.  decorativc  painting  was  followed  by  Christians,  who 
painted — on  goblets,  for  example — the  shepherd  with  a  lamb  on 
his  shoulders,  and  other  pictorial  emblems.  Symbols  in  common 
use  were  the  dove,  significant  of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  a  fish,  the  Greek 


64  FROM  THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE  TO  CONSTANTINE.      [Peuiod  IL 

word  for  which  furnished  the  initial  letters  of  the  Saviour's  name 
and  office  ;  a  ship,  typical  of  the  voyage  of  the  soul  and  of  the 
Church  heavenward  ;  a  lyre,  to  denote  the  believer's  joy  ;  an  anchor, 
a  token  of  his  hope.  As  early  as  the  end  of  the  third  centm-y,  re- 
ligious emblems  were  depicted  in  the  churches.  The  cross  was  a 
common  token  among  Christians,  the  sign  of  the  cross  being  made 
by  them  on  many  occasions,  as  on  rising  in  the  morning  and  in 
moments  of  sudden  peril.  Gradually  a  kind  of  magical  efficacy 
began  to  be  attached  to  this  sign.  Yet  the  cross  was  not  pictured 
in  the  churches. 

The  catacombs  at  Eome  are  ancient  burial-places  of  Christians, 
excavated  for  this  purpose  ;  for  the  Christians  did  not  adopt  the 
Thecata-  Eomau  practice  of  cremation.  The  winding  ways  in 
combs.  these    subterranean     sepulchres    are    several    hundred 

miles  in  length.  The  date  of  the  earliest  Christian  inscription  is 
72  A.D.  They  contain  small  chambers  in  which  the  eucharist 
was  celebrated,  and  the  agape,  or  love-feast,  was  held.  These 
chambers  were  adorned  with  frescoes.  A  great  number  of  objects 
have  been  taken  from  these  ancient  tombs,  including  bronze  bells 
and  other  toys  of  children,  mirrors,  rings,  various  toilet  articles, 
countless  lamps.  These  things  it  was  an  early  custom  to  deposit 
with  the  remains  of  the  dead.  The  paintings  in  the  catacombs 
are  frequently  typical  of  events  in  Scrij)ture,  such  as  Abraham's 
offering  of  Isaac,  the  flood  with  the  ark  floating  on  the  waters.  In 
the  cemetery  of  Priscilla  is  a  representation  of  Maiy  and  the  child 
Jesus,  of  a  comparatively''  early  date — how  early  we  cannot  deter- 
emine.  The  epitaphs  are  instructive  and  touching.  They  express 
a  joyful  hope  of  the  resurrection. 

Fasts,  at  first  voluntary,  came  to  be  ordained  by  Church  law. 
The  Christian  festivals  related  to  Christ,  and  commemorated  the 
Christian  princij)al  events  of  his  life,  with  his  death,  resuiTection, 
festivals.  ^^^^  ascension  to  glory.  On  the  Lord's  day,  contrary  to 
the  custom  on  other  days,  prayer  was  offered,  as  a  special  token  of 
J03-,  in  a  standing  posture.  The  Jewish  Christians,  who  were  fol- 
lowed by  the  oriental  churches,  not  only  observed  Sunday  but 
Saturday  also.  The  Roman  Christians,  on  the  contrary,  fasted  on 
Saturday.  When  we  reach  the  time  of  Tertullian,  about  the 
year  200,  Ave  meet  with  recommendations  to  abstain,  wholly  or 
partially,  from  secular  labor  on  Sunday.  The  first  yearly  festival 
generally  observed  was  Easter,  standing  in  the  room  of  the  ancient 
Passover.  Controversies  respecting  the  time  and  proper  mode  of 
the  paschal  observance  sprung  up,  the  most  notable  of  which  was 


100-313.]  CHRISTIAN   LIFE   AND   WORSHIP.  05 

that  between  the  Quarto-decimani  of  Asia  Minor,  or  the  Fourteenth- 
Day  Christians,  and  Christians  elsewhere.  The  Asia  Minor  churches, 
in  the  first  three  centuries,  had  the  custom  of  oljserviug  the  four- 
teenth day  of  the  Jewish  month,  Nisan,  on  whatever  day  of  the  week 
it  might  occur.  After  Easter,  followed  Pentecost,  lasting  for  fifty 
days,  and  commemorating  the  glorification  of  Jesus.  Later,  the 
fortieth  day  was  kept  as  a  memorial  of  his  Ascension.  About  the 
end  of  this  period,  two  new  festivals  came  in.  One  was  Epij)hany, 
originating  in  the  East,  not  improbably  with  Jewish  Christians,  and 
commemorating  the  baptism  of  Christ.  The  other  was  Christmas, 
a  festival  of  Roman  origin,  taking  the  place  of  the  heathen  festival 
in  honor  of  the  sun,  or  of  the  deity  bearing  that  name,  which  was 
celebrated  at  the  winter  solstice,  or  on  the  25th  of  December,  the 
time  erroneously  assigned  for  the  solstice  in  the  Julian  calendar. 

In  the  sub-apostolic  age,  worship  continued  to  be  a  spontane- 
ous, living  expression  of  religious  feeling.  It  was  that  self-oblation 
which  Paul  styled  the  Christian's  "reasonable  service,"  as  being  a 
spiritual  act,  freely  performed.  This  was  the  character  of  Christian 
worship  in  the  time  of  Justin  Martyr  (about  150).  Later,  as  the 
second  century  draws  to  an  end,  from  the  days  of  Irenseus  and 
Tertulliau,  new  motives  and  another  spirit  are  apparent.  Worshix? 
is  looked  on  more  as  a  service  to  God,  which  it  is  an  obligation 
to  render,  and  as  having  a  worth,  even  a  sort  of  mei-it,  of  its  own, 
Public  wor-  ^^  account  of  which  it  is  acceptable  to  him.  In  the 
ship.  public  worship  of  God,  Christians,  except  on  Sunday, 

knelt  in  prayer.  The  Scriptures  were  read  in  extended  passages. 
From  the  exhortations  connected  with  these  readings,  the  sermon 
was  developed.  At  Alexandria,  discussion  was  mingled  to  a  con- 
siderable extent  with  the  hortatory  element,  giving  to  the  sermon 
a  more  intellectual  cast.  Church  music,  which  at  the  outset  con- 
sisted mainly  of  the  singing  of  the  psalms,  flourished  especially  in 
Syria  and  at  Alexandria.  The  music  was  very  simple  in  its  charac- 
ter. There  was  some  sort  of  alternate  singing  in  the  worship  of 
Christians,  as  it  is  described  by  Pliny.  The  introduction  of  antiph- 
onal  singing  at  Antioch  is  ascribed  by  tradition  to  Ignatius.  In 
the  third  century,  and,  perhaps,  earlier,  the  anthem  of  the  angels* 
was  expanded  into  the  Greek  original  of  the  Latin  hymn,  the  Gloria 
in  excelsis,  of  later  date. 

In  the  Epistle  of  Clement  of  Rome,  written  not  far  from  96,  there 
is  found  a  prayer  so  elaborate  in  its  form  as  to  suggest  that  it  may 
have  been  habitually  used  by  him  in  public  worship.     The  "Teach- 
'  Luke  ii.  14. 
5 


66  PROM  THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE  TO  CONSTANTINE.      [Period  II. 

ing  of  the  Twelve  Apostles  "  contains  forms  of  prayer  to  be  repeated 
at  the  Lord's  Supper — forms  to  which,  it  is  added,  "the  prophet  is 
not  bound."  In  Justin  Martyr's  description  of  the  worship  of 
Christians  on  the  Lord's  day,  the  prayers  of  the  president  appear 
to  be  extemporaneous ;  but  the  prayers  of  the  people,  before  the 
eucharist,  were,  perhaps,  according  to  a  fixed  form.  Brief  forms 
of  prayer  in  an  ancient  book,  called  the  "  Apostolic  Constitutions," 
were  not  improbably  in  use  before  the  end  of  the  second  century. 
In  the  Diocletian  persecution  there  is  no  account  of  any  search  for 
books  of  devotion  or  of  any  surrender  of  collections  of  this  sort. 
At  that  time  they  did  not  exist.  Yet  it  is  probable  that  forms  of 
prayer  were  then  in  use,  which  were  embodied  later  in  the  litur- 
gies, but  were  committed  to  memory.  A  reason  for  this  course 
would  exist  in  the  veil  of  secrecy  or  mystery  that  was  thrown  over 
the  eucharist,  or  the  disciplina  arcani. 

Towai'd  the  conclusion  of  the  second  century  we  find  it  to  be 
the  custom  to  exclude  non-communicants  from  being  present  at 
"Disciplina  ^^6  Lord's  SujDper.  After  the  preliminary  services,  at 
arcani.'-  ^j^g  closc  of  the  addrcsscs  by  the  bishop  and  presbyters, 

the  unbaptized  were  dismissed.  From  the  Latin  woixl  signifying 
dismissal  (^nissa)  the  word  mass  is  derived.  The  danger  of  perse- 
cution may  have  led  at  first  to  this  2:)rivacy  as  regards  the  sacra- 
ment, but  the  idea  of  its  peculiar  solemnity,  and  the  dread  of  pro- 
fanation, were  the  main  consideration.  The  example  of  the  heathen 
mysteries,  and  of  the  distinction  which  the  heathen  made  between 
the  initiated  and  the  uninitiated  was  not  without  its  influence. 
Catechumens  who  were  preparing  for  baptism  were  divided  into 
classes,  and  gradually  instructed  in  the  mysteries  of  the  faith. 
La  the  course  of  the  third  century,  it  came  to  be  considered  a  duty 
to  observe  silence  in  the  presence  of  unbelievers  and  of  the  un- 
taught, respecting  the  more  profound  doctrines,  such  as  the  Trin- 
ity and  the  Atonement.  Even  the  confession  of  faith  at  baptism 
was  not  to  be  committed  to  writing  or  disclosed.  This  reserve, 
extending  thus  far,  continued  until  the  heathen  were  converted, 
and  the  catechumenate  passed  away.  After  the  sixth  century  we 
hear  no  more  of  this  holy  reticence — the  disciplina  arcani,  as  it  has 
been  called. 

Baptism  was  preceded  by  regular  insti-uction.  At  Alexandria, 
Catechetical  owiug  to  the  intelligence  and  mature  age  of  many  who 
The^AposHes'  ^cre  to  be  prepared  for  this  rite,  catechetical  instruction 
Creed.  took  on  a  more  elaborate  form.     In  this  way  thei'e  grew 

up  in  that  city  the  first  school  of  theology,  or  seminary  for  the 


100-313.]  CHRISTIAN  LIFE  AND  WORSHIP.  67 

training  of  the  clergy.  The  simple  confession  of  faith  in  Christ, 
made  at  baptism,  gradually  expanded  itself,  until,  in  process  of 
time,  it  grew,  in  the  Western  Church,  into  what  was  known  as  the 
Apostles'  Creed.  This,  however,  differed  somewhat  in  form  in  the 
different  churches,  as  Rufiuus  found  to  be  the  case  when,  late  in 
the  fourth  century,  he  entered  into  the  study  of  the  subject.  The 
name  of  Apostles'  Creed  may  have  been  first  given  to  it  because  it 
was  made  up  of  the  teachings  of  the  apostles,  either  recorded  in  the 
gospels  or  transmitted  by  tradition.  As  a  written  symbol,  repeated 
by  the  candidate  for  baptism,  a  confession  of  this  sort,  the  pre- 
cursor of  the  Apostles'  Creed,  was  probably  in  use  in  the  church 
at  Kome  after  the  middle  of  the  third  century.  Afterwards  the 
legend  arose  that  the  apostles  had  together  composed  it,  each  con- 
tributing a  portion.  The  Apostles'  Creed  must  not  be  confounded 
with  the  earlier  "  rule  of  faith,"  from  which,  however,  its  contents 
were  partly  drawn.  The  "  rule  of  faith  "  was  a  short  statement  of 
the  main  facts  of  Christianity,  to  which  Irenseus,  Tertullian,  and 
Origen  refer.  In  the  latter  part  of  the  second  century  it  was  in  use, 
in  a  varying  form,  in  the  churches  generally  as  a  shield  against  he- 
retical perverters  of  the  accepted  doctrines.  The  gradual  transfer  of 
statements  in  the  "rule  of  faith"  to  the  "Apostolic  Symbol  "  was 
natural.  It  may  be  added  that  not  before  500  a,d.,  did  this  vener- 
able symbol  attain  to  the  precise  form  in  which  it  has  come  down  to 
us  in  the  Latin  Church.  In  the  administration  of  baptism,  the 
recipient  renounced  the  service  of  Satan  and  the  idolatry  of  the 
heathen.  In  the  middle  of  the  third  century,  we  have  the  first 
notice  of  the  use  of  formulas  of  exorcism  in  conjunction  with  this 
rite.  The  bishop  laid  his  hands  on  the  person  baptized,  using  the 
sign  of  the  cross  and  anointing  him  with  oil.  There  were  other 
ceremonies  which  were  peculiar  to  certain  places,  such  as  the  pai*- 
taking  of  milk  and  honey,  emblems  of  the  blessings  promised  to  the 
believer.  This  custom  existed  in  North  Africa.  Infant  bajjtism  is 
Infant  bap-  recoguizcd  as  a  rite  of  the  Church  by  Irenseus,  and  by 
tism.  Origen,  who  calls  it  an  Apostolic  custom.     Tertulhan 

urges  a  delay  of  baptism.  Later  fathers  do  the  same  on  the  ground 
that  for  sins  committed  after  baptism,  forgiveness  is  harder  to  be 
obtained.  Sponsors  confessed  the  faith  in  the  name  of  the  child, 
and  engaged  to  give  him  a  Christian  training. 

Early  in  the  second  century  the  agape,  or  love-feast,  became 
The  agapse—  disconnected  from  the  Lord's  Supper.  Occasional  im- 
the  love-feasts,  proprieties  and  excesses  at  the  table,  and  false  im- 
putations on  the  part  of  the  heathen,  would  explain  this  change. 


68  FROM  THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE  TO  CONSTANTINE.      [Period  n. 

The  peculiar  ideas  of  sacredness,  which  gathered  more  and  more 
about  the  eucharist,  would  naturally  have  an  influence  in  this  direc- 
tion. The  bread  and  wine  were  contributed  by  the  flock  and  dis- 
The  Lord's  tributcd  by  the  deacons,  the  clergyman's  prayer  of  thanks 
Supper.  giving  to  the  rite  its  name — the  Eucharist.     The  bi-ead 

and  wine  were  conveyed  to  those  who  were  not  able  to  leave  their 
houses.  In  North  Africa  and  in  other  places,  after  the  beginning 
of  the  third  century,  an  increasing  conviction  that  the  rite  was 
clothed  with  a  mystical  efficacy,  led  to  the  custom  of  bringing  chil- 
dren to  the  sacrament.  The  ordinary  practice  was  for  the  com- 
munion to  be  received  on  Sunday  of  each  week.  The  reception  of 
the  Lord's  Supper  attended  every  event  in  life  which  was  deemed 
of  extraordinai-y  moment.  Among  these  occasions  were  the  anni- 
versaries of  the  death  of  loved  friends.  The  day  when  a  martyr 
died  was  kept  as  his  birthday,  or  the  day  of  his  entrance  into  a 
higher  life.  On  these  natal  days  of  the  martyrs,  Christians  gathered 
about  their  burial-places ;  their  good  deeds  and  their  sufferings 
were  called  to  mind,  and  the  sacrament  was  received.  That  prayers 
^^  .  ,  for  the  dead,  who,  though  believers,  were  conceived  of  as 

The  interces-  '  '  o  5 

Bions  of  mar-  stiU  imperfect,  were  offered  up  on  these  and  some  other 
occasions,  we  have  proof  as  early  as  the  beginning  of  the 
third  century,  and  the  custom  is  then  spoken  of  as  one  long  estab- 
lished. An  instance  of  prayer  for  the  dead  among  the  later  Jews  is 
given  in  the  Second  Book  of  Maccabees. '  During  the  second  century 
these  observances  were  mostly  kept  within  bounds.  In  the  third 
century,  a  very  high  value  began  to  be  attached  to  the  intercessions 
of  martyrs,  both  before  and  after  their  death. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

CHEISTIAN   LITERATURE   AND   DOCTRINE. 

The  Fathers,  as  the  writers  of  the  first  six  centuries  are  called, 

partake  in  general  of  the  literary  faults  which  characterize  the  period 

of  decadence  in    Greek  and   Roman  literature.     Some 

Character  of  .    ,,  ,  . 

patristic         oi  them,  among  the  earner  authors  especially,  show  m 

their  style  their  lack  of  education.     Among  the  patristic 

writers,  however,  are  some  who,  in  point  of  learning,  are  fully  equal 

to  the  best  of  the  contemporary  classical  authors,  and  even  surpass 

'  II.  Maccabees  sii.  43-45. 


100-312.1  CHRISTIAN  LITERATURE  AND  DOCTRINE.  69 

them  in  vigor  of  expression  and  weight  of  matter.  For  a  consider- 
able time  all  Christian  writings  were  in  the  Greek  language.  The 
services  of  the  Church,  even  at  Rome,  were  at  first  held  in  that 
tongue.  So  far  did  the  Greek  influence  prevail  that  not  until  the 
beginning  of  the  third  century  did  Latin  writings  of  any  importance 
appear,  and  even  then  it  is  not  in  Rome,  but  in  one  of  the  prov- 
inces in  North  Africa,  that  theological  works  are  first  composed  in 
this  language. 

The  Apostolic  Fathers  are  a  group  of  writers  thus  named  from 
the  supposition  that  they  were  personally  conversant  with  one  or 
The  Apostolic  more  of  the  apostles.  They  are  earnest  and  practical, 
Fathers.  -^^^^^  ^^  ^  rule,  are  not  on  a  high  level  intellectually.    The 

earliest  of  these  books  is  the  Epistle  to  the  Corinthian  church, 
by  Clement  of  Rome,  to  whom  Paul  is  thought  to  refer.  It  was 
sent  about  the  year  9G,  when  divisions  were  prevailing  there,  and 
the  epistle  is  written,  in  the  name  of  the  Roman  church,  in  order  to 
pacify  contention.  The  concluding  portion  of  it,  which  has  lately 
been  discovered,  is  a  prayer  which  it  is  possible  that  Clement  was 
accustomed  to  use  in  divine  service.  What  is  called  the  Second 
Epistle  of  Clement  is  a  homily  by  an  unknown  author  (about 
140).  Seven  epistles  of  Ignatius,  Bishop  of  Antioch,  exist  in  a 
longer  and  shorter  Greek  form.  The  three  which  exist  in  the 
Syriac  language  are  the  result  of  an  abridgment  of  the  correspond- 
ing Greek  epistles.  The  seven  as  found  in  the  shorter  Greek  are 
probably  genuine.  That  they  are  wholly  free  from  interpolation 
we  cannot  be  sure.  These  epistles  were  written  while  the  author 
was  a  prisoner  on  the  way  to  Rome  to  suffer  martyrdom.  They 
manifest  a  thirst  for  the  martyr's  crown.  They  insist,  with  tedious 
iteration,  on  the  necessity  of  order  in  the  churches,  to  be  secured 
by  obeying  the  bishop.  Yet  in  the  letter  to  the  Romans,  there  is 
not  the  slightest  hint  that  a  bishop  of  Rome  existed  at  that  time. 
This  is  an  argument  for  the  early  date  of  all  the  epistles,  for  they 
appear  to  be  all  from  one  author.  The  Epistle  of  Polycarp  to  the 
Philippians,  the  date  of  which  is  about  150,  is  not  unworthy  of  the 
venerable  martyr  who  had  sat  at  the  feet  of  the  Apostle  John.  Per- 
haps a  score  of  years  earlier,  a  certain  Hermas,  not  the  Hermas  to 
whom  Paul  refors,"  wrote  "The  Shepherd,"  composed  mostly  of 
visions  and  parables,  in  an  apocalyptic  vein.  They  purport  to  be 
communications  from  an  angel,  rebuking  the  sins  of  Hermas  him- 
self and  of  the  Church.  There  is  internal  evidence  of  the  early 
date  of  the  work.  For  example,  bishops  are  not  distinguished  from 
'  Rom.  xvi.  14. 


70  FROM  THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE  TO  CONSTANTINE.      [Period  II. 

presbyters.  It  was  thought  to  be  highly  edifying,  and  for  a  period 
was  very  widely  circulated  iu  the  early  Church.  Hermas  was  the 
Bunyau  of  those  days,  but  without  the  genius  of  the  tinker  of  Elstow. 
The  epistle  ascribed  to  Barnabas  was  not  written  by  him.  Its  date, 
however,  is  probably  not  later  than  120.  We  can  affirm  with  con- 
fidence that  it  was  composed  early  in  the  second  century.  But  the 
author  blunders  in  his  description  of  Jewish  ceremonies  in  a  way 
impossible  to  a  Levite  like  Barnabas.  The  writer  was  a  Gentile 
Christian,  probably  an  Alexandrian,  who  is  opposing  judaizing  fo- 
menters  of  division.  He  explains  that  the  ritual  of  the  Jews  has 
passed  away,  and  by  the  free  use  of  allegory  seeks  to  bring  out  the 
sj)iritual  meaning  of  the  ordinances,  for  the  edification  of  Christian 
believers.  The  gem  in  this  class  of  compositions  is  the  anonymous 
Epistle  to  Diognetus.  It  is  spirited  in  style,  and  has  no  doctrinal 
fault  save  an  antipathy  to  Judaism,  which  is  pushed  to  an  extreme. 
Valuable  fragments  of  Papias,  a  contemporary  of  John  the  Apostle, 
are  preserved  in  citations  of  the  ancient  Church  historian,  Eusebius. 

Few  post-apostolic  writings  are  of  earlier  date  than  "The  Teach- 
ing of  the  Twelve  Apostles,"  a  manuscript  copy  of  which  was  dis- 
covered in  1875.  It  is  a  manual,  the  first  part  of  which  is  com- 
posed of  instructions  in  practical  duty  for  catechumens.  These  are 
followed  by  rules  respecting  the  reception  to  be  accorded  to  differ- 
ent classes  of  Christian  teachers  and  their  proper  demeanor,  to- 
gether with  regulations  bearing  on  the  rites  of  worship  and  on  dis- 
cipline. The  little  work  concludes  with  exhortations  to  vigilance 
and  to  the  holding  of  frequent  meetings  for  mutual  edification,  in 
view  of  the  dangers  and  terrors  of  the  latter  days  and  the  expected 
advent  of  Christ.  The  first  six  chapters  of  the  "  Teaching "  are 
thought  by  some  scholars  to  have  been  a  Jewish  manual  of  instruc- 
tion for  the  young,  which  was  adopted,  enlarged,  and  edited  by  a 
Christian  writer. 

While  Christians  were  persecuted  by  magistrates  and  mobs, 
they  sought  to  convince  their  adversaries,  and  to  overcome  preju- 
The  Apoio-  (^ice,  by  arguments  addressed  to  reason.  The  Christian 
^8ts.  cause  was  defended  by  the  class  of  writers  called  Apolo- 

gists. Some  of  their  works  were  inscribed  to  empei'ors  to  dissuade 
them  from  persecution,  and  some  were  appeals  to  the  body  of 
heathen  or  of  Jews.  A  part  of  the  Apology  of  Aristides  of  Athens 
(124)  has  lately  been  found.  Among  the  works  of  this  class  which 
survive  from  the  second  century,  are  three  treatises  of  Justin,  "  j^hi- 
losopher  and  martyr."  He  had  studied  different  systems  of  Greek 
philosophy,  giving  his  adhesion  finally  to  the  Platonic.     After  his 


100-S12.]  CHRISTIAN  LITERATURE  AND  DOCTRINE.  71 

conversion  he  still  wore  the  philosopher's  mantle,  and,  without  hold- 
ing any  office  in  the  Church,  traveMH  from  place  to  place,  teaching 
the  gospel  by  conversation  with  such  as  were  willing  to  confer  with 
him.  At  Eome  he  addressed  his  First  Apology  to  the  Emperor 
Antoninus  Pius,  about  138.  Afterwards,  in  161,  he  inscribed  a  Sec- 
ond Apology  to  Marcus  Aurelius.  His  third  work,  the  Dialogue 
'with  Trypho,  is  an  attemp£"lo  convince  Jews  of  the  messiahship  of 
Jesus,~and  to  answer  their  usual  objections  to  the  Christian  faith. 
The  writings  of  Justin  Martyr,  besides  bringing  before  us  the  rea- 
soning by  which  heathen  objections  and  calumnies  were  met,  lift  the 
veil  for  the  first  time  upon  the  doctrinal  views  of  Christians  not  long 
after  the  apostolic  age.  Tatian,  a  Syrian  by  birth,  was  an  itinerant 
philosopher,  like  Justin,  by  whom  he  was  converted.  He  attacked 
the  heathen  mythology  in  a  "  Discourse  to  the  Greeks,"  which  was 
composed  not  far  from  160.  He  was  the  first  to  weave  the  four 
Gospels  into  a  single  narrative  that  has  been  recently  recovered,  the 
"Diatessaron,"  or  Gospel  of  the  Four.  In  177,  Athen^gpras,  pre- 
viously an  Athenian  philosopher,  wrote  an  apologetic  work  bear- 
ing the  title  "  An  Embassy  concerning  the  Christians."  A  con- 
temporary, Theophilus,  Bishop  of  Antioch,  addressed  a  work  in 
vindication  of  the  gospel  to  a  friend  named  Autolycus.  Hermias, 
who  had  been  a  philosopher,  wrote  a  book  of  a  satirical  cast,  en- 
titled, "Mockery  of  the  Heathen  Philosophers."  The  apologies 
just  named  are  all  extant.  Among  the  lost  writings,  the  "  Memori- 
als "  of  the  Apostolic  and  post- Apostolic  Age,  written  in  the  middle 
of  the  second  century  by  Hegesippus,  a  Christian  of  Jewish  extrac- 
tion, might,  perhaps,  be  classified  under  this  head.  It  was  the  ear- 
liest of  the  Church  histories  after  the  days  of  the  apostles. 

There  is  one  apologist  who  wrote  in  Latin,  and  who  wrote  with 
no  small  degree  of  vigor  and  elegance.  This  is  Miuucius  Felix. 
Minucius  His  date  and  place  of  residence  are  not  ascertained.  He 
^^^^-  is  thought  to  have  been  a  lawyer  at  Eome,  and  it  is  not 

improbable  that  he  wrote  his  "Octavius"  before  the  close  of  the 
second  century.  It  is  an  imaginary  dialogue  between  a  Christian 
and  a  heathen. 

The  ablest  writers  of  this  period  were  the  Alexandrian  teachers. 
Alexandria  Avas  the  seat  of  a  great  university,  with  its  large  libraries. 
The  Aiexan-  ^^^  learned  professors,  and  its  throng  of  inquisitive  and 
drian teachers,  active-minded  youth.  There,  in  the  Jewish  philosophy 
of  Philo,  Plato's  teaching  had  been  blended  with  the  doctrine  of 
Moses  and  the  prophets,  and  by  means  of  allegory  the  Old  Testa- 
ment had  been  made  to  re-echo  with  a  modified  sound  the  teaching 


72  FROM  THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE  TO  CONSTANTINE.      [Period  II. 

of  the  Greek  schools  of  thougjii  In  such  a  community,  as  Chris- 
tians multiplied,  the  instructi(^Rf  catechumens  often  required  doc- 
trinal explanations  much  more  advanced  than  were  requisite  in 
ordinary  churches.  Thus  the  catechetical  school  developed  itself 
into  a  theological  seminary,  where  abstruse  points  of  divinity  were 
handled  and  young  men  were  trained  for  the  clerical  office.  The 
Alexandrian  theology  was  the  first  serious  attempt  among  those  who 
adhered  to  the  great  facts  and  truths  of  the  gospel,  to  adjust  the 
relations  of  Christian  doctrine  to  reason  and  philosophy.  It  was 
the  first  attempt  to  build  a  bridge  between  Christianity  and  the 
wisdom  of  the  Gentiles.  As  far  as  philosophy  was  concerned,  the 
influence  of  Plato  was  still  predominant,  as  had  been  the  fact  in 
the  school  of  Philo.  The  method  of  allegory  which  characterized 
the  Rabbinical  schools  was  continued  in  the  interpretation  of  Script- 
ure. The  first  of  the  Alexandrian  Church  teachers  of  whom  we 
have  an  account,  was  Pantsenus.  Whatever  merit  belonged  to  him 
Clement.  was  eclipsed  by  the  fame  of  his  pupil  and  successor, 
c.  200.  Flavius  Clemens — Clement  of  Alexandria,  as  he  is  com- 

monly designated,  to  distinguish  him  from  the  Roman  apostohc 
father  of  the  same  name.  Clement  had  travelled  far  and  wide,  had 
been  a  diligent  student  of  philosophy,  and  was  versed  in  the  ancient 
classics.  He  exhibits  in  his  works  a  fertile  though  discursive 
genius,  and  a  mind  both  deep  in  thought  and  bi'oad  in  its  sym- 
pathies. He  leads  the  way  in  discerning  the  points  of  affinity 
between  choice  utterances  of  the  heathen  sages  and  the  teachings 
of  the  New  Testament.  Eminent  as  Clement  was,  he  was  out- 
origen,  Stripped  in  the  qualities  that  make  up  a  great  theolo- 

180-254.  gjgjj  |jy  Origen,  called,  from  his  herculean  labors,  the 

Adamantine.  This  illustrious  scholar  and  thinker  was  a  pioneer  in 
the  department  of  systematic  theology ;  he  wi'ote  the  most  prom- 
inent and  valuable  of  the  early  defences  of  the  gospel  against 
the  attacks  of  heathenism — his  work  in  reply  to  Celsus  ;  he  spent 
twenty-seven  years  in  preparing  his  edition  of  the  Old  Testament, 
the  Hexapla  ;  and,  by  his  commentaries,  he  did  a  greater  service 
in  the  exposition  of  Scripture  than  any  other  of  the  early  patristic 
writers.  He  sanctioned,  however,  by  his  example,  the  allegorical 
method  of  exegesis  to  which  we  have  referred.  His  influence  as 
an  instructor  of  the  clergy,  as  well  as  an  author,  was  very  exten- 
sive. The  enmity  of  his  envious  bishop,  Demetrius,  did  not  rob 
him  of  the  esteem  of  the  churches.  The  tendency  of  Origen's 
thought  was  spiritual  as  well  as  speculative.  This  appears  in  the 
Alexandrian  ideas  respecting  the  resurrection,  the  sacraments,  and 


100-312.]  CHRISTIAN  LITERATURE  AND  DOCTRINE.  73 

the  sources  of  the  suffering  of  th^condemued.  These  teachers 
carried  the  doctrine  of  reserve,  or  wB^)my,  as  it  was  called,  in  the 
communication  of  truth  to  the  less  intellectual  and  less  educated 
class  of  believers,  somewhat  beyond  the  proper  limit.  Besides  a 
prudent  silence  on  matters  above  the  comprehension  of  the  pupil, 
they  thought  it  not  wrong  to  appear  to  countenance  erroneous  and 
superstitious  beliefs  which  were  deemed  to  be  not  harmful  in  their 
effect. 

Several  authors  in  this  period,  because  their  writings  are  almost 
exclusively  of  a  controversial  character,  in  opposition  to  heretical 
parties,  are  termed  Polemics.  Preeminent  in  this  list  is 
ics :  irense-  Ircuaeus,  whose  copious  treatise  "Against  Heresies  " — for 
ffippoiytus,  this  is  its  title — is  one  of  the  principal  Christian  writ- 
"■  ^""'  ings  of  the  second  century.     Born  in  the  East,  in  his 

youth  an  acquaintance  of  Polycarp,  and  standing  thus  at  only  one 
remove  from  the  Apostle  John,  he  spent  his  life  mainly  in  the 
West,  being  first  a  presbyter,  and  then,  as  the  successor  of  Pothi- 
nus,  bishop  at  Lyons.  His  work  is  an  elaborate  confutation  of  the 
Gnostic  heresies,  whose  disciples  were  then  the  most  formidable 
adversaries  of  the  Church  and  of  the  gospel.  Hippqlytus,  a  hearer 
of  Irenseus  at  Lyons,  and  bishop  at  Portus,  near  Rome,  composed 
a  "  Refutation  of  all  Heresies."  The  root  of  the  heresies,  as  he 
judged,  lay  in  the  perverse  speculations  of  the  philosophers. 

The  North  African  writers  are  the  pioneers  in  the  creation  of  a 

Latin  Christian  literature.     The  first  of  these  to  attain  distinction, 

and  in  this  period  the  most  eminent  of  all  of  them,  was  Tertullian. 

He  was  familiar  with  Roman  law,  and  seems  to  have  been. 

The  North-        t      «  ■,  .  ■  -,  ^ 

African  bcforo   his    couvcrsiou,    an    advocate.     He    introduced 

Tertullian,  legal  phrascology  and  Roman  legal  conceptions  into 
theological  discussions.  He  was  endowed  with  genius, 
and  he  was  a  man  of  sincere  and  earnest  Christian  feeling.  He 
was  naturally  vehement,  so  that  a  certain  extravagance  and  a  pas- 
sionate tone  pervade  his  writings.  They  relate  to  a  multiplicity  of 
themes,  both  doctrinal  and  practical.  His  native  fervor  had  much 
Cyprian,  ^o  do  with  his  adoption  of  the  tenets  of  the  Montanists. 
d.  258.  Cj'prian,  Bishop  of  Carthage,  in  contrast  with  Tertul- 

han,  wrote  mainly  on  Church  government  and  discij^line,  with  a 
sobriety  of  style 'in  keeping  with  his  native  character,  and  with  his 
peculiar  sphere  of  activity  as  an  ecclesiastical  leader. 

There  were  not  wanting  apocryphal  and  spurious  writings  in 
this  period.  The  "  Sibylline  Oracles  "  is  a  collection  of  prophecies, 
partly  Jewish,  and  antedating  the  birth  of  Jesus,  and  partly  Chris- 


74  FROM  THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE  TO  CONSTANTINE.      [Period  II. 

tian.  They  relate  to  the  Messiah  and  his  work,  and  were  in- 
vented with  a  pious  intent  ^B^seminate  what  their  authors  con- 
sidered important  religious  truths.  They  are  frequently 
and  spuri-  quoted  by  early  ecclesiastical  writers.  The  "  Pseudo- 
uswn  mgs.  Qigj^g^^ij^e  Homilies,"  with  two  later  works  based  upon 
them,  the  "  Eecognitions  "  and  the  "Epitome,"  are  a  kind  of  the- 
ological romance,  purporting  to  come  from  Clement  of  Eome,  and 
exhibiting  a  type  of  doctrine  in  which  Ebionitic  and  Gnostic  ele- 
ments are  mixed  in  about  equal  proportions.  The  "  Homilies  "  were 
composed  somewhere  about  170.  The  apocryphal  gospels  now 
extant  were  composed  later  than  the  limit  of  this  period,  to  fill  out 
blanks  in  the  evangelists'  record  of  the  life  of  Jesus,  or  to  promote 
some  doctrinal  interest.  Portions  of  three  or  four  of  these  later 
gospels  may  have  been  composed  earlier,  and  are,  perhaps,  identi- 
cal with  writings  mentioned  by  authors  of  the  second  or  third  cen- 
tury. Such  apocryphal  gospels  as  existed  in  the  present  period,  as 
the  "Gospel  of  the  Egyptians,"  had  but  a  local  and  limited  circu- 
lation. They  were  quite  as  apt  to  be  didactic  tracts  as  narratives. 
The  "  Gospel  of  the  Hebrews,"  used  by  the  Ebionites,  was. based  on 
Matthew,  and  Marcion's  gospel,  it  is  quite  evident,  was  an  abridg- 
ment of  Luke. 

The  Church  in  the  second  century  stood  in  opposition  to  the 
generic  forms  of  heresy,  Ebionitism  and  Gnosticism. 

The  judaizing  Christians  were  called  Ebionites,  a  name  signify- 
ing "the  poor,"  or  "  paupers."  This  name  was  originally  given  in 
The  Bbion-  the  way  of  dcrisiou  by  the  Jews  to  the  Jewish  Christians 
ites.  generally.     The  Ebionites  embraced  all  those  who  re- 

fused to  give  up  the  Old  Testament  ceremonial  observances.  But 
they  included  two  classes  which  were  distinct  from  each  other. 
The  Nazareans  clung  to  the  ancient  ceremonies,  but  they  did  not 
denounce  the  Gentile  believers.  They  were  the  remnant  of  the 
more  moderate  Jewish  Christians  who  were  not  prepared  to  sur- 
render the  national  customs.  Late  in  the  fourth  centuiy  they  still 
lingered  in  the  synagogues  of  the  East.  The  more  rigid  Ebionites 
were  the  successors  of  the  judaizers  of  the  Apostle  Paul's  time. 
They  were  bitterly  hostile  to  this  apostle.  They  considered  Jesus 
to  be  a  prophet,  the  promulgator  of  the  law  in  a  more  rigid  form, 
and  held  that  at  his  baptism,  on  the  significance  of  which  they  laid 
great  emphasis,  he  was  furnished  with  his  higher  powers.  They 
denied  his  miraculous  birth,  and  passed  lightly  over  his  sufferings 
and  death.     With  the  Gentile  believers  who  did  not  adopt  the 


100-,S12.]  CHRISTIAN  LITERATURE  AND  DOCTRINE.  75 

ellowsh 
they  used  was  one  form  or  recensiHIPMatthew. 

We  find  traces  of  a  third  sort  of  Ebiouites  who  differ  from  both 
the  main  divisions  just  described.  Tliese  are  the  Essenian  Ebion- 
ites,  as  they  may  be  called,  whose  views  were  a  mixture  of  Jewish 
Christian  or  judaizing  opinions  with  notions  caught  up  by  Chris- 
tian fugitives  from  Jerusalem,  in  the  time  of  the  siege,  from  the 
Essenes  dwelling  near  the  Dead  Sea.  Some  of  these  Essenian 
Ebionites,  who  may  with  equal  propriety  be  styled  Gnostics,  we 
find  in  Asia  Minor  during  the  lifetime  of  the  apostles.  One  of  the 
sects  which  may  be  classified  under  this  category,  is  the  Elkesaites, 
whose  home  was  near  the  Dead  Sea,  and  whose  origin  is  placed  in 
the  reign  of  Trajan.  They  considered  the  Old  Testament  law  as 
still  binding,  but  discarded  sacrifices,  and  held  notions  of  Christ 
which  were  akin  to  Gnostic  speculations. 

A  far  more  subtle  and  dangerous  form  of  error  was  Gnosticism. 
The  Gnostics  comprised  numerous  and  widely  scattered  parties, 
which  followed  different  leaders.  The  germs  of  this 
heresy  are  brought  to  our  notice  in  several  books  of  the 
New  Testament.  The  presence  of  persons  infected  with  this  kind 
of  error  in  the  Chiirch  at  Colosse  created  apprehension  in  the 
mind  of  Paul.'  Gnostics  are  referred  to  by  John  when  he  speaks 
of  some  who  deny  that  Christ  had  come  in  the  flesh.  *  It  was  per- 
sons of  this  class  who  called  in  question  the  reality  of  his  human 
nature.  The  Gnostics  claimed  to  be  possessed  of  a  deeper  gnosis, 
or  discernment  of  religious  truth,  than  ordinary  Christians  were 
cajDable  of.  They  founded  their  pretension  on  a  perverse  interpre- 
tation of  Paul's  words  relative  to  "  wisdom,"  in  1  Corinthians,  ii.  6. 
Their  aim  was  to  reduce  Christianity  to  a  philosophy,  and  to  ex- 
hibit its  relation  to  previously  existing  systems,  in  particular  to  the 
Old  Testament.  Hence  they  drew  their  materials  from  various 
quarters,  and  while  intending  to  honor  Christianity  were  really 
eclectics  in  religion.  A  leading  feature  in  their  creeds  was  oriental 
dualism,  which  after  the  conquests  of  Alexander  was  largely  min- 
gled, especially  in  Egypt  and  Asia  Minor,  with  Greek  philosophical 
and  religious  thought.  They  agreed  in  the  tenet  that  the  God  of 
the  Jews,  the  creator  of  this  world,  whom  they  called  the  Demi- 
urge, was  not  the  Supreme  Being.  Evil  they  identified  with  matter. 
To  the  Supreme  Being,  the  Absolute,  no  predicates  can  be  attached. 
He  is  the  ineffable  one.  From  him  emanate  beings  called  "  seons," 
forming  a  chain  of  existences  below  him,  and  filling  up  the  void 
'  Col.  ii.  8-33.  *  1  John  iv.  3. 


76  FROM  THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE  TO  CONSTANTINB.      [Period  II. 

between  him  and  the  Demiurge.  The  seons,  -whose  name  is  legion, 
are  hypostatized  attribute^^Wibutes  conceived  of  as  personal — 
which  in  turn  generate  other  seons  below  them.  Thus  in  the  room 
of  the  abstract  ideas  of  Greek  philosophy  we  have  mythological 
persons,  like  the  creations  of  oriental  phantasy.  The  questions 
that  busied  the  Gnostics  were  such  as  were  raised  by  the  Grseco- 
Romau  and  the  Grseco-Jewish  philosophy :  How  did  the  world  of 
matter  originate?  What  is  the  origin  of  evil  ?  How  is  evil  to  be 
escaped  ?  What  is  the  nature  and  destiny  of  man  ?  Men  were 
divided  by  them  into  three  classes — the  spiritual,  the  psychic,  and 
the  carnal.  The  Hberation  of  psychical  natures,  children  of  light, 
from  their  entanglement  in  matter,  was  the  process  of  redemp- 
tion. The  historical  Christ  was  a  mere  man,  but  he  was  the  mask  or 
vehicle  of  a  higher  seon,  the  heavenly  Christ,  who  acted  in  him 
and  through  him,  but  without  being  really  incarnate.  Gnosticism 
would  have  severed  Christianity  from  its  organic  relation  to  the 
Old  Testament  system.  It  was  thus  the  antipode  of  Ebionitism. 
It  was  a  bold  attempt  to  build  up  a  cosmology  and  a  philosophy  of 
history,  in  which  redemption  through  Christ  should  find  a  place. 

There  were  two  general  divisions  of  Gnostic  systems.  In  the 
Judaistic  Gnostic  systems,  whose  principal  seat  was  Alexandria, 
Two  classes  ^lic  Dcmiurgc,  while  inferior,  was  still  subordinate  to  the 
of  Gnostics.  Supreme  God,  and  unconsciously  carried  out  his  designs. 
In  the  Anti-judaic  systems,  which  sprung  up  mainly  in  Syria,  the 
Demiurge  w^as  conceived  of  as  hostile  to  the  Supreme  Being,  by 
whom  his  designs  are  bafHed.  One  of  the  earliest  of  the  judaiz- 
ing  Gnostics  was  Cerinthus,  supposed  to  be  a  native  of  Alexandria, 
who  is  described  as  a  contemporary  and  opposer  of  the  Apostle 
John  at  Ephesus.  His  system  contained  a  large  admixture  of 
Ebionitism.  Yet  he  distinguished  the  maker  of  the  world  from 
God,  and  the  earthly  Jesus  from  the  heavenly  Christ,  who  was  con- 
nected with  him  in  a  temporary  union.  The  most  famous  leaders  of 
this  class  of  Gnostics  were  Basilides  (c.  130)  and  Valentinus  (c.  150). 
Saturninus  was  an  eminent  teacEeFm  the  Anti-judaic  branch  of  the 
Gnostic  schools.  These  rejected  the  Old  Testament  system,  finding 
no  bond  of  friendly  connection  between  Judaism  and  the  gospel. 

In  the  religions  of  the  East,  the  serpent  figures  prominently, 

now  as  the  insidious  author  of  evil,  and  now  as  opening  beneficently 

the  gates  of  knowledge  to  men.     The  Ophites,  with  the 

kindi-ed  sects  of  Naasseni  and  Peratse,  made  much  of 

the  serpent  as  the  redeeming  power,  mingled  astrology  with  their 

teachings,  and  were  hostile  to  the  Old  Testament  religion.     This 


100-312.]  CHRISTIAN  LITERATURE  AND  DOCTRINE.  77 

hostility  was  carried  so  far  by  another  sect,  that  they  called  them- 
selves Cainites,  and  pronounced  tl|^JfcBharacters  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament to  be  those  who  were  reallyd^Hrving  of  honor. 

One  of  the  most  noted  of  the  representatives  of  the  Anti-judaic 
tendency  was  Marcion,  a  native  of  Sinope  inPontus.  He  could  find 
Marcion,  ^'^  point  of  uniou  between  justice  and  love.  The  retribu- 
c.  140.  ^^yg  feeling  ascribed  to  God  in  the  Old  Testament,  struck 

him  as  inconsistent  with  the  free  grace  of  the  gospel.  Paul  was  the 
only  apostle  whom  he  acknowledged  ;  the  others  had  corrupted 
the  pure  teaching  of  Christ.  Hence  Marcion  accepted  Paul's  epis- 
tles, and  the  gospel  of  Luke  in  a  mutilated  form.  He  expurgated 
from  the  third  gospel  passages  in  which  the  Old  Testament  law 
was  recognized  as  of  divine  origin.  Marcion  was  an  earnest  man, 
sincerely  mistaken  in  his  convictions,  and  he  won  many  adherents. 

Under  the  head  of  Gnosticism,  it  is  proper  to  make  mention  of 
the  Manichseans,  whose  influence,  for  a  number  of  centuries  after 
The  Mani-  ^^^J  arosc,  was  very  important  and  wide-spread.  The 
chseans.  Christian  ingredients  form  so  minor  a  part  in  their  creed 
that  Manichseism,  in  its  primitive  form,  is  rather,  like  the  faith  of 
Mohammed,  to  be  considered  a  distinct  religion.  What  we  know 
of  Mani,  its  founder,  is  mostly  derived  from  untrustworthy  and  con- 
flicting legends.  We  may  believe  that  he  was  a  Persian  of  high 
birth  ;  that  he  was  brought  up  in  Babylonia,  and  there  imbibed  no- 
tions in  religion  from  Mandseans  or  other  sects  of  "Baptizers," 
whose  creed  was  tinged  with  Christian  elements  ;  that  in  his  thir- 
tieth year  (245  a.d.),  he  came  forward  in  Persia  as  a  religious 
teacher  claiming  to  be  inspired,  and  taught  a  medley  of  opinions, 
the  ground-work  of  which  was  the  Semitic  or  Babylonian  religion, 
and  not  the  Zoroasti'ian,  although  characteristic  Persian,  beliefs 
were  compounded  with  other  elements  in  his  system  ;  that  he  won 
disciples,  and  was  finally,  in  276,  put  to  death  by  the  Persian  gov- 
ernment for  his  deviations  from  the  creed  of  Parsism.  He  com- 
posed many  works,  all  of  which  are  lost.  In  the  Manichaean  system, 
as  promulgated  by  its  adherents,  the  universe  was  divided  into  a 
kingdom  of  light  and  a  kingdom  of  darkness,  in  antagonism  to  one 
another.  In  human  nature,  the  two  elements,  owing  to  the  agency 
of  Satan,  a  product  of  the  kingdom  of  darkness,  have  become 
mingled.  To  deliver  the  light  from  the  bonds  of  darkness  is  a 
physical  process,  and  is  the  work  of  a  succession  of  prophets,  of 
whom  the  celestial  Christ,  not  the  Jesus  of  the  Jews,  is  one.  The 
spiiits  of  light  who  redeem  the  world  have  their  abode  in  the  sun. 


78  FROM  THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE  TO  CONSTANTINE.      [Period  II. 

Mani  himself  was  the  promised  Paraclete.  The  Manichsean  system 
was  severely  ascetic  as  w^|^^^listic.  There  were  rigid  fasts,  and 
marriage  was  abjured.  T^^scetic  features  of  the  system  appear 
to  indicate  a  Buddhistic  source.  The  sect  was  thoroughly  organ- 
ized. At  the  head  were  twelve  apostles.  The  elect  were  a  class 
above  the  "  auditors"  or  novices.  Manichseism  spread  in  the  East, 
and  gained  a  great  number  of  disciples  in  the  Roman  empire. 
Augustine,  before  his  conversion,  was  for  a  number  of  years  one 
of  its  adherents.  They  were  persecuted  by  Diocletian,  and  by  the 
Christian  emperors  who  followed  him.  They  were  banished  by 
Valentinian  III.  Under  Justinian,  to  be  a  Manichsean  was  a  capi- 
tal offence.  Yet  the  main  ideas  of  the  sect  lingered,  in  one  form  or 
another,  among  sectaries  in  the  Church  until  the  thirteenth 
century. 

Gnosticism  was  not  an  unmixed  evil.  It  was  the  first  attempt, 
cnide  though  it  was,  to  place  Christianity  in  an  intelligible  relation 
to  other  gi'eat  religious  systems,  and  to  the  plan  of  history.  It 
stimulated  the  development  of  theological  science.  Its  awakening 
influence  in  this  direction  is  seen  in  its  opponents,  such  as  Irenseus 
and  Hippolytus.  It  was  at  Alexandria  and  Antioch,  the  principal 
seats  of  Gnosticism,  that  systematic  theology  first  arose  and  flour- 
ished. On  the  other  hand,  Gnosticism  is  a  perpetual  warning 
against  the  confounding  of  physical  with  moral  evil,  and  the  re- 
duction of  redemption  to  a  process  of  nature. 

Jesus  wrote  nothing.  The  disciples  whom  he  trained  were  not 
selected  with  reference  to  qualifications  for  literary  composition. 
Rise  of  the  ^^  ^^^^  ^°^^  °^  work  they  would  not  be  naturally  in- 
New  Testa-      clined.    The  writings  of  the  apostles,  Paul  included,  Avere 

ment  canon.  °  ,  ,  .  _^ 

,  supplementary  to  their  oral  teachmg.  They  were  called 
out  by  emergencies,  like  the  troubles  in  the  Chiarch  at  Corinth  or 
Paul's  inability  at  the  time  to  visit  Rome.  They  were  generally 
sent  by  messengers,  who  were  to  add  to  them  oral  communications. 
There  was  no  thought  of  compiling  these  letters  or  the  gospels  into 
a  volume.  At  the  outset,  the  sacred  "  Scriptures,"  the  writings 
cited  as  such,  were  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament.  With  them 
the  words  of  the  Lord  were  quoted  as  of  divine  authority.  As  early 
as  A.D.  150,  as  we  learn  from  Justin  Martyr,  the  gospels  included 
in  the  canon  were  read  in  the  Christian  assemblies  on  Sunday. 
But  the  apostles  were  always  regarded  as  specially  chosen  for  their 
work  and  as  specially  inspired.  When  heretical  sects  arose,  and 
especially  when  they  began  to  cii'culate  forged  apostolic  writings. 


100-313.]  CHRISTIAN  LITERATURE  AND  DOCTRINE.  79 

there  was  a  new  interest  awakened  in  the  collection  and  preserva- 
tion of  the  genuine  writings  of  the^'apostles.  By  them  the  ortho- 
dox traditional  creed  could  be  fortified  against  the  perversion  and 
misrepresentation  by  which  it  was  assailed.  The  heretics  were  al- 
ready in  the  field  with  canons  of  their  own  framing.  Marcion  made 
a  collection  with  a  view  to  support  his  eccentric  opinions.  The 
churches  proceeded  to  join  with  the  four  Gospels,  whose  authority 
as  records  of  the  life  and  teaching  of  Christ  had  before  become 
established,  the  other  writings  of  apostolic  authorship.  These 
collections  were  not,  at  the  beginning,  uniform  in  their  contents. 
Certain  books  were  known  in  one  place  that  were  not  known  in 
another.  Certain  books  might  be  deemed  genuine  by  some,  but 
be  doubted  by  others.  A  landmark  in  the  progress  of  the  forma- 
The  ancient  tiou  of  the  cauon  is  furnishcd  by  the  oldest  versions, 
versions.  rpj^^  Syrian  translation,  or  the  Peshito,  and  the  Old 
Latin  translation,  which  was  in  use  in  North  Africa,  date  from  the 
closing  part  of  the  second  century.  The  Peshito  omits  the  Second 
and  Third  Epistles  of  John,  the  Second  Epistle  of  Peter,  Jude,  and 
the  Apocalypse.  The  Old  Latin  omits  the  Epistle  of  James  and 
the  Second  Epistle  of  Peter,  and  at  first  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews. 
Such  variations  continued  to  exist  until  the  end  of  this  period.  A 
little  later,  Eusebius,  writing  about  325,  enumerates  seven  writings 
now  in  the  New  Testament  which  were  not  universally  received. 
The"Aiiti-  He  calls  them  Antilegomena.  These  disputed  books 
legomena."  ^^^^  ^|^g  Epistlcs  of  Jamcs  and  Jude,  the  Second  Epistle 
of  Peter,  the  Second  and  Third  of  John,  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews, 
and  the  Apocalypse.  Several  books  not  embraced  in  our  canon 
were  held  in  special  reverence,  and  were  often  read  in  the  churches. 
These  were  the  Epistles  of  Clement  of  Rome  and  Barnabas,  and 
the  Shepherd  of  Hermas.  At  length  the  line  was  distinctly  drawn 
which  excluded  these,  as  being  of  lower  rank,  from  the  list  of 
canonical  writings. 

In  opposition  to  heretical  speculations,  great  weight  was  laid 
upon  tradition  as  a  source  of  evidence  respecting  the  teaching  of 
Traditions  the  apostlcs.  The  principal  churches  were  honored  as 
thority'of"'  tli6  witnesses  to  what  this  had  been,  and  as  its  trust- 
scripture.  worthy  guardiaus.  The  authority  of  the  Scriptures  was 
considered  to  be  final  and  conclusive  ;  but  their  inner  sense  the 
Alexandrians  held  that  not  all  were  capable  of  discerning.  Ac- 
cording to  this  school,  a  more  than  common  development  of  faith 
was  requisite  for  this  peculiar  insight.  The  tendency  was  to  high 
views  of  the  extent  of  inspiration,  such  as  the  Jews  cherished  in 


80  FROM  THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE  TO  CONSTANTINE.      [Pekiod  II. 

regard  to  tlie  Old  Testament  books  ;  but  the  Alexandrians  avoided 
extremes  on  this  subject.  The  defences  of  Christianity  were  adapt- 
Defences  of  ©d  to  the  nature  of  the  attacks  made  upon  it.  In  this 
Christianity,  period,  as  distinguished  from  subsequent  times,  it  was 
the  pei'sonal  character  of  Christians  that  sisecially  called  for  vindi- 
cation. Charges  of  atheism,  of  sedition,  of  misanthrophy,  of  secret 
violations  of  decency  and  morality,  were  repelled.  But  the  assail- 
ants of  the  gospel,  Celsus  in  particular,  bring  forward  a  great 
variety  of  imputations  relating  to  its  contents  and  to  the  station 
and  chai-acteristics  of  Christian  believers.  Many  modern  aspersions 
upon  Christianity  were  anticipated  on  the  pages  of  this  early  and 
astute  antagonist. 

The  early  fathers  generally  claim  that  an  obscure  knowledge  of 
God  is  innate  in  the  human  mind,  but  they  make  use  of  arguments, 
especially  the  argument  from  design.  Tertullian  dwells 
concerning  ^  ou  the  spoutaueous  testimony  of  the  soul,  uttered  under 
^°"^'  excitement  and  in  unguarded  moments,   when   nature 

speaks  out.  Christian  teachers  did  a  great  work  in  purifying  the 
minds  of  believers  of  gi'oss,  materiahstic  associations  connected 
with  the  Deity,  the  effect  of  heathenism.  The  Alexandrians  were 
peculiar  in  holding  that  divine  punishments  are  purely  disciplin- 
ary in  their  intent.  The  eternity  of  matter  was  denied,  and  the 
world  was  held  to  have  been  created  out  of  nothing.  One  of  the 
distinctive  features  of  Christian  doctrine  was  the  assertion  of  a  par- 
ticular providence.  The  care  of  God  extends  to  all  indi^dduals, 
and  over  all  occurrences,  whether  great  or  small.  But  with  all  the 
emphasis  which  the  fathers  of  this  period  lay  upon  the  universal 
The  freedom  providcucc  of  God,  they  hold  to  no  predestination  that 
of  the  will,  clashes  with  the  freedom  of  the  human  will.  The  ap- 
pointment of  men  to  reward  or  punishment  in  the  future,  is  based 
on  the  divine  foreknowledge  of  their  free  and  responsible  actions. 
Having  fatalism,  as  it  was  inculcated,  for  example,  by  the  Stoics, 
to  resist,  the  Church  teachers  kept  clear  of  whatever  could  be  con- 
founded with  this  obnoxious  tenet. 

"We  should  not  expect  from  the  apostolic  fathers  the  discussion 
of  such  a  question  as  the  relation  of  Christ  to  God  the  Father.  But 
The  divinity  there  is  manifest  in  their  writings  a  prevailing  sense  of 
of  Christ  ^^^  unique,  exalted  rank  of  the  Son  of  God.  In  Clement, 
Ignatius,  Polycarp,  and  in  the  Epistle  to  Diognetus,  the  preexist- 
ence  and  incarnation  of  Jesus  appear  to  be  distinctly  implied.  Such 
views,  it  was  claimed  by  writers  of  the  third  century,  lay  at  the  root 
of  early  hymns  and  doxologies.     Justin  Martyr  is  the  first  to  de- 


100-512.]  CHRISTIAN  LITERATURE  AND  DOCTRINE.  81 

velopfe  the  doctrine  of  the  divine  Word,  or  Logos,  as  incarnate  in 
Christ.  It  was  the  Word  who  appeared  iu  the  theophanies  of  the 
Old  Testament.  He  is  begotten  before  all  creatures.  Tertullian  is 
the  first  to  use  the  term  "trinity,"  as  applied  to  the  Father,  Son, 
and  Spirit.  Origen  affirms  the  generation  of  the  Son,  by  whom 
all  things  are  made,  to  be  not  an  act  of  God  in  time,  but  eternal. 
In  the  East  there  was  more  anxiety  to  hold  fast  to  the  distinction 
of  persons  iu  the  Deity,  and,  at  the  same  time,  to  shun  tritheism. 
Hence,  largely  for  this  reason,  statements  are  made  which  logically 
imply  in  the  Son  a  subordination  not  congruous  with  true  divinity, 
and  not  in  harmony  with  other  statements  from  the  same  authors. 
There  were  those  who  dissented  from  the  doctrine  of  a  distinction 
Monarchian-  of  pcrsous  in  the  diviuc  being.  These  were  called  Mo- 
*^™-  narchians.     They  were  of  two  classes.     First,  there  were 

humanitarians,  who  seem  not  to  have  been  numerous,  who  regarded 
Jesus  as  a  mere  man.  There  were  others,  whose  view  spread  much 
more  widely,  who  identified  the  Father  with  the  Son,  admitting  no 
personal  distinction  between  the  two,  or  between  them  and  the 
Spirit.  The  Patripassianists,  teaching  that  it  was  the  Father  who 
suffered  on  the  cross,  and  the  Sabellians,  were  the  most  prominent 
representatives  of  this  theory.  It  was  embraced  by  not  a  few  from 
fear  of  a  polytheistic  danger  as  connected  with  the  more  orthodox 
The  Holy  Opinion.  The  Holy  Spirit  was  regarded  as  a  personal 
Spirit.  heavenly  agent,  and  held  (except  by  Monarchians)  to  be 

distinct  from  the  Father  and  the  Son.  Yet  the  functions  of  the 
Word,  or  Logos,  and  of  the  Spirit,  were  not  carefully  distinguished. 
Eespecting  the  precise  relation  of  the  Spirit  to  the  other  Persons, 
there  was  little  inquiry. 

The  belief  in  a  realm  of  angelic  spirits  was  universal  in  the 
Church.  They  were  the  instruments  of  divine  providence  and  the 
Angels  and  messcngers  of  God.  Not  only  were  they  guardians  of 
demons.  nations,  but  each  individual  was  held  to  have  his  guar- 

dian angel,  fulfilling  an  office  like  that  of  the  tutelar  genius  under 
the  old  religion.  Yet  angels  were  only  the  creatures  of  God,  and 
were  subject  to  his  will.  There  is  no  clear  proof  that  in  this  period 
they  were  invoked.  Physical  and  moral  evils  were  ascribed  to  the 
influence  of  Satan  and  of  subordinate  evil  spirits.  They  are  called 
by  Origen  the  executioners  of  God.  All  sorts  of  calamities,  national 
and  personal,  were  attributed  to  their  agency.  The  whole  system  of 
heathen  worship  was  frequently  connected  with  Satan,  as  its  author. 
Yet  evil  angels  were  creatures ;  they  were  subject  to  divine  control, 
and  their  power  over  man  depended  on  the  consent  of  his  will. 


82  FROM  THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE  TO  CONSTANTINE.      [Period  II. 

The  incorporeal  nature  of  the  human  soul  is  affirmed  by  al- 
most all  the  fathers.  Sometimes  the  soul  is  made  to  consist  of 
The  human  ^  higher  or  spiritual,  and  a  lower  or  animal,  nature. 
^°^-  Sometimes   the   division  is    threefold — the    body,    the 

animal  soul,  and  the  rational  spirit.  It  was  held  that  the  soul  is 
immediately  created.  Tertullian  was  peculiar  in  advancing  the 
traducian  theory  that  the  soul  is  propagated  with  the  body.  Man 
was  made  in  the  image  of  God.  A  distinction  was  early  drawn  be- 
tween image  and  similitude,  the  former  denoting  his  natural  capaci- 
ties and  the  latter  his  original  chax-acter.  All  maintained  the 
freedom  of  the  will :  the  Gi'eek  fathers  were  emphatic  in  asserting 
its  autonomy.  The  fathers  frequently  make  man  dependent  on 
God  for  the  continuance  of  his  being  hereafter :  they  hold  that 
immortality  is  a  divine  gift.  This  is  the  view  of  Justin.  Others 
make  immortality  an  inherent  property  of  the  soul. 

All  the  fathers  in  this  period  teach  the  universality  of  sin. 
They  hold  to  a  remaining  capacity  for  right  action,  and  they  do  not 
The  doctrine  affirm  the  absolute  impotence  of  the  fallen  will.  Human 
of  sin.  depravity  springs  from  the  voluntary  sin  of  Adam,  by 

whom  death  was  brought  into  the  world.  From  him  we  receive  a 
heritage  of  depraved  inclinations.  The  Greek  fathers,  however, 
bring  in  the  self-determination  of  the  individual  as  the  condition 
of  his  guilt.  The  Latin  fathers,  of  whom  Tertullian  is  a  leading 
esamjjle,  make  more  of  the  innate  vitiosity  of  men,  derived  by  in- 
heritance fi'om  the  father  of  the  race.  Even  these,  however,  still 
affii-m  human  freedom  ;  but  their  thoughts  pave  the  way  for  the 
Augustinian  conceptions  of  a  later  day. 

There  was  comparatively  little  discussion  relative  to  the  divine 
and  the  human  natures  in  Christ,  or  the  interior  constitution  of  his 
The  person  persou.  Some  of  the  earlier  writers  speak  of  the  "Word, 
of  Christ.  Qj,  Logos,  as  in  him  holding  the  place  of  that  rational 
spirit  which  exists  in  men  generally.  Justin  is  one  of  them.  But 
the  presence  in  Jesus  of  a  human  soul,  in  union  with  the  divine, 
is  implied  in  L.'en?eus,  and  was  brought  out  in  a  clear  light  by 
Origen.  The  sinless  character  of  Christ  was  universally  taught. 
His  supernatural  birth  was  recognized  by  all. 

From  the  beginning  it  was  held  on  all  hands  that  the  work  of 
Christ  went  beyond  that  of  a  teacher  and  legislator.  He  was  a  Ee- 
The  atone-  decmer  of  mankind  in  a  more  profound  sense.  His 
ment.  work  included  an  atonement,  or  a  ground  of  forgiveness. 

As  to  the  method  of  the  atonement,  there  was  no  uniform  view  and 
little  thorough  scrutiny.     One  representation,  which  is  found  in 


100-312.]  CHRISTIAN   LITERATURE  AND   DOCTRINE.  S3 

numerous  writers,  sets  the  work  of  Jesus  in  a  relation  to  Satan. 
His  death  was  a  ransom  paid  to  Satan,  it  being  assumed  that  Satan, 
by  man's  self-surrender,  had  acquired  a  certain  right  of  control. 
This  general  notion  is  presented  with  various  modifications.  But 
along  with  it.  we  find  other  and  more  reasonable  conceptions.  Es- 
pecially is  this  the  fact  in  the  writings  of  Irenaeus,  who  founds  his 
view  on  the  idea  of  Christ  as  the  representative  of  the  race,  as  the 
second  Adam,  who  renounces  sin  and  Satan  and  makes  good  the 
loss  incurred  through  Adam's  weakness  and  guilt.  The  death  of 
Christ  was  made  to  be  the  most  prominent  factor  in  his  atoning 
work. 

The  Church  connected  the  principle  of  obedience  with  faith  in 
the  Saviour  as  its  fountain.  The  new  life  in  the  soul  of  the  believer 
Faith  ami  "^^^  the  Spring  of  righteous  action.  "Yet  we  have  to  re- 
obeaience.  ^^j.^^^  ^^  early  and  an  increasing  departure  from  the  con- 
ception of  the  life-giving  faith  which  is  presented  by  the  Apostle 
Paul,  and  the  gradual  incoming  of  a  more  legal  spirit.  This  ap- 
pears in  the  distinction  between  the  criminality  of  sins  before  and 
after  baptism  ;  the  idea  of  satisfaction  to  be  rendered  by  the 
ofifender,  if  a  communicant ;  the  attaching  of  merit  to  good  works, 
such  as  almsgiving  ;  the  notion  of  works  of  supererogation,  when 
not  only  the  commands  of  the  gospel  are  obeyed,  but  recommenda- 
tions, among  which  virginity  was  reckoned,  are  complied  with  ;  and, 
finally,  in  a  tendency  to  convert  faith  into  a  credence  given  to  facts 
and  doctrines,  instead  of  a  self-surrender  to  God  and  to  Christ. 
A  fruit  of  the  same  general  tendency  was  the  excessive  esteem  that 
came  to  be  attached  to  the  intercessory  prayers  of  departed  saints, 
especially  of  martyrs. 

Unity,  holiness,  and  catholicity,  the  notes  of  the  Church,  in  pro- 
cess of  time  were  predicated  of  the  visible  corporation  over  which 
Notes  of  presided  the  bishops,  with  the  Bishop  of  Rome  at  their 
the  Church,  j^gad.  "  Bcyond  this  visible  Church,"  Cyprian  teaches, 
"there  is  no  salvation."  One  who  dies  for  the  faith,  we  are  told  by 
this  father,  is  not  to  be  called  a  martyr  unless  he  is  within  its  pale. 
It  is  only  by  Origen  and  the  other  teachers  of  the  Alexandrian 
school  that  a  more  spiritual  conception  of  the  Church  is  entertained. 
Origen  says  that  the  words  of  Jesus  to  Peter  (Matthew  xvi.  18) 
are  addressed  to  that  apostle  as  representing  in  his  confession  all 
believers. 

Very  early,  baptism  was  so  far  identified  with  regeneration  as 
to  be  designated  by  this  term.  This  rite  was  considered  essential 
to  salvation.     The  intention  to  receive  baptism,   however,  as  in 


84  FROM  THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE  TO  CONSTANTINE.      [Period  II. 

the  case  of  a  catechumen  who  should  die  before  the  time  fixed  for 
the  rite,  was  accepted  as  sufficient.  A  virtue  was  believed  to 
reside  in  the  baptismal  water  itself.  Baptism  was  ordi- 
thTLo?d's°  narily  administered  by  the  clergy,  but  where  they  could 
Supper.  ^^^  i^g  present,  baptism  by  laymen  was  not  only  admis- 

sible, but  is  by  Tertullian  enjoined. 

The  Asian  fathers — Ignatius,  Justin,  and  L*enffius — ascribe  to 
the  Lord's  Supper  an  efficacious  influence  on  the  body  and  spirit  of 
the  recipient,  having  relation  to  the  resurrection  and  the  new  and 
glorified  life  which  he  is  to  receive  in  connection  with  it.  Christ 
enters  into  a  mysterious  physical  union  with  the  bread  and  wine, 
through  the  agency  of  the  Word,  or  Logos.  Yet  the  bread  and 
wine,  in  virtue  of  this  hidden  power,  do  not  part  with  their  own 
properties.  They  remain  bread  and  wine.  Literal  transubstantia- 
tiou  is  a  doctrine  of  much  later  origin.  By  the  Alexandrians  the 
bread  and  wine  were  taken  as  symbols  which  bring  with  them 
from  Christ  the  spiritual  influence  which  they  denote.  The  habit 
of  looking  on  the  sacrament  as  an  offering,  is  a  fact  of  signal  im- 
portance in  itself  and  in  its  consequences.  It  is  a  conception  for- 
eign to  the  New  Testament.  Yet  it  is  found  in  the  writings  of 
Justin  Martyr,  and  in  the  "  Teaching  of  the  Twelve  Apostles." 
The  bread  and  wine,  with  whatever  might  be  bestowed  for  the 
poor,  were  gifts  of  the  flock,  and  were  denominated  offerings.  Jus- 
tin regards  them  as  brought  to  God,  yet  he  nowhere  considers  the 
eucharist  an  offering  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ.  In  substan- 
tial accord  with  Justin  is  Irenseus.  But  as  the  notion  of  the  clergy 
as  a  priesthood  took  root,  an  advance  was  made  beyond  this  view. 
Cyprian  speaks  of  the  sacrament  as  a  repetition  by  the  Christian 
priest  of  the  offering  of  Christ  on  the  cross.  Yet  he  does  not  de- 
fine or  insist  on  this  view.  "  In  the  East,"  says  Harnack,  "  we  pos- 
sess no  proof  that  before  the  time  of  Eusebius  there  is  any  idea  of 
the  offering  of  the  body  of  Christ  in  the  Lord's  Supper." 

The  word  "  sacrament  "  is  used  in  the  Roman  sense  of  an  oath. 
At  baptism  the  Christian  takes  on  him  the  soldier's  vow  of  fidelity 
to  the  Lord.  It  is  used,  likewise,  in  the  sense  of  a  sign, 
term^'°sacra-  or  Something  occult,  mysterious,  sacred.  It  is  the  sym- 
°"^''*"  bol  of  an  unseen,  spiritual  reality.     This  last  is  the  mean- 

ing which  established  itself  in  the  Church. 

The  belief  in  a  millennial  kingdom  on  earth,  to  follow  the  sec- 
ond advent  of  Christ,  was  widely  diffused.  In  some  cases  it  was 
conceived  of  as  a  scene  of  material  comfort,  when  the  ground 
would  have  a  miraculous  fertility,  and  its  products  be  proportion- 


100-312.]  CHRISTIAN  LITERATURE  AND  DOCTRINE.  85 

ately  rich.     We  discern  in  this  millennial  expectation  traces  of  the 
Judaic  conception  of  the  Messiah's  reign.     The  Christian  doctrine 

of  a  millennium  differed,  however,  in  regarding  his 
chihasm.  y.Q[g^  qq  earth  as  limited  in  its  duration,  and  as  only 
the  prelude  to  the  heavenly  state — a  state  of  spiritual  blessedness. 
This  millennial  or  chiliastic  belief  is  found  in  Justin,  Ii-enseus,  and 
Tertullian.  The  Alexandrians  opposed  it.  They  contributed  to  the 
overthrow  of  the  tenet,  which  was  also  hastened  by  the  unpopu- 
larity of  Montanism,  in  which  it  was  a  prominent  article  of  belief. 
At  length  there  arose  a  great  reaction  against  the  chiliastic  theory, 
which  spread  through  the  Church. 

Many  books  were  written  on  the  subject  of  the  resurrection. 
It  was  generally  conceived  of  in  a  crass  and  literal  way.  A  more 
The  resiir-  Spiritual  view,  as  might  be  expected,  was  taken  by  the 
rection.  Alexandrian  school.     The  soul,  it  was  taught  by  them, 

by  an  inherent  vital  force,  analogous  to  that  which  inheres  in  a 
grain  of  wheat,  constructs  a  body  akin  to  its  own  nature. 

It  was  generally  believed  that  Christ  preached  the  gospel  in 
Hades  to  the  righteous  dead  of  the  Old  Testament  period.     This 

doctrine  we  find,  for  example,  in  Irenteus.     Clement  of 

Alexandria  made  this  pi'eaching  extend  to  the  Gentile 
philosophers,  who  were  not  averse  in  their  spirit  to  divine  truth, 
and  some  interpret  him  to  include,  also,  the  heathen  generally,  who 
died  without  a  knowledge  of  the  gospel.  Origen  thinks  that  the 
pious  dead  were  transferred  to  Paradise,  which  he  makes  to  be,  not 
a  part  of  Hades,  but  yet  distinct  from  Heaven.  To  Paradise  be- 
lievers, as  he  thought,  go  at  their  death.  This  was  contrary  to 
the  usual  view  that  they,  like  the  righteous  of  the  Old  Testament 
days,  wait  in  Hades,  in  a  state  of  happiness,  but  of  happiness  not 
yet  perfected,  for  the  general  resuri-ection.  It  was  believed  that 
only  martyrs  attain  at  once  to  the  blessed  vision  of  God  in  heaven. 
The  Alexandrians  refer  to  the  purification  of  departed  souls  by  spir- 
itual fire,  or  by  agencies  of  which  earthly  fire  is  the  symbol.  The 
fiery  cleansing,  however,  is  placed  by  Origen  at  the  end  of  the 
world,  in  connection  with  the  judgment. 

The  prevailing  opinion  was,  that  the  general  judgment  is  fol- 
lowed by  the  award  of  eternal  blessedness,   and  eternal  misery. 

Certain  passages  may  be  quoted,  both  from  Justin  Mar- 
ment ;  retri-    tyr  and  IrcnsBus,  in  which  they  appear  to  sanction  the 

idea  of  an  ultimate  annihilation  of  the  wicked.  But  such 
is  not  the  prevailing  view  of  these  writers.  What  they — Justin,  in 
particular — insist  upon  is  the  dependence  of  the  soul  for  its  im- 


86  FROM  THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE  TO  CONSTANTINE.      [Period  II. 

mortality  on  the  divine  will.  Origen  and  his  followers  hoped  for 
the  final  restoration  of  all  men  to  holiness  and  blessedness.  But 
this  was  one  of  the  opinions  to  which  he  applied  the  doctrine  of 
reserve  :  it  was  not  to  be  broached  to  the  common  people,  lest 
they  should  be  released  from  a  fear  which  was  wholesome  as  long 
as  higher  motives  were  inoi^erative,  Origen  did  not  despair  of  the 
redemption  of  Satan,  and  of  all  other  fallen  spirits. 


PERIOD  III 
FROM    CONSTANTINE    TO    GKEGOEY    I.    (312-590). 

THE    SUPBEMACY    OF    THE    CHUBCH    IN    THE    ROMAN 
WORLD. 


CHAPTER  I. 

SPREAD  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN   FAITH. 

Shortly  after  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century  there  oc- 
curred an  event  which,  had  it  been  predicted  in  the  days  of  Nero 
or  even  of  Decius,  would  have  been  deemed  a  wild  fancy. 
BioQ  of  Con-  It  was  nothing  less  than  the  conversion  of  the  Roman 
emperor  to  the  Christian  faith.  It  was  an  event  of 
momentous  importance  in  the  history  of  the  Christian  religion. 
The  Roman  empire,  from  being  the  enemy  and  persecutor  of 
the  Church,  thenceforward  became  its  protector  and  patron.  The 
Church  entered  into  an  alliance  with  the  State,  which  was  to  prove 
fruitful  of  consequences,  both  good  and  evil,  in  the  subsequent  his- 
tory of  Europe.  Christianity  was  now  to  reap  the  advantages  and 
to  incur  the  dangers  arising  from  the  friendship  of  earthly  rulers 
and  fi'om  a  close  connection  with  the  civil  authority. 

Constantine  was  born  in  274:.  He  was  the  son  of  Constantius  j 
Chlorus.  His  mother,  Helena,  was  of  obscure  birth.  She  became 
a  Christian — whether  before  or  after  his  conversion,  is  doubtful. 
He  grew  up  to  be  a  man  of  imposing  presence,  of  sagacious  un- 
derstanding, and  of  high  administrative  ability.  In  his  youth,  in 
the  service  of  Diocletian  and  Galerius,  he  showed  personal  valor 
and  military  skill.  After  the  death  of  Constantine's  father,  a  re- 
volt against  Galerius  augmented  the  number  of  emperors,  so 
that,  in  308,  not  less  than  six  claimed  to  exercise  rule.  The 
contest  of  Constfmtine  was  at  first  in  the  "West,  against  the  tyran- 
nical and  dissolute  Maxentius.  It  was  just  before  his  victory 
over  this  rival  at  the  IMilvian  Bridge,  near  Rome,  that  he  adopted 
the  Christian  faith.     That  there  mingled  in  this  decision,  as  in 


i- 


88  FROM  CONSTANTINB  TO  GREGORY  I.        [Pebiod  ni. 

most  of  the  steps  of  his  career,  political  ambition,  is  highly  proba- 
ble. The  strength  of  the  Christian  community  made  it  politic  for 
him  to  win  its  united  support.  But  he  sincerely  believed  in  the 
God  Avhom  the  Christians  worshijDped,  and  in  the  help  which, 
thi-ough  his  providence,  he  could  lend  to  his  servants.  Constan- 
tino showed  afterwards  in  various  ways  that  the  old  superstitions 
yet  lingered  to  some  extent  in  his  mind.  He  was  never  fully 
weaned  from  the  cultus  of  Apollo.  There  were  occasions  on  which 
he  ordered  the  pagan  soothsayers  to  be  consulted.  That  he  did 
not  receive  baptism  until  the  day  before  his  death  was  not  due, 
however,  to  a  lack  of  faith,  but  to  the  current  belief,  in  which  he 
shared,  that  the  holy  laver  washed  out  the  guilt  of  all  previous  sins. 
Shortly  before  his  victory  over  Maxentius  there  occui-red  what  he 
asserted  to  be  the  vision  of  a  flaminfy  cross  in  the  sky,  seen  by  him 
at  noonday,  on  which  was  the  inscription,  in  Greek,  "  By  this  con- 
quer." It  was,  perhaps,  an  optical  illusion,  the  effect  of  a  parhelion 
beheld  in  a  moment  when  the  imagination,  as  might  be  natui-al  at 
this  crisis  of  his  destiny,  was  strongly  excited.  He  adopted  the 
labarum,  or  the  standard  of  the  cross,  which  was  afterward  earned 
in  his  armies.     In  later  contests  with  Liciuius,  the  ruler   in  the 

'  East,  who  was  a  defender  of  paganism,  Constantino  became  more 
distinctly  the  champion  of  the  Christian  cause.     The  final  defeat  of 

/"Licinius,  in  323,  left  him  the  master  of  the  whole  Eoman  world. 
An  edict  signed  by  Galerius,  Constantine,  and  Licinius,  in  811,  had 
proclaimed  freedom  and  toleration  in  matters  of  religion.  The 
edict  of  Milan,  in  312,  emanating  from  the  two  latter,  established 
unrestricted  liberty  on  this  subject.  If  we  consider  the  time  when 
it  was  issued,  we  shall  be  surprised  to  find  that  it  alleges  as  a  mo- 

.  tive  for  the  edict  the  sacred  rights  of  conscience.  It  implies  a  doc- 
trine which  had  to  wait  many  centuries  for  a  practical  realization. 
Constantine  himself  did  not  attempt  to  put  down  heathen  wor- 
ship by  coercive  means.  He  prohibited,  however,  all  pagan  rites 
which  involved  immorality,  magic,  or  sorcery.     In  Con- 

Relation  of  j '  d     j 

Constantine    stautinople,  the  "  New  Kome "  which  he  founded  and 
'  ■  made  his  capital,  he   allowed  only  Christian  worship. 

But  in  many  ways  he  used  his  personal  influence,  by  persuasion  and 
by  distributing  offices  and  other  rewards,  to  gain  converts  to  the 
Christian  side.  He  even  deHvered  discourses  to  applauding  audi- 
tors in  his  palace.  He  called  himself,  the  historian  Eusebius  tells  us, 
in  relation  to  the  Church,  "bishop  in  externals."  This  was  said 
in  a  tone  of  pleasantry,  but  it  expressed  the  view  Avhich  he  actually 
took  of  his  ecclesiastical  function.     He  disclaimed  the  authority  to 


313-590.]  SPREAD  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  FAITH.  89 

decide  questions  of  orthodoxy.  It  was  his  business  to  take  such 
decisions  from  the  bishops,  to  protect  the  Church,  and  to  maintain 
uniformity  in  opposition  to  schismatical  parties.  He  did  not,  how- 
ever, always  observe  this  measure  of  self-restraint  in  reference  to 
theological  disputes.  It  was  inevitable  that  under  such  a  monarch 
there  should  be  large  reinforcements  of  the  Church  from  the  ranks 
of  the  heathen.  It  was  unavoidable,  too,  that  a  considerable  por- 
tion of  these  new  adherents  should  be  actuated  by  interested  mo- 
tives. Imperial  favor,  in  the  room  of  imperial  hostility,  was  now  to 
be  the  source  of  peril  to  the  Church. 

During  Constantine's  reign,  the  Church  in  Britain  emerges  most 
clearly  into  view.  We  read  of  its  being  represented  at  the  Council 
The  old  Brit-  ^^  Arlcs,  in  314,  by  the  Bishops  of  York,  London,  audi 
ish  Church.  Lincoln.  In  the  reign  of  Diocletian  it  was  prominent 
enough  to  be  the  object  of  persecution,  though  protected,  as  far  as 
practicable,  by  Constantius,  the  father  of  Cons'tantine. 

The  origin  and  development  of  the  early  British  Church  are  in- 
volved in  obscurity.  But  although  history  is  silent  here,  the  cre- 
dulity of  later  generations  has  never  wanted  for  legends  to  supply 
its  place.  Some  of  these  relate  the  story  of  missionary  labors  of 
Peter  and  Paul ;  others  tell  of  Joseph  of  Arimathea,  of  the  church 
he  founded  at  Glastonbury,  and  of  his  sanctity,  which  was  so  great 
that  a  hawthorn  bush  budded  every  Christmas-day  in  his  honor. 

Setting  aside  these  and  like  tales  as  unsupported  by  evidence, 
we  may  safely  conjecture  that  the  gospel  was  carried  to  Britain 
soon  after  the  Romans  gained  a  firm  foothold  there.  The  progress 
of  Christianity  must  necessarily  have  been  slow,  on  account  of  the 
bitter  antagonism  between  the  military  settlements  and  the  wild 
inhabitants. 

In  337,  Constantino  died,  leaving  the  empire  to  his  unworthy  sons. 
In  the  division  which  then  took  place,  the  East  fell  to  Constantius  ; 
Reign  of  ^^^  later,  after  the  death  of  his  brothers,  the  whole  em- 
Constantius.  pjj.^  ^^^  united  Under  his  rule.  To  him  the  ancient 
religion  seemed  politically  dangerous.  He,  therefore,  abandoned 
the  moderate  policy  of  his  father.  He  not  only  renewed  the  pro- 
hibition of  sacrifices,  but  decreed  the  penalty  of  death  and  confisca- 
tion of  goods  against  those  who  refused  to  comply  with  its  require- 
ments. Many  suffered  as  martyrs,  and  by  their  steadfastness  and 
courage  brought  honor  to  the  cause  of  the  dying  religion.  Con- 
stans,  who  was  for  ten  years  sole  emperor  in  the  West,  and,  after 
him,  Constantius,  were  obliged  to  pursue  a  more  cautious  policy  in 
that  region.     The  old  religion  was  strong  at  Rome,  especially  in  the 


90  FROM   CONSTANTINE  TO  GREGORY  I.        [Period  III. 

patrician  families.  On  this  account  the  temples  of  the  ancient  city 
were  spared  and  her  religious  institutions  respected.  Throughout 
the  empire,  after  346,  those  temples  which  were  prized  for  artistic 
beauty  escaped  destruction,  while  many  of  the  less  noted  were  de- 
molished amid  the  plaudits  of  fanatical  bishops.  Constantius  was 
an  earnest  defender  of  the  Arian  type  of  Christianity.  He  became 
a  persecutor  of  the  orthodox  party,  and  filled  his  reign  with  the 
bitterness  of  religious  strife. 

The  purity  of  Christianity  had  now  become  corrupted  by  its 
brief  alliance  with  the  State.  A  merely  formal  piety  was  a  pass- 
Degeneracy  of  poi't  to  officc  and  imperial  favor.  The  moral  tone  of 
the  Church,  gociety  was  enervated  by  hypocrisy.  The  wranglings  of 
f  bishops  over  intricacies  of  doctrine  made  only  more  prominent 
the  unchristian  lives  of  the  zealous  disputants.  This  condition  of 
things  offered  the  last  strong  ground  of  defence  to  the  adherents 
of  the  old  religion.  '  In  the  popular  estimation,  a  touch  of  heroism 
was  given  to  their  cause  by  the  persecuting  measures  undertaken 
by  the  government  and  promoted  by  the  clergy.  This  reaction 
continued  to  grow  in  strength  until  it  reached  its  climax  under 
Julian  (called  the  Apostate),  the  cousin  of  Constantius, 

The  reaction  ^  i  /' 

under  Juiiau,  who  obtained  the  empire  in  361.  He  was  fitted  by  dis- 
position and  education  to  be  the  leader  of  such  a  retro- 
grade movement.  The  destruction  of  his  nearest  relatives  by 
the  jealousy  of  his  cousin  taught  Julian  to  distrust  both  Constan- 
tius and  his  religion.  His  eager  mind,  naturally  imaginative,  and 
tinged  with  sentiment,  was  crammed  with  a  degenerate  Christian 
doctrine.  Even  by  way  of  recreation,  he  had  to  employ  himself 
in  the  building  of  a  chapel  over  the  relics  of  a  martyr.  He  and  his 
brother  were  educated  as  ecclesiastics,  in  order  to  keep  them  from 
ambitious  schemes.  Sent  away  from  Constantinople  by  the  con- 
I tinned  jealousy  of  Constantius,  Julian  got  leave  to  pursue  his  stud- 
lies  at  Nicomedia.  He  there  became  a  pupil  of  the  celebrated 
rhetorician  Libanius,  and  secretly  embraced  the  ancient  faith.  He 
afterwards  visited  Athens  and  fell  under  the  influence  of  the  phi- 
losophers and  rhetoricians  there.  They  filled  his  mind  with  pro- 
jects for  restoring  the  old  religious  institutions,  and  taught  him  to 
beHeve  himself  the  providential  agent  for  reasserting  the  rights  of 
the  slighted  gods. 

As  soon  as  he  came  to  the  throne  he  manifested  great  zeal  in 

the  work  to  which  he  felt  himself  called.     As  supreme 

pontiff  he  was  personally,  and  even  ostentatiously,  active 

in  conducting  ceremonies  and  offering  sacrifices.     He  proclaimed 


313-590.]  SPREAD  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  FAITH.  91 

toleration  to  Christianity,  but  in  order  to  bring  it  into  disrepute 
he  encouraged  all  sectarian  controversies.     Ostensibly  in  the  in- 
terests of  justice,  but,  perhaps,  to  foment  discord  among  Christians, 
he  recalled  the  bishops  who  had  been  banished  by  his  predecessor. 
The  temples  which  had  been  destroyed  by  the  zealots  he  ordered 
to   be   rebuilt  at  their  expense.     He  forbade  Christians  to  holdj 
schools  of  rhetoric,  grammar,  and  the  classics,  hoping  thus  to  pre-  1 
vent  the  further  spread  of  Christianity  among  the  educated.    Under  I 
Constantius  the  Jews  had  been  oppressed,  and  therefore  under  •' 
Julian  they  were  favored.     Though  he  condemned  their  exclusive- 
ness,  he  praised  their  worship  of  a  national  God.    At  his  command, 
Avorkmeu  attempted  to  rebuild  the  temple  at  Jerusalem,  but  were 
frightened  away  by  a  destructive  fire  that  burst  out  of  the  vaults 
below,  which  was  thought  to  be  miraculously  kindled.    Julian's  vain 
efforts  to  reverse  the  order  of  religious  progress  passed  away  with 
his  life,  which  ended  two  years  later,  when  he  was  en- 
gaged in  the  Parthian  expedition. 

After  Julian's  death,  Christianity  again  became  dominant  in 
the  State.  The  policy  of  the  next  emperors  was  one  of  tolera- 
Emperors  tiou.  Joviau  (363-364)  forbade  only  those  religious  rites 
after  Julian,  ^-j^icli  were  Undertaken  for  the  purposes  of  magic.  Nor 
did  Valens  (364-378),  his  successor  in  the  East,  go  much  farther. 
Those  who  practised  divination  and  sorcery  were  looked  upon  as 
politically  dangerous,  and  were  therefore  persecuted.  The  "VVestern 
emperor,  Valentinian  (364-375),  was  fully  tolerant.  Yet  the  old 
religion  lost  so  rapidly  in  numbers  and  influence,  that  it  now  re- 
ceived the  name  of  j^aganism,  or  peasants'  religion.  Gratian  (375- 1 
383),  who  succeeded  his  father  Valentinian,  forsook  the  moderate 
policy.  He  was  the  first  to  refuse  the  robe  of  Pontifex  Maximus. 
The  altar  dedicated  to  Victory,  which  Julian  had  restored  to  its 
old  place  in  the  Roman  senate  chamber,  he  caused  to  be  again  re- 
moved. He  took  away  from  the  College  of  Priests  the  right  to  re- 
ceive legacies  of  real  estate.  He  also  deprived  the  priests  and  ves- 
tals of  their  support  from  the  public  treasury,  and  confiscated  the 
goods  of  the  temples  ;  and  when  the  remonstrances  of  the  Roman 
patrician  senate  were  presented,  he  refused  to  listen  to  them. 
Gratian's  successor,  Valentinian  H.  (375-392),  ui-ged  by  Ambrose,! 
Bishop  of  Milan,  confirmed  these  ordinances.    , 

But  paganism  could  no  longer  seriously  alarm  those  who  de- 
fended the  Christian  faith.  They  were  now  obliged  to  face  a  new 
danger  from  the  nations  hovering  on  the  borders  of  the  empire. 
The  long  boundary  where  the  valor  of  Rome  for  many  generations 


92  FROM  CONSTANTINE  TO  GREGORY  I.        [Period  UI. 

had  availed  as  a  rampart  against  the  hordes  of  barbarism,  was  at 
last  broken  through.  Marius  and  Julius  Csesar,  Trajan,  and  Mar- 
cus Aui-elius,  the  many  heroes,  and  the  disciplined  courage  of  the 
legions  whom  they  led  against  the  assailants  of  the  republic  and 
the  empire,  belonged  to  the  past.  The  tribes  of  the  north  burst 
through  the  barriers  that  had  long  resisted  their  advance.  Ma- 
rauding incursions  were  followed  by  permission  given  to  large 
bodies  to  settle  in  the  territories  subject  to  the  emperors.  These 
reinforced  their  weakened  armies  with  numerous  barbarian  recruits, 
some  of  whom  rose  from  the  ranks  to  offices  of  high  command. 
At  length,  vast  and  inexhaustible  streams  of  invaders,  flowing  from 
different  sources,  poured  down  upon  the  ancient  seats  of  power  and 
ci\dlization.  Into  their  hands  fell  the  spoils  of  the  cities,  of  whose 
opulence  and  splendor  vague  rumors,  or,  it  might  be,  lively  pict- 
ures, had  reached  them  in  their  distant  forests.  It  was  now  to  be 
the  task  of  Christianity  to  conquer  by  its  ideas,  and  to  elevate  by 
its  spirit,  these  barbarians  through  whom  modern  Europe  was  to 
derive  its  being. 

The  West  Goths,  a  nation  which  had  recently  been  converted  to 
Arian  Christianity,  were  the  vanguard  of  this  mighty  host.  It  is 
^  ,  necessary  to  go  back  some  years  in  order  to  narrate  the 

Conversion  oi  ^  o  ^ 

the  West  story  of  their  conversion.  They  were  a  branch  of  that 
great  Germanic  people  which  dwelt  between  the  Black 
and  the  Baltic  Seas.  Through  their  marauding  expeditions  they 
first  became  acquainted  with  Christianity.  The  Christian  cap- 
tives whom  they  carried  away  from  Cappadocia  gave  them  the 
gospel  and  made  the  beginnings  of  a  church.  But  the  great 
apostle  to  the  Goths  was  Ulphilas,  who  was  probably  a  descendant 
TJiphiias,  of  o^^©  of  those  Cappadociau  families.  He  was  made 
313-388.  bishop  in  348,  and  had  signal  success  as  a  preacher 
among  the  West  Goths.  But  he  could  make  little  progress 
among  the  East  Goths  on  account  of  their  hostility  to  the  West 
Goths.  As  early  as  the  reign  of  Constantius,  Ulphilas  got  per- 
mission to  bring  a  party  of  his  Gothic  Christians,  who 
were  suffering  persecution,  across  the  Danube,  and  thus 
within  the  limits  of  the  Roman  empire.  He  took  up  his  abode  not 
far  from  Nicopolis,  where  he  labored  as  bishop  thirty-three  years 
longer.  Ulphilas  was  an  Arian  from  the  beginning,  and  therefore 
all  his  converts  were  Arians.  This  fact  is  of  great  significance,  be- 
cause nearly  all  the  Germanic  nations,  which  from  this  time  began 
to  pour  down  into  the  empire,  received  Christianity  from  the  West 
Goths,  and  so,  at  the  outset,  professed  the  Arian  doctrine.     Ulphilas 


O12-590.]  SPREAD   OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  FAITH.  93 

gave  the  Goths  a  written  language,  inventing  an  alphabet  based  on 
the  Greek,  and  translated  for  them  the  Bible,  or  large  portions  of  it. 
In  this  translation  he  omitted  the  books  of  Kings  (including  the 
books  of  Samuel)  in  order  that  his  j)eople  might  not  find  in  them 
Mseso-Gothio  ^^  additional  stimulus  to  their  warlike  enterprises, 
version.  Fragments  of  this  Meeso-Gothic  version  are  the  oldest 
written  monument  in  the  Teutonic  languages. 

In  the  meantime  the  persecution  of  Christians  undertaken  by , 
Athanaric,  the  East  Goth,  had  widened  the  breach  between  the  two 
divisions  of  the  nation.  About  the  year  370,  the  Huns  began  to 
press  upon  the  East  Goths,  and,  joined  by  a  part  of  these,  to  crowd 
the  West  Goths  down  to  the  Danube.  The  West  Goths  now  im- 
plored Valens  to  give  them  an  asylum  in  the  Koman  territory.  It 
is  said  that  Ulphilas  led  the  embassy.  The  request  was  granted, 
and  they  crossed  the  Danube  into  Moesia.  The  avarice  of  corrupt 
imperial  governors  provoked  them  to  revolt.  In  the  battle  of  Adrian- 
ople,  which  followed,  Valens  was  defeated  and  killed. 

To  sustain  the  tottering  emjoire  Theodosius  was  made  regent  in 
the  East  by  Gratian.  Theodosius  checked  the  political  progress  of 
Theodosius,  the  Goths  by  his  vigorous  military  movements.  Unlike 
379-395.  j^^g  predecessor,  he  espoused  the  cause  of  the  Nicene 

doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  and  tried  by  severe  measures  to  sujDpress 
Arianism.  A  general  council  was  called  at  Constantinople  in  381, 
which  reaffirmed  the  Nicene  doctrine.  Ulphilas  was  present  at  this 
council,  and  was  deeply  troubled  at  the  position  in  which  he  was 
suit  affected  him.  His  grief  was  too  much  for  him  to  bear.  Not  very 
long  after,  he  died.  A  confession  of  faith,  composed  in  his  last 
days,  he  left  to  his  Goths  as  his  testament.  The  influence  of  the 
teaching  of  Ulphilas  may  perhaps  be  seen  in  the  respect  paid  to 
Ckfistians,  twBnty^seven  years  later,  during  the  sack  of  Rome  by 
Alaric,  the  leader  of  the  West  Goths,  when  all  who  were,  or  pretended 
to  be,  Christians,  were  i^emoved  to  places  of  safety,  and  the  great 
churches  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  were  protected  from  the  general 
pillage. 

Theodosius  instituted  harsh  and  inquisitorial  laws  in  order  to 
crush  out  the  remnants  of  paganism.  With  this  purpose  in  view, 
Persecution  of  ^^  Commanded  the  heathen  temples  in  Asia  and  Egypt 
heathenism,  ^q  j^g  closcd.  The  work  of  supprcssiou  which  he  began, 
was  carried  on  by  violence.  Mobs  of  Christians,  instigated  by  fanati- 
cal monks  and  clergy,  began  to  demolish  the  temples.  In  the  city 
of  Alexandria  a  terrible  riot  occurred,  and,  driven  to  desperation, 
the  pagan  party  intrenched  itself  about  the  magnificent  temple  of 


94  FROM  CONSTANTINB  TO  GREGORY  I.        [Period  IIL 

Serapis.  The  emperor  pardoned  the  rioters,  but  ordered  all  the 
Alexandrian  temples  to  be  destroyed.  He  also  proclaimed  still 
severer  edicts  against  the  heathen  temple  service.  The  policy  of 
Ai'cadius  (395-408),  his  son  and  successor  in  the  East,  was  milder, 
but  the  same  mob  violence  prevailed,  and  did,  unpunished,  its  work 
of  destruction.  In  the  West,  Honorius  (395-423),  his  brother,  was 
vacillating  in  his  treatment  of  paganism.  Although  at  first  he  com- 
manded the  temples  in  the  country  places  to  be  destroyed,  he 
afterwai'ds  proclaimed  general  religious  freedom.  And  yet,  later  in 
his  reign,  he  caused  all  pagans  to  be  excluded  from  offices  of  state. 

The  death-blow  to  paganism  at  Eome  came  in  410,  when  Alaric  i 
and  his  West  Goths  captured  and  sacked  the  city.     The  shrines  of 
Invasion  of      the  aucicnt  religion  were  pillaged,  and  the  patrician  fam- 
Aiaric.  jj-gg^  ^^-^0  wcre  its  staunchest  supporters,  were  either 

destroyed  or  scattered  among  the  different  peoples  of  the  empire. 
The  pagan  party  had  hoped  for  a  new  lease  of  existence  from  the 
domination  of  the  heathen  barbarians,  who  a  few  years  before  had 
advanced  to  attack  the  city.  But  the  heathen  Radagaisus  was  de- 
feated, while  it  was  the  Christian  Alaric  who  was  victorious. 

The  fifth  and  sixth  centuries  witnessed  great  inroads  of  the  bar- 
barians, and  thus  most  important  changes  of  population.    The  mul- 

,    ,       titude  of  Suevi,  Burgundians,  Vandals,  and  Alans,  which 

Inroads  of  _  °    _  ,  -i  i?    ci   -t    i 

barbarians,  perished  with  Radagaisus  in  the  toils  of  Stiueho,  were 
but  a  portion  of  the  confedei-ate  nations  from  which  they 

came.  The  news  of  the  disaster  of  their  friends  moved  the  host 
which  had  been  left  behind  upon  the  borders  of  the 

Gaul  sepnrat-  -i  /^       i        -r^    •    /• 

ed  from  the  Rhine,  to  make  an  attack  upon  Gaul.  Brief  as  was 
empire,  ^^^  period  of  their  destructive  wanderings,  it  marked 

the  severance  of  Gaul  from  the  empire. 
^^      Alaric's  West  Goths,  who  had  come  to  Italy  after  leaving  their 
home  in  Moesia  and  devastating  the  fairest  region  of  Thrace  and 
Macedonia,  did  not  long  remain  enemies  of  the  emperor.     Alaric 
^^Q  died  soon  after  his  capture  of  Rome.     His  successor  en- 

listed in  the  service  of  Honorius.     The  West  Goths  now 

West  Goths  /-.,       -1  in  •     J        n       • 

in  Gaul  and     2:)oured  ovcr  the  Alps  into   Gaul,  and  then  into  Spam, 
^^^'''  conquering  the  Alans,  chasing  the  Suevi  into  the  moun- 

tains in  the  northwest,  and  the  Vandals  into  a  district  called  after 
them  Andalusia.  As  a  reward  for  their  services,  the  Goths  received 
a  district  in  the  southwest  of  Gaul,  bounded  by  the 
uigun  lans.  -j^^^^,^  audEhone.  This  territory  they  soon  extended  into 
Spain  by  conquest.  In  the  meantime,  a  Burgundian  kingdom  had 
been  growing  up  in  the  southeast.     Thus  Arianism,  for  the  Bur- 


313-590.]  SPREAD  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  FAITH.  95. 

gundians  were  also  Arians,  was  represented  by  the  most  powerful 
tribes  of  Gaul  and  Spain. 

The  Vandals  did  not  long  remain  quiet  in  Spain.     In  429  they 
advanced  under  Genseric  to  the  conquest  of  Africa,  and  wherever 
their  arms  were  triumphant,  there  orthodoxy  was  perse- 
quest  of  Afri-  cuted  and  Ai'ianism  promoted.    To  shield  his  own  move- 

ca  42!) 

ments  Genseric  called  in  Attila,  "the  scourge  of  God," 
from  the  north,  with  his  Huns.  This  wave  of  ruthless  and  repul- 
sive barbarism  threatened  the  very  existence  of  Christian  civiliza- 
_  ,   ^  „  .^    tion.     To  beat  it  back,  Rome  and  the  nations  of  Gaul 

Defeat  of  At-  ' 

tiiaatcha-      stood  side  by  side  at  the  great  battle  of  Chalons  in  451. 

Ions,  451.  *'  " 

They  won  the  day  ;  but  Attila  and  his  host  were  weak- 
ened, not  destroyed.     The  next  year  they  moved  down  upon  the 
plains  of  Italy,  carrying  desolation  in  their  path.     Their  fury  was 
not  checked  until  the  great  Bishop  of  Eome  and  the  im- 
perial ambassadors  entered  the  camp,  and  by  gold  and 
persuasion  turned  them  back. 

But  Leo  could  not  in  like  manner  save  Rome  from  Genseric, 
The  Vandals  ^^S  ^^  ^^^  Vaudals,  who  in  455  carried  his  victorious 
in  Rome.  arms  into  Italy.  The  bishop  only  succeeded  in  mitigat- 
ing the  horrors  of  the  pillage. 

During  all  these  dark  days,  when  Rome  and  Christian  Italy  were 
given  over  by  the  weakness  of  the  emperors  to  the  ravages  of  bar- 
/  Leo  I.,  barians,  the  Roman  bishop  was  fearless  in  the  defence  of 

440-461.  ^jjg  gj^y  c^-jr^^  q£  lYy^Q  Christiaus  everywhere,  who  looked  to 
him  for  protection.  While  Honorius  and  his  successors  were  hid- 
ing in  impregnable  Ravenna,  he  was  in  Rome,  facing  all  dangers 
and  assuming  all  responsibilities.  Such  a  prelate  was  Leo.  Wher- 
ever duty  and  the  interests  of  his  ilock  called,  he  went,  regardless 
of  his  own  safety.  He  was  sober,  energetic,  enterprising,  and  in- 
flexible. The  sceptre  which  fell  from  the  feeble  hand  of  the  em- 
peror was  grasped  by  him  and  his  successors.  Rome  in  the  loss  of 
her  old  empire  found  a  new  and  more  lasting  dominion. 

As  early  as  the  reign  of  Honorius  the  troops  wei-e  withdrawn 

from  Britain  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  empire.     For  a  time  British 

Christian   civilization   languished,  not  being  protected 

from  the  inroads  of  the  barbarian  Picts  and  Scots.    And 

then  came  the  end.     Beginning  with  449,  vast  numbers  of  Saxons 

_  and  Angles   overran  Britain,   driving  the   Britons  into 

Saxon  con-  »  >  b 

quest  of  Eng-  Walcs  and  Cornwall.    Thus  the  larger  part  of  the  island 

land,  i^  °    .  m      i       • 

"  was  given  over  for  several  generations  to  Teutonic 
heathenism. 


96  FROM  CONSTANTINE  TO  GREGORY  I.        [Pekiod  IIL 

About  the  middle  of  this  century,  Ireland  received  Christianity. 
The  man  who  carried  it  thither  was  Patricius,  universally  known 
Conversion  of  ^.s  St.  Patrick.  He  was  born  at  Banavem,  the  Koman 
Ireland.  name   of   a  place   in   Scotland,    south'  of    the    Clyde. 

His  name  in  his  own  country  was  Succat.  Though  his  father 
was  a  deacon  in  the  village  church,  Patrick  was  not  converted 
Patrick  ^^^^^  ^^®  ^^^  sixteen,  when,  having  been  carried 
oft'  by  pirates  to  L-eland,  he  was  put  to  tending  sheep, 
and,  like  the  prodigal  son,  "came  to  himself."  After  escaping, 
and  passing  through  various  other  adventures,  he  believed  himself 
called,  in  a  vision  of  the  night,  to  convey  the  gospel  to  Ireland. 
He  listened  to  the  divine  voice,  and  went  to  the  people  among 
whom  he  had  once  served  as  a  slave.  He  gathered  them 
about  him  in  the  open  field  and  preached  to  them  Christ. 
His  sincere  words  touched  the  hearts  of  peasants  and  chiefs  alike. 
On  the  lands  which  the  grateful  people  gave,  he  established  clois- 
ters. Patrick  himself  was  not  a  learned  man,  but  these  cloisters 
became  centres  of  Christian  learning  and  devotion,  whose  influence 
was  felt  through  the  middle  ages  and  in  distant  parts  of  the  world. 
But  the  gospel  could  not  at  once  subdue  the  warlike  passions  of 
the  Irish,  and  it  required  all  Patrick's  influence  to  hold  them  in 
check.  His  self-denying  labors  for  this  people  won  for  him  the 
honors  of  a  patron  saint.  His  name  and  history  were  invested 
with  a  cloud  of  legends.  Among  them — not  to  speak  of  the  mira- 
I  cles — is  the  story  of  a  visit  to  Rome  and  a  connection  with  the 
Eoman  Church.  Of  all  this  Patrick  himseK  says  nothing  in  his 
autobiograjDhical  "  Confession."  The  tale  of  an  earlier,  wholly 
abortive  mission  of  a  certain  Palladius,  sent  to  the  Irish  from  Rome 
— a  tale  which  may,  or  may  not,  be  true — has  been  mingled  in  a 
confusing  way  with  the  medley  of  legends  concerning  Patrick, 
who  makes  no  mention  of  him. 

Crossing  back  to  the  continent  again,  we  find  still  greater 
changes  going  on — some  fruitful  for  good  to  catholic  Christianity, 
Conversion  of  others  favorable  to  the  continued  power  of  Arianism. 
the  Pranks.  Q£  ^^^  former  class,  was  the  conversion  of  Clovis,  king 
of  the  Franks,  to  Christianity.  Just  before  a  decisive  battle  with  his 
enemies,  he  vowed  that  if  victory  were  given  to  him  he 
would  worship  the  God  of  the  Christians,  of  whom  his 
wife  Clotilde  was  one.  Ciotilde  was  the  niece  of  the  Burgun- 
dian  king,  who  was  an  Arian  ;  but  she  was  orthodox.  After  the 
battle,  Clovis,  with  three  thousand  of  his  warriors,  was  baptized  by 
Remigius,  Archbishop  of  Rheims.     Hearing  a  sermon  on  the  cru- 


313-590.]  SPREAD   OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  FAITH.  97 

cifixiou,  the  bold  chieftain  exclaimed  that,  if  he  and  his  faithful 
Franks  had  been  there,  vengeance  would  have  been  taken  on  the 
Jews.  He  was  a  barbarian  still,  and  the  new  faith  imposed  little 
restraint  on  his  ambition  and  cruelty.  But  his  conversion  was  an 
event  of  the  highest  importance.  The  Gallic  Church  and  clergy 
lent  him  their  devoted  support.  Since  the  Franks  were  destined 
to  become  the  dominant  barbarian  people,  it  was  now  settled  that 
power  was  to  be  in  the  hands  of  Catholic — as  distinguished  from 
heretical  Ai'ian — Christianity.  Clovis  forced  Gundobald,  the  Bur- 
gundian  king,  to  become  tributary,  and  to  embrace  the  Catholic 
faith.  He  pressed  the  Arian  West  Goths  into  a  narrower  strip  of 
territory.  He  was  hailed  by  the  faithful  as  "  most  Christian  king, 
and  a  second  Constantine." 

A  few  years  before  this,  the  Eoman  empire  of  the  West  had  dis- 
appeared. The  barbarian  Odoacer,  leader  of  the  Herulians  and 
Fall  of  Rome,  othcr  German  bands,  made  himself  master  of  Italy,  and 
^'^^  accepted  the  title  of  Patrician  from  the  Eastern  em- 

peror. But  he  in  turn  was  overthrown  by  Theodoric,  the  East 
Theodoricthe  Gloth,  who  led  his  nation  from  Moesia  into  Italy. 
Great,  493-526.  xhough  an  Arian  he  respected  the  Catholics,  confirmed 
the  immunities  enjoyed  by  the  churches,  and  generally  allowed 
the  Eomans  to  elect  their  own  bishop.  In  the  latter  part  of  the 
same  century,  after  the  Ostro-Gothic  kingdom  had  been  overthrown 
by  the  forces  of  Justinian,  a  new  horde  of  barbarians 
came  down  upon  the  plains  of  northern  Italy.  It  was 
the  half-heathen,  half-Arian  Lombards. 

In  these  two  centuries,  the  Church  was  repeatedly  brought  face 
to  face  with  new  nations  and  new  types  of  religious  belief — mixt- 
Eflect  of  bar-  "rcs  generally  of  Aiian  Christianity  and  heathenism, 
questeonttie  Thcse  migrating  Teutons  became  subject  to  the  in- 
church.  fluences  of  religion  in  the  countries  where  they  settled. 

The  moral  force  of  the  Church  and  of  its  representative  bishops 
commanded  their  respect.  They  could  not  escape  altogether  a 
sentiment  of  awe  in  the  presence  of  the  Christian  priest.  They 
could  not  avoid  feeling  in  some  measure  the  softening  and  restrain- 
ing influence  of  Christian  teaching,  and  learning  the  lessons  of  the 
cross.  Nevertheless,  the  religious  condition  of  the  West,  the  char- 
acter of  the  Church  and  of  the  clergy,  could  not  fail  to  be  powerfully 
affected  for  the  worse  by  the  influx  of  barbarism  and  the  corrupt- 
ing influence  of  barbarian  rulers.  A  great  deterioration  in  the 
Church  and  in  its  ministry  ensued  after  the  generation  contempo- 
rary with  the  Germanic  conquests  passed  away. 
7 


98  FROM  CONSTANTINE  TO  GREGORY  I.         [Period  IIL 

While  all  these  years  with  their  storms  and  convulsions  had 
come  and  gone'  in  the  West,  little  of  world-wide  interest  had  oe- 
Christianity  curred  in  the  history  of  Greek  Christianity.  The  prin- 
in  the  East,  cipal  support  of  heathenism,  which  was  propagated  in 
secret,  was  the  New  Platonic  school  at  Athens.  Under  Justinian, 
the  lectures  were  forbidden  and  the  school  broken  up.  The  teach- 
juBtinian,  ^^'^  ^^^  ^^  Persia,  hoping  to  find  a  place  there  for  them- 
527-565.  selves  and  their  religious  ideas.  But  Parsism  was  as 
distasteful  to  them  as  Christianity.  They  returned  from  their  exile, 
only  to  sink  into  obscurity.  Thus  it  was  that  scarcely  two  hundred 
years  after  the  conversion  of  Constantine  the  power  of  paganism  had 
vanished.  The  ancient  religions  of  the  peoples  united  under  Eome 
had  given  way  to  a  better  faith.  The  superstitions  of  the  barbari- 
ans, who  had  found  homes  in  the  empire,  had  been  exchanged  for 
a  more  wholesome  belief.  But  Christianity  had  done  more  than 
this.  It  had  extended  its  influence  to  the  distant  East  and  South, 
to  Abyssinia,  and  the  tribes  of  the  Syrian  and  Lybian  deserts,  to 
Armenia,  Persia,  and  India. 

In  Persia  it  had  peculiar  difficulties  to  overcome.  Zoroastrian- 
ism,  with  its  two  divine  principles — Ormuzd,  the  good,  and  Ahri- 
Christianity  man,  the  cvil — was  a  more  powerful  foe  than  the  gi'osser 
in  Persia.  forms  of  heathenism.  The  Persians  accused  the  Chris- 
tians of  blasphemy,  since  they  made  the  good  God  the  creator  of 
that  which  is  evil.  They  were  also  oflfended  because  the  monks 
seemed  to  despise  riches  and  children,  which  in  their  estimation 
were  the  special  gifts  of  Ormuzd.  Moreover,  the  Persian  govern- 
ment suspected  Christians  of  being  disaffected  citizens  and  favor- 
able to  Roman  pretensions.  In  343,  it  began  a  fierce  persecution 
which  aimed  at  their  complete  extermination.  From  this  time  the 
Persian  Church  had  little  rest  until  after  the  Nestorian  controversy 
had  separated  it  from  the  orthodox  Church  of  the  Greek  empire, 
and  thus  had  relieved  it  from  political  suspicion. 

It  is  probable  that  during  this  time  merchants  and  refugees 

from  Persia  carried  the  gospel  to  India.     Cosmas  Indicopleustes, 

a  traveller  of  the  sixth  centviry,  found  three  churches 

there — one  in  Ceylon,  one  on  the  Malabar  coast,  and  one 

at  Calcutta. 

The  Armenians  received  Christianity  more  universally  than  the 
Persians.  It  had  been  introduced  among  them  as  early  as  the 
second  century.  At  the  beginning  of  the  fourth,  Greg- 
ory, "The  Illuminator,"  diffused  it  more  widely.  Tiii- 
dates,  the  king,  as  well  as  great  numbers  of  his  subjects,  were 


FOLDOUT 
HERE 


313-590.]  CHANGES  OF  ORGANIZATION.  99 

converted.  Later,  in  their  struggles  to  resist  the  aggressions 
and  persecutions  of  the  Persians,  they  defended  their  Christian 
faith  with  fortitude  and  perseverance.  Despite  the  rapid  progress 
of  Christianity  in  this  period,  the  great  countries  to  the  north  of 
the  Rhine  and  the  Danube,  as  well  as  Teutonic  Britain,  had  not  yet 
received  the  hght  of  the  gospel.  To  carry  the  gospel  to  them  was 
the  work  of  succeeding  centuries. 


CHAPTER  II. 

CHANGES  OF  ORGANIZATION  :  ADVANCEMENT  OF  THE  ROMAN  SEE. 

The  purity  of  Christianity  and  the  simplicity  of  its  nature  had 
been  obscured  in  the  preceding  period  by  the  growth  of  the  theo- 
church  and  cratic  idea.  It  was  now  exposed  to  new  dangers  from 
^'''*''-  its  alliance  with  worldly  power  and  its  subjection  to 

imperial  influence.  The  accession  of  Constantine  found  the 
Church  so  firmly  organized  under  the  hierarchy  that  it  could  not 
lose  its  identity  by  being  absolutely  merged  in  the  state.  But 
since  there  was  no  clearly  understood  principle  defining  the  respec- 
tive spheres  of  Church  and  State,  the  first  Christian  emperor  and 
his  successors  exercised  a  large  measure  of  control  in  ecclesiastical 
affairs.  They  assumed  to  fill,  on  their  own  authority,  the  highest 
episcopal  offices.  They  convoked  general  councils,  and  presided 
over  them  by  their  representatives,  and  published  conciliar  decrees 
as  laws  of  the  empire.  Some  of  the  later  Greek  emperors  even 
went  so  far  as  to  exercise  the  right  to  decide  on  disputed  points  of 
doctrine.  Such  usurpations  were  made  possible  by  the  ardent  de- 
sire of  each  theological  party  to  enlist  the  political  power  on  its 
side  and  thus  to  overwhelm  its  opponents. 

The  Eastern  Church,  by  its  character  and  situation,  was  more 
exposed  to  these  evils.  It  was  in  close  contact  with  the  schemes 
The  Eastern  ^^<^,  o^cials  of  the  court.  Its  strength  was  exhausted 
and  the  West-  by  inccssaut  conflicts  and  intestine  doctrinal  divisions. 

em  Churches.    rriT-  •     i        i»  ii         i  ■■ 

Ihe  minds  of  the  clergy  became  infected  with  ambition 
and  serviHty.  They  resorted  to  the  methods  of  political  intrigue 
to  further  their  worldly  interests.  The  Church  in  the  West  had 
more  sobriety  and  firmness  of  character.  It  had  a  stronger  and 
more  consistently  developed  hierarchical  organization,  which,  in 
conjunction  with  its  distance  from  Constantinople,  protected  it| 
from  some  of  the  dangers  of  imperial  favor.     Hence,  in  this  period, 


100  FROM  CONSTANTINE  TO  GREGORY  I.        [Period  III. 

I  the  Western  Church,  on  the  whole,  grew  naore  independent,  while  the 

'  Eastern  Church  gradually  became  enslaved  to  the  state. 

The  emperors  endeavored  to  promote  the  interests  of  Christi- 
anity by  their  personal  influence,  and  by  giving  to  the  Church  and 
its  clergy  new  legal  rights,  somewhat  analogous  to  those 
favor  the"^°"  previously  enjoyed  by  the  heathen  priesthood.  A  few  of 
Church.  ^^g  churches  which  Constantine  built,  received  revenues 
from  the  public  funds,  while  to  others  were  given  the  treasures  of 

'  confiscated  temples.  Ecclesiastical  property  now  rapidly  accumu- 
lated.    The  Church  was  made  the  heir  of  all  clergymen  Avho  died 

'  without  leaving  wills.  The  right  to  receive  legacies  became,  on 
account  of  the  piety  and  superstition  of  the  times,  a  fruitful  source 
of  wealth.  This  right  was,  however,  so  abused  that  Valentinian  L 
(364-375)  found  it  necessary  to  make  a  law  protecting  women  and 
minors  from  the  avarice  of  the  monks  and  the  clergy.  The  offices 
of  the  Church  were  turned  by  many  into  a  means  of  personal  en- 
richment. 

The  relief  from  burdensome  civil  duties,  and  from  various  forma 

'of  taxation,  which  Constantine  granted  to  the  clergy,  led  a  multi- 
Laws  respect-  ^^*^®  ^^  individuals  of  the  higher  classes,  who  were  pos- 
ing the  ap-      sessed  of  wealth,  to  assu.me  a  clerical  office,  even  though 

pointing  of  '  .  . 

the  clergy.  jt  were  of  a  subordinate  rank.  Constantine,  seeing  the 
danger  of  this  practice  to  the  state,  provided  that  new  clergymen 
should  be  appointed  only  in  place  of  those  dying  ;  and  these  re- 
( cruits  were  not  to  be  taken  from  the  noble  families  nor  from  fami- 
lies of  wealth.  Such  a  law  was  necessarily  as  hurtful  to  the  Church 
as  the  previous  law  was  to  the  state.  Thei-efore,  in  383,  a  new  law 
was  enacted,  which  allowed  anyone  to  enter  the  clerical  office,  but 
provided  that  those  who  were  obliged  by  their  wealth  and  rank  to 
bear  civil  burdens  should  first  resign  their  propei'ty  to  others. 
The  jurisdiction  which,  voluntarily  conceded,  the  Church 
risdicifoli  of  and  its  bishops  had  exercised  over  church  members  was 
bishops.  ^^^  p^^  ^^  ^  legal  basis.     In  ecclesiastical  affiiirs,  and 

in  civil  cases  referred  to  them  by  the  consent  of  both  parties,  as 
well  as  in  all  causes  between  clergymen,  the  decisions  of  the  bish- 
ops were  made  final.  These  multiplying  duties  threatened  to  be- 
come an  intolerable  burden  to  conscientious  prelates.  Some  of 
them  complained  that  they  were  compelled  to  spend  too  much  of 
their  time  merely  in  settling  disputes  ;  while  others,  more  worldly- 
minded,  enjoyed  their  increasing  influence  in  secular  affairs. 
There  was  a  growing  tendency  to  establish  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
ecclesiastical  com-ts  over  all  cases  in  which  a  clergyman  was  in- 


312-590.]  CHANGES  OF  ORGANIZATION.  101 

volved.  This  tendency  became  so  strong  that  in  the  next  period, 
even  criminal  suits,  in  which  the  clergy  were  concerned,  were  re-' 
manded  by  Heraclius  to  these  courts. 

But  the  ministers  of  religion  were  able  to  promote  the  cause  of 
justice  and  humanity.  The  churches  were  made  asylums  in  which 
Courage  of  *^®  huutcd  slave  or  the  fallen  minister  of  state  might 
the  clergy.  ^j^j^g  rcfuge  Until  the  clei-gy  could  intercede  to  mitigate 
the  rigor  of  justice,  and  to  protect  the  innocent  and  unfortunate  in 
a  nobler  way.  Acknowledged  as  superintendents  of  jDublic  morals, 
the  clergy  were  many  times  fearless  in  the  rebuke  of  rude  out- 
Theodosius,  brcaks  of  despotism  and  oppression.  Even  the  emperor 
d.  395.  Theodosius  was  compelled  by  Ambrose,  Bishop  of  Milan, 

to  do  penance  for  a  massacre  perpetrated  in  Thessalonica  by  his 
orders,  in  revenge  for  the  slaying  of  a  military  governor  in  a  riot. 
By  the  intercessions  of  Flavianus,  Bishop  of  Antioch,  that  city  was 
protected  from  the  vengeance  of  the  same  emperor.     On  other  oc- 
casions, bishops  were  found  to  emulate,  in  dealing  with  hostile  rul- 
ers, the  example  of  John  the  Baptist.     Athanasius  did 
not  fear  to  address  Constantine,  as  he  was  passing  on 
horseback  thi'ough  the  principal  street  of  Constantinople  ;  "and 
the  haughty  spirit  of  the  emperor  was  awed  by  the  courage  and 
eloquence  of  a  bishop  who  implored  his  justice  and  awakened  his 
conscience."      Basil,  the   great  Bishop  of    Csesarea,   sent  back  a 
spirited  and  severe  reply  to  a  threatening  message  of  Julian  ;  and 
long  afterwards  faced,  with  an  undaunted  courage  that 
secured  his  safety,  first  Modestus,  the  commissioner  of 
Valens,  and  then  the  Arian  emperor  himself. 

In  accordance  with  the  theocratic  idea,  the  priesthood  was  more 
and  more  regarded  as  representing  the  visible  Church,  as  the  link 
Exaltation  of  between  the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth  and  its  divine 
the  clergy.  head,  and  as  the  channel  through  which  the  Holy  Spirit 
was  communicated  to  the  world.  There  was  growing  up  a  strong 
feeling  that  the  clergy  should  stand  aloof  from  secular  life,  and 
exhibit  a  higher  form  of  morality  than  was  required  of  the  com- 
mon Christian.  The  clergyman  was  thus  set  over  against  the  lay- 
man :  there  were  two  ideals  of  Christian  life.  This  contrast  tempted 
the  one  to  a  false  pride  in  his  superior  sanctity,  and  the  other  to  a 
dangerous  contentment  in  mere  external  morality. 

Through  the  influence  of  Church  councils,  and  of  such  leaders 
as  Ambrose,  Jerome,  and  Auo-ustine,  the  doctrine  that 

Celibacy.  '  >  o  j 

the  clergy  of  the  three  higher  grades  should  remain  un- 
married became  widely  recognized.      And  yet  it  met  with  much 


102  FROM  CONSTANTINE  TO  GREGORY  L        [Period  III 

opposition  in  the  West,  while  in  the  East  its  progress  was  hindered 
by  the  arguments  and  example  of  pious  and  respected  bishops. 
The  duties  of  the  clergy  were  conceived  of,  as  well  as  theii'  lives 

I   judged,  too  much  by  an  outward,  unsj)iritual  standard.     The  ten- 

j  Education  of  clsncy  was  to  think  that  ordination  conferred  in  some 
the  clergy.  magical  Way  all  needed  abilities.  Such  ideas  were  espe- 
cially prevalent  in  the  West,  and  thus  it  came  about  that  educa- 

j  tion  was  discredited,  notwithstanding  the  influence  in  an  opposite 
direction  of  such  men  as  Augustine.     In  the  West  there  were  no 

I  theological  schools,  and  but  few  cloisters,  and,  except  in  the  single 
case  of  the  North  African  bishops,  the  clergy  had  to  submit  to  no 
examinations.  To  make  up,  as  far  as  possible,  for  these  defects, 
/  Augustine,  and  others  who  were  imbued  with  a  like  spirit,  gathered 
their  clergy  about  them  in  the  same  dwelling  and  at  a  common 
table.  The  outlook  in  the  East  was  better.  There  the  traditions  of 
the  ancient  Greek  culture  had  not  lost  their  influence.  There,  also, 
wex'e  the  great  theological  schools  of  Alexandria  and  Antioch,  as 
well  as  many  cloisters,  which  furnished  a  valuable,  though  often 
narrow  education.  On  the  whole,  however,  the  common  school  of 
a  clergyman  was  his  practical  training  in  the  lower  clerical  offices. 
But  this  advantage  was  by  no  means  always  used,  despite  various 
laws  which  provided  that  candidates  for  the  higher  ofifices  should 
rise,  step  by  step,  from  the  position  of  prelector  or  reader. 

There  were  many  irregularities  in  the  appointment  of  the  clergy, 
especially  in  the  East.  Sometimes  men  of  unusiial  popularity  or 
Appointment    niarked  fitness  were  called  directly  from  secular  life  to 

I  °f  the  clergy.  ^^Q  ^^^^  ^^  bishop.  Although  this  was  in  violation  of 
the  ordinary  rules  of  the  Church,  it  was  not  in  all  cases  injurious. 
When  Gregory  of  Nazianzus,  resigned  the  bishoj)ric  of  Constan- 
tinople, Nectarius,  who  had  the  rank  of  senator,  was,  at  the  sugges- 
tion of  the  Bishop  of  Tarsus,  appointed  by  Theodosius 
to  fill  the  vacant  office.  He  had  not  even  been  baptized, 
and  while  wearing  the  white  robe  of  a  neophyfe  was  proclaimed 
bishop.  Occasionally  by  this  sort  of  u-regularity  the  people  were 
enabled  to  exercise  their  ancient  right  to  take  j)art  in  the  choice  of 
the  clergy.  A  most  notable  example  of  this  occurred  when  the 
people  of  Milan,  by  acclamation,  called  Ambrose  to  be  their  bishop. 
He  was  then  only  a  catechumen,  and  had  not  been  baptized.  Yet  in 
eight  days  he  was  seated  on  the  episcopal  throne.  The  right  of 
the  congregation,  however,  though  it  was  not  taken  away  during 
the  present  period,  was  gravely  impaired.  When  there  was  a  vacant 
clerical  office  it  was  the  duty  of  the  bishop  to  make  a  nomi- 


312-590.]  CHANGES  OF   ORGANIZATION.  103 

nation,  wlilcla  the  people  were  to  accept  or  reject.  But  the  bishop 
often  made  appointments  for  the  inferior  oJBfices  without  consulting 
the  people.  The  choice  of  a  bishop,  when  the  emperor  did  not  in- 
terfere, depended  for  the  most  part  on  the  clergy  of  the  province, 
but  the  consent  of  the  peoj^le  was  required,  which  in  the  "West  was 
no  mere  form.  Many  of  the  clergy,  especially  in  the  East,  filled 
with  ambitious  schemes,  aspired  to  places  in  the  capital,  or  sought 
for  churches  of  similar  distinction.  Their  attempts  to  override 
the  laws  against  transference  from  one  chm-ch  to  another  occa- 
sioned much  strife  and  bitterness.  Others  frequently  left  their 
parishes,  ostensibly  on  some  errand  of  mercy,  and  journeyed  to 
the  court,  in  whose  life  they  so  delighted  to  mingle.  This  epis- 
copal absenteeism  became  so  prevalent  that  the  councils  of  An- 
tioch  (341)  and  Sardica  (313)  were  obliged  to  pass  stringent  laws 
against  it. 

The  primitive  identity  of   bishops  and  presbyters  was   being  i 
raj)idly  forgotten.     The  bishops,  as  the  successors  of  the  Apostles, 
Ranks  of  the    Were  comiug  to  be  considei'ed  the  pillars  and  witnesses 
clergy.  q£  j.-^^  truth,  and  the  vehicles  for  the  conveyance  of  the 

Holy  Spirit  to  the  lower  orders  of  the  clergy.  They  only  could  con- 
firm, and  consecrate  with  the  holy  oil.  By  their  authority  and  or- 
dination the  presbyters  and  deacons  were  enabled  to  fulfil  spiritual 
functions.  They  presided  over  the  assemblies  of  the  clergy  and 
cared  for  the  administration  of  church  property.  Next  below  them 
came  the  presbyters,  and  below  these,  in  turn,  were  the  deacons.  In 
many  places,  however,  the  deacons,  especially  the  archdeacons, 
being  nearer  the  person  of  the  bishop,  endeavored  to  assume  a  posi- 
tion above  the  presbyters.  In  general  it  was  their  duty  to  assist 
the  higher  clergy  in  the  religious  services.  The  repeating  of  certain 
prayers  and  the  reading  of  the  Gospels  were  assigned  to  them,  while 
other  portions  of  Scriptiu^e,  as  subordinate,  were  assigned  to  pre- 
lectors. During  this  period  the  office  of  deaconess  lost  its  im- 
portance. It  was  discontinued  in  the  West,  but  lingered  in  the 
East  until  the  twelfth  century.  There  were  added  various  inferior 
offices,  which  greatly  swelled  the  ranks  of  the  clergy.  The  first  of 
these  was  the  ceconomus,  or  steward.  It  was  his  duty  to  guard  the 
church  property  against  embezzlement,  and  to  have  a  certain  over- 
sight over  its  administration  by  the  bishop,  as  well  as  to  care  for  it 
during  all  vacancies  in  the  episcopal  office.  The  civil  suits  in  which 
the  Church  found  itself  involved  compelled  it  to  employ  an  advo- 
cate, who  at  first  was  a  clergyman,  but  afterwards  frequently  a  law- 
yer.   Out  of  the  desire  of  each  church  to  keep  a  record  of  the  trials 


104  FROM  CONSTANTINE  TO  GREGORY  I.        [Period  IIL 

of  its  martyrs  grew  up  the  office  of  notarius,  or  recorder,  who  was 
generally  a  deacon,  and  whose  duty  it  became  in  later  times  to  make 
a  full  report  of  the  proceedings  of  councils.  With  the  clergy  are 
also  to  be  reckoned  those  who  were  appointed  to  attend  the  sick 
and  bury  the  dead.  Their  number  increased  so  rapidly  that  in 
such  large  cities  as  Alexandria  and  Autioch  it  had  to  be  limited  by 
law. 

The  hierarchical  organization  gradually  became  perfected.  Not 
only  were  all  the  bishops  exalted  above  the  presbyters,  but  certain 
bishops  who  were  in  charge  of  churches  distinguished  by 
of  the  hie-  their  situation,  or  by  their  superior  claim  to  be  the  cus- 
todians of  apostolic  tradition,  were  placed  in  authority 
over  their  less  favored  brethren.  The  country  bishops  lost  first 
their  prerogatives  and  then  their  existence.  In  343  the  Council  of 
Country  Sardica  ordained  that  they  should  not  be  appointed  in 
bishops.  ^j^g  small  towns,  on  the  ground  that  presbyters  were  suffi- 
cient. According  to  the  provisions  of  a  later  council,  visiting  pres- 
byters were  to  be  sent  to  these  country  churches  to  look  after  their 
welfare.  Thus  these  congregations  became  affiliated  with  the  neigh- 
boring city  churches  and  were  called  parishes.  This  term  was  of 
varying  signification,  but  it  finally  denoted  simply  the  country 
communities.  As  Christianity  spread  in  the  cities  it  became  im- 
possible to  accommodate  all  worshippers  in  one  church.  Each  new 
church  was,  however,  affiliated  to  the  mother  church,  over  which 
the  bishop  presided.  Often  it  had  its  own  presbyter,  subject  to  the 
bishop,  but  in  some  cases  it  was  ministered  to  by  presbyters  who 
Metropoii-  officiated  by  turns.  The  bishop  of  the  chief  city  of  each 
tans.  province  was  called  the  metropolitan.     He  exercised  a 

general  supervision  over  the  churches  of  his  province.  With  the 
assistance  of  the  provincial  clergy  he  ordained  the  bishops.  It  was 
also  his  duty  to  call  and  preside  over  synods,  as  well  a-s  in  the  eccle- 
siastical courts  in  which  accusations  against  a  bishop  were  tried. 
Among  these  metropolitans,  those  of  Kppae,  Antioch,  and  Alexandria 
were  distinguished,  even  in  the  preceding  pei-iod,  by  having  the  care 
of  several  provinces.  Although  this  arrangement  was  approved  by 
the  Council  of  Nicea,  yet  the  provincial  synods  were  acknowledged 
The  large  ^^  the  highest  ecclcsiastical  tribunals.  In  the  Ai-ian  con- 
dioceses.  trovcrsies,  however,  these  provincial  synods  were  found 
too  weak,  and  large  hierarchical  organizations  were  brought  into 
being.  In  the  East  the  lines  of  the  dioceses  into  which  Constantine 
had  divided  the  empire  were  followed.  The  bishop  of  the  chief  city 
in  each  diocese  was,  therefore,  raised  above  aU  other  metropoHtans, 


Long.       10        West 


312-590.]  CHANGES  OF  ORGANIZATION.  105 

although  his  rights  varied  in  the  different  dioceses.  They  were 
greatest  in  that  of  Egypt,  of  which  Alexandria  was  the  capital.  In 
the  diocese  of  Thrace,  the  newly  founded  Constantinople  naturally 
became  the  capital  in  place  of  Heraclea.  This  diocesan  arrange- 
ment was  approved  by  the  Council  of  Constantinople,  and 
diocesan  synods,  as  the  highest  ecclesiastical  courts,  were 
placed  above  the  provincial  councils.  This  same  council  gave  to 
the  Bishop  of  Constantinople  the  first  rank  among  these  diocesan 
Elevation  of  bishops,  his  station  being  second  only  to  that  of  Kome. 
Coastantino-  Supported  by  political  influences,  the  bishops  of  the  great 
P^®-  capital  established  a  control  over  the  neighboring  dio- 

ceses of  the  Bishops  of  Ephesus  and  Neo-Csesarea.  The  later  Council 
of  Chalcedon,  in  451,  recognized  this  arrangement,  and  conferred,  in 
addition,  the  right  to  receive  appeals  and  complaints  from  the  whole 
Eastern  Church.  New  Eome  was  thus  placed  on  a  level  with  an- 
cient Rome  in  real  power,  though  a  little  below  it  in  titular  dig- 
nity. This  action  of  the  Council  of  Chalcedon  was  the  source  of  a 
long  and  bitter  contest  between  the  rival  sees. 

About  this  time,  the  name  Patriarch,  which  had  previously  been 
a  name  of  respect  applied  to  every  bishop,  was  appropriated  ex- 
The  patri-  clusively  to  the  bishops  of  the  great  sees  of  Rome,  Con- 
archates.  stantiuoplc,  Alexandria,  and  Antioch.  To  this  rank 
Jerusalem  also  was  now  raised  by  the  decree  of  the  Council  of 
Chalcedon,  not  because  of  its  actual  influence,  but  on  account  of  its 
historic  dignity. 

While  there  were  four  patriarchates  in  the  East,  no  one  of  which 
could  long  dominate  the  other  three,  there  was  but  one  in  the 
Exaltation  of  Wcst,  and  that  one,  even  at  the  beginning  of  this  period, 
Rome.  j.-^Q  most  important  of  them  all.    Rome  had  an  ecclesias- 

tical supremacy  over  ten  suburbicarian  provinces,  comprising  Italy, 
south  of  the  northern  boundary  of  Etruria,  and  Sicily,  Sardinia, 
Corsica,  and  Valeria.  But  its  real  power  was  by  no  means  so  cir- 
cumscribed. As  an  apostolic  Church  of  loftiest  rank,  its  counsel  had 
been  received  during  the  preceding  period  with  reverence  in  all  the 
West,  many  of  whose  churches  it  had  founded.  Its  very  name  sug- 
gested the  glories  of  the  old  republic  and  of  the  Augustan  empire. 
Its  influence  gradually  became  more  powerful,  and  its  jurisdiction 
was  being  slowly  but  surely  extended  over  the  whole  Western 
Church.  The  Council  of  Sardica,  in  347,  gave  to  Julius,  the  Roman 
bishop,  the  privilege  of  appointing  judges  to  try  the  cases  of  con- 
demned bishops,  if  he  thought  their  appeals  worthy  of  considera- 
tion.    He  could  institute  a  revision  of  the  verdicts  of  synods,  even 


106  FROM  CONSTANTINE  TO  GREGORY  I.        [Period  m. 

though  no  appeal  were  made  to  him.  This  honoring  of  the  memory 
of  the  Apostle  Peter  in  the  person  of  JuHus  proved  dangerous  to 
the  liberty  of  the  chturches.  The  decrees  which,  on  the  ground 
assigned,  had  given  such  privileges  to  Julius,  as  well  as  the  grants 
made  by  the  emperor  Gratian  to  a  subsequent  bishop,  were  claimed 
as  conferring  a  permanent  authority  on  the  bishops  of  Eome  ;  and 
since,  by  mistake,  they  were  afterwards  taken  for  decrees  of  the 
Niceue  council,  their  influence  was  much  increased.  Quoted  as 
Nicene  decrees,  they  were  used  with  effect  in  a  controversy  with  the 
North  African  Church,  in  the  first  years  of  the  next  century.  But 
the  North  Africans  resisted  the  claim  of  judicial  authority  set  up  by 
Innocent  I.  (402-417),  and  afterwards  forbade  all  appeals  to  foreign 
bishops.  Soon,  however,  the  confusion  and  distress  brought  in  by 
the  Vandal  ascendency  gave  Leo  L  (440-461)  an  occasion  for  re- 
asserting Rome's  jurisdiction. 

The  doctrinal  controversies  which  continually  agitated  the  East 
after  the  Nicene  council  tended  to  elevate  the  Eoman  see.  Each 
party  flew  to  it  for  suj^port,  and  made  use  of  flattering  language, 
which  the  Roman  bishops  literally  interpreted  and  persisted  in 
quoting  after  the  controversy  that  gave  rise  to  it  had  died  out.  In 
the  controversy  on  the  divinity  of  Christ,  Julius  espoused  the  cause 
of  Athanasius ;  and  although  his  interference  was  resented  by  the 
Eastern  prelates,  still  the  influence  of  Rome  was  increased  rather 
than  diminished,  since  the  party  favored  by  Rome  eventually  gained 
the  victory.  In  critical  moments,  also,  the  Roman  bishop  interposed 
with  doctrinal  formulas,  which  met  with  general  acceptance.  The 
most  memorable  instance  was  at  Chalcedon,  when  the 

Leo  I.  and  the 

Councilor  statement  of  the  creed  relative  to  the  person  of  Christ 
was  substantially  drawn  from  the  letter  of  Leo.  The 
Eastern  bishops  were  accustomed  to  defer  to  the  advice  of  the 
patriarch  of  the  West  on  the  ground  of  Rome's  historic  preemi- 
nence. But  in  the  Roman  Church  the  idea  of  its  supremacy,  as  based 
on  the  primacy  of  Peter,  was  rapidly  acquiring  definite  form  and 
resolute  support.  This  idea  took  complete  possession  of  the  mind  of 
Leo,  a  bishop  who  had  great  influence  in  establishing  the  preten- 
sions of  the  Roman  see.  "When  the  Council  of  Chalcedon,  in  giving 
equal  privileges  to  the  Bishop  of  Constantinople,  assumed  that  the 
high  rank  of  the  Roman  bishop  arose  out  of  the  fact  that  Rome 
was  the  ancient  capital  of  the  empire,  Leo  sj^urned  the  idea.  He 
claimed  that  the  Bishop  of  Rome  was  the  successor  of  Peter,  the 
chief  of  the  Apostles  and  vicar  of  Christ.  On  this  occasion  he 
wrote  to  the  empex-or :  "  Without  that  rock    [the  Apostle  Peter] 


S12-590.]  CHANGES  OF  ORGANIZATION.  107 

wliicb  our  Lord  has  wonderfully  laid  as  the  foundation,  no  structure 
can  stand."  But  Leo  did  not  renounce  the  advantage  to  be  derived 
from  the  political  position  of  Rome.  He  skilfully  interwove  this 
with  the  more  vital  consideration  just  named.  He  claimed  that  the 
Eoman  Empire  was  built  up  with  reference  to  Christianity,  and  that 
Rome,  for  this  reason,  was  chosen  for  the  bishopric  of  the  chief 
of  the  Apostles.  Inspired  by  this  idea,  he  uttered  a  striking 
prophecy :  he  foretold  that  her  spiritual  conquests  and  dominion 
would  surpass  in  glory  all  that  her  temporal  power  had  gained. 
Leo's  admin-  ^eo  improved  every  opportunity  to  bring  to  pass  the 
istration.  early  fulfilment  of  this  prediction.  He  attempted  to 
reinstate  a  bishop  who  had  been  deposed  by  Hilary,  MetropoHtan 
of  Southeast  Gaul.  Incensed  at  what  he  termed  the  obstinate  dis- 
obedience of  Hilary,  he  overstepped  the  privileges  granted  to  Julius 
by  the  Council  of  Sardica,  reinstated  the  bishop  without  a  trial,  and 
transferred  the  metropolitan  rights  from  Aries  to  Vienne.  Hilary, 
howevei",  continued  to  enjoy  the  same  dignities  as  before.  There- 
upon Valentiniau  IH.  issued  a  law  by  which  the  Eoman 
bishop  was  declared  the  supreme  head  of  the  Western 
Church.  This  law  gave  for  its  reasons — the  primacy  of  Peter,  the 
dignity  of  the  city,  and  the  decree  of  a  holy  synod.  Resistance  to 
the  authority  of  the  Roman  bishop  was  affirmed  to  be  an  offence 
against  the  Roman  State.  No  bishops  in  Gaul  could  undertake 
anything  without  the  consent  of  the  Papa  urhis  ceternce.  Leo  suc- 
cessfully maintained  Rome's  authority  in  another  quarter.  The 
East  lUyrian  bishops,  who  during  the  Ariau  controversies  had  come 
under  her  protection,  became  discontented  with  the  domination  of 
the  Metropolitan  of  Thessalonica,  and  sought  to  be  received  into  the 
diocese  of  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople.  Leo  not  only  reconciled 
them  to  their  superior,  but  also  made  his  influence  felt  more  di- 
rectly in  their  affairs. 

Political  changes  in  Italy  had  much  to  do  with  the  growth  of  the 

papacy.     In  404  Honorius  fixed  his  residence  at  Ravenna,  on  the 

border  of  the  Adriatic,  where  also  his  successors  resided, 

Political  situa-  -i        ^      i  •      i  •  t     i      -r-i 

tion  favors  the  as  Well  as  the  Gothic  kings  and  the  Eastern  exarchs,  who 
papacy.  ruled  after  the   breaking   up   of  the  Western  empire. 

From  this  time  the  danger  from  the  proximity  of  the  civil  ruler  and 
the  influences  of  court  life,  the  peril  to  which  the  Eastern  Church 
was  constantly  exposed,  passed  away.  Except  during  Justinian's 
brief  domination  in  Italy,  the  civil  power  no  longer  seriously  inter- 
fered with  the  development  of  the  prerogatives  of  the  Roman  bishop. 
At  the  same  time,  more  opportunities  were  afforded  for  making  his 


108  FROM  CONSTANTINE  TO  GREGORY  L        [Period  III. 

authority  felt  in  the  affairs  of  the  city  and  of  the  surrounding  dis- 
tricts. 

The  barbarian  princes,  and  especially  Theodoric,  conceded 
to  the  bishops  of  Kome  a  large  degree  of  liberty  as  long  as  a 
Theodoric,  bitter  rivalry  parted  them  from  the  bishops  of  Constan- 
493-526.  tinople.  He  had  no  reason  to  fear  a  hierarchical  com- 
bination against  him.  Even  in  a  disputed  election  he  did  not 
interpose  until  called  upon,  and  then  permitted  the  party  of  Sym- 
machus  in  their  synod  to  declare  that  all  interference  on  the  part 
of  laymen  was  inadmissible.  During  this  same  controversy,  Enno- 
dius,  a  member  of  the  synod  summoned  to  try  the  charges  against 
Symmachus,  made  the  significant  declaration  that  it  was  the  di- 
vine will  that  the  Bishop  of  Eome  should  be  judged  by  God  alone. 
By  their  steady  adherence  to  the  orthodox  creeds  the  Roman  bish- 
'oj)S  continued  to  rise  in  the  estimation  of  the  Church,  and  to  gain 
more  favor  for  their  pretensions.  But  as  yet  they  claimed  no  new 
or  peculiar  dignities  ;  they  only  demanded  the  recognition  of  their 
right  to  judge  in  the  case  of  faults  committed  by  bishops. 

During  the  Byzantine  rule  over  Italy,  the  Eoman  bishops  fell 
temporarily  from  their  position  of  dignity  and  independence. 
The  Roman  They  wcrc  treated  by  Justinian  as  on  a  level  with  the 
ByzMtiM  "^^"^  bishops  of  Constantinople,  and  were  coerced  into  a  sup- 
ruie.  pQj-t  Qf  i^^g  doctrinal  preferences.     They  now  forsook 

their  former  consistent  adherence  to  the  decisions  of  orthodox 
councils  and  became  involved  in  the  Monophysite  heresies,  vacillat- 
ing from  one  side  to  another.  It  seemed  as  though  Rome  was  to 
lose  her  good  name  and  to  forfeit  her  controlling  influence  in  the 
West.  Some  of  the  Italian  churches  even  broke  off  communion 
I  Effect  of  the  with  her.  It  was  the  heretical  Lombards  who  saved 
I  qu"t tTuthT"  Rome  for  orthodoxy  and  rendered  her  future  greatness 
I  papacy.  possible.    They  did  it  by  breaking  the  power  of  the  exar- 

chate, the  Greek  dominion  in  Italy,  Although  the  bishops  of  Rome 
were  still  in  name  subject  to  the  Eastern  emperor,  they  were  fast 
becoming  practically  independent.  Italy  now  learned  to  look  to 
them  for  the  protection  Avhich  its  nominal  rulers  could  not  or  would 
not  afford. 

The  name  Papa  (Pope),  applied  elsewhere  in  the  West  as  a  title 
of  honor  to  all  bishops,  and  in  the  East  as  a  special  title  of  the 
The  term  bishops  of  Rome  and  Alexandria,  became  in  Italy,  as  early 
" ^°^^"  as  the  beginning  of  the  sixth  century,  the  exclusive  desig- 
nation of  the  bishops  of  Rome. 

The  codification  of  ecclesiastical  laws  had  a  decided  effect  in 


312-590.]  CHANGES  OF  ORGANIZATION.  109 

increasing  the  strength  of  the  hierarchy.  The  first  satisfactoiy 
collection  of  this  kind  was  made  by  the  monk  Dionysius  Exiguus, 
about  the  year  500.  His  book  contained  the  decretals  of  the  popes 
from  the  time  of  Siricius,  the  decrees  of  the  general  or  oecumenical 
councils,  and  the  most  important  canons  of  the  provincial  synods. 

The  controversy  concerning  Church  discipline,  which  had  been 
maintained  in  the  former  period  by  the  Novatians,  was  revived  in 
the  early  years  of  the  fourth  century  by  the  Donatists.  They  de- 
clared, in, general,  that  a  rigid  discipline  was  necessaiy  to  preserve 
the  purity  of  the  Chui-ch*  and,  in.  particular,  that  it  was  wrong  to 
receive  back  to  tlie  communion  of  the  faithful  any  who  had  denied 
Christ  under  persecution.  These  opinions  were  coupled  with  an 
extravagant  veneration  for  martyrs,  and  an  intense  conviction  that 
their  opponents  were  corrupters  of  the  Church.  They  were  declared 
by  the  Synod  of  Aries  to  be  schismatics  and  were  sub- 
jected to  persecution.  Bands  of  fanatical  monks  and 
peasants  took  up  their  cause,  and  became  the  terror  of  many  dis- 
tricts of  Afi'ica.  In  the  next  century  a  disputation  was 
held  at  Carthage,  at  which  Augustine  vainly  tried  to  con- 
vince the  more  reasonable  members  of  the  Donatist  party.  After 
this  time  they  struggled  on  for  many  years  until  they  were  finally 
overwhelmed  by  imperial  troops.  The  party  which  favored  a 
milder  discipline  had  triumphed.  Even  the  worst  sinners,  if  con- 
trite, might  now  be  restored  to  the  fellowship  of  the  Church.  The 
steps  in  the  process  of  penance  were  systematically  arranged.  The 
confession  of  private  sins  was  not  required,  and,  therefore,  when 
made  it  was  regarded  as  a  hopeful  token  of  repentance,  and  was 
rewarded  with  the  mitigation  of  the  ordinary  punishment.  Those 
penitents  whose  lives  had  been  notoriously  sinful  were  to  follow 
the  directions  of  the  bishop  or  the  penitentiary  pi-esbyter,  if  there 
was  one,  as  was  frequently  the  case  in  the  large  Eastern  cities.  But 
in  390,  owing  to  certain  scandals,  this  oflice  was  abolished  by  the 
Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  and  thenceforward  penance  was  left 
to  be  apportioned  by  the  conscience  of  the  individual.  Discipline 
fell  somewhat  into  decay  in  the  West  also,  although  it  was  still  be- 
lieved that  forgiveness  was  conditioned  upon  confession.  The  out- 
ward manifestation  was  prized  as  highly  as  the  inward  spirit  that 
was  always,  at  least  in  theory,  supposed  to  prompt  it. 


110  FROM  CONSTANTINE  TO  GREGORY  I.        [Period  III. 

CHAPTEK    III. 

CHRISTIAN  LIFE   AND  WORSHIP. 

When  Christianity  was  made  the  religion  of  the  empire,  it  be- 
came also  the  fashion  of  a  luxurious  and  decaying  society.  With 
weakened  forces  it  confronted  the  peculiar  difficulties 
vital  Chris-  and  temptations  of  its  new  position.  Its  vital  principles, 
*^°'  ^'  being  overlaid  by  ideas  that  were  foreign  to  their  nature, 

had  become  partially  obscured.  The  pure  and  steady  light  of  a 
true  Christian  life  which  should  have  shone  abroad  over  the  dark- 
ness and  confusion  of  the  world,  was  dimmed  by  a  formal  and 
churchly  i)iety,  or  made  ghostly  by  an  unearthly  asceticism. 

The  Christian  life  of  the  period,  being  released  from  the  re- 
straints of  persecution,  was  left  free  to  develop  according  to  the 
Growth  of  tendencies  which  had  previously  begun  to  make  them- 
formaiism.  selvcs  felt.  It  was  uow  exposed  to  many  subtle,  debasing 
influences  from  within  and  without  the  Church.  As  it  is  natural 
to  expect  during  the  decay  of  one  religion  and  the  rise  of  another, 
atheism  and  demoralization  were  widespread.  The  prevalent  un- 
spiritual  views  of  the  gospel  made  it  possible  for  multitudes  of 
heathen  to  pass  from  the  old  religion  to  the  new  by  no  other  con- 
version than  a  mere  chahge  of  name.  To  them  the  Christian  life 
seemed  nothing  deeper  than  a  round  of  ceremonies  and  perfunc- 
toiy  duties.  Many  sought  by  almsgiving  and  by  partaking  of  the 
communion  to  atone  for  sinful  lives.  They  saw  in  baptism  an  easy 
means  of  rescue  from  perdition,  and  hence  they  deferred  resorting 
to  the  holy  laver  until  frightened  by  the  approach  of  death.  Like 
their  pagan  ancestors,  they  ridiculed  and  persecuted  the  more  con- 
scientious who  endeavored  to  lead  lives  of  sincere  piety.  The  de- 
lusion of  such  nominal  believers  was  fostered  by  the  growing  dis- 
tinction between  the  sort  of  piety  required  of  the  monks  and  the 
clergy,  and  that  demanded  of  the  ordinary  Chi-istian.  Even  the 
great  theologians  and  preachers  of  the  fourth  century,  who  with- 
stood the  evil  tendencies  of  the  age,  were  not  altogether  free  from 
the  influence  of  the  same  unspiritual  notions.  And  yet  despite  all 
this,  the  nobler  Christian  ideal  was  kept  alive  in  the  hearts  of  many 
individuals.  Its  most  beautiful  manifestation  was  seen  in  the 
mothers  of  some  of  the  greatest  and  best  of  the  Church  teachers. 
And  it  is  to  the  lives  of  Nonua,  Anthusa,  and  Monica  that  the 


312-590.]  CHRISTIAN  LIFE  AND  WORSHIP.  Ill 

Chiirch  owes  much  of  what  Gregory  Nazianzen,  Chrysostom,  and 
Augustine  were  and  accomplished. 

The  ascetic  tendency  became  so  strong  in  the  Church  life  of  this 
period  that  it  engendered  a  monasticism  highly  developed  in  its 
Sources  of  various  phases.  The  monastic  spirit  has  not  been  con- 
monasticism.  gj^g^j  ^.^  ^]^g  history  of  Christianity.  It  was  found  among 
the  Jews  and  culminated  in  the  Essenes.  In  a  still  more  advanced 
form  it  spread  among  the  followers  of  Buddha  and  the  worshippers 
of  Serapis.  Whenever  there  is  present  in  the  mind  of  man  that 
mystical  longing  for  an  uninterrupted  enjoyment  of  the  inward  ex- 
periences of  the  soul,  a  passion  for  self-brooding,  and  an  unhealthy 
view  of  the  seclusion  requisite  for  the  true  religious  life,  some  form 
of  monasticism  will  emerge.  Especially  will  this  be  the  fact  in 
countries  where  the  climate  is  mild  and  favorable  to  repose.  The 
causes  of  the  development  of  monasticism  in  this  period  are  not  far 
to  seek.  The  state  of  the  times  stimulated  a  desire  for  ascetic  re- 
tirement. The  world  was  falling  to  pieces  morally  as  well  as  po- 
litically. The  sky  was  dark  and  threatening.  The  purity  of  the 
Church  was  imperiled  by  the  influx  of  nominal  Christianity.  A 
feeling  of  alarm  took  possession  of  many  serious  minds.  Some 
who  lacked  the  courage  to  enter  into  conflict  with  the  growing  de- 
pravity looked  for  a  secure  retreat  from  the  vanities  and  uncertain- 
ties of  ordinary  life.  Others,  and  among  them  not  a  few  noble- 
minded  men,  wrongly  apprehending  the  relation  of  the  Christian 
to  the  world,  thought  that  the  true  conquest  of  an  evil  world  was  to 
be  achieved  by  withdrawing  from  it. 

The  native  hearthstone  of  monasticism,   as  we   have  already 

explained  on  a  previous  page,  was  in  the  East,  and  especially  in 

Egypt,  where  paganism  had  developed  similar  tenden- 

The  hermits.       .       '^    n,,  \.  °  ,  .     i     .       .-,  •    n 

cies.  The  ascetic  no  longer  resorted  to  the  neighbor- 
hood of  churches  or  lingered  on  the  borders  of  villages,  as  in 
the  former  period.  He  withdrew  to  the  solitudes  of  the  desert, 
or  sought  an  abode  in  a  cavern  of  the  mountains.  From  this  cir- 
cumstance, such  monks  received  the  name  of  "  anchorites,"  which  i>i 
comes  from  a  Greek  word  meaning  to  retire. 

Their  patron  saint  and  reputed  founder  was  Anthony,  whose 
life,  said  to  have  been  written  by  Athanasius,  is  still  preserved. 
Anthony  of  The  story  of  Anthony,  however  much  or  little  of  it  may 
Thebes.  ^q  ^^g  ^^  ^j^g  imagination  of  those  times,  no  doubt  pre- 

sents an  ideal  of  the  hermit's  life  in  the  fourth  century.  Anthony 
was  from  boyhood  of  a  reflective  and  religious  nature.  The  death 
of  his  parents  threw  upon  him,  while  still  a  youth,  the  care  of  a 


112  FROM  CONSTANTINE  TO  GREGORY  I.        [PebiodIH 

younger  sister,  and  the  vexations  incident  to  the  affairs  of  a  large 
estate.  He  was  troubled  by  all  these  distracting  earthly  concerns, 
and  hastened  to  obey  the  command  of  Jesus  to  the  rich  young 
man,  reserving  only  a  smaU  amount  of  property  for  the  use  of 
his  sister.  Again  the  Scripture  seemed  to  speak  to  him  in  the  pre- 
cept, "  take  no  thought  for  the  morrow."  He  therefore  disposed  of 
the  remainder  of  his  estate,  and  placed  his  sister  in  a  society  of 
virgins.  His  love,  which  still  went  out  toward  her,  he  tried  to 
stijQIe,  because  he  thought  all  such  affections  in  one  who  had  abjm-ed 
the  world,  unholy.  Aged  ascetics  for  a  time  became  his  only  com- 
panions and  teachers.  He  then  resorted  to  a  cave  in  the  moun- 
tains, there  to  give  himself  to  pious  contemplation  and  to  the  con- 
quest of  the  evil  propensities  of  his  nature.  The  very  desires  which 
he  wished  to  crucify,  grew  strong  and  multiplied  in  his  morbid 
fancies.  Evil  spirits  wrestled  with  him  and  left  him  fainting  and 
wounded.  As  these  years  of  solitary  struggle  passed  away,  he  began 
to  become  known  ;  and  in  order  to  avoid  publicity,  he  retired  again 
and  again  to  deeper  solitudes.  Many  sought  him  out  even  in  these 
hidden  retreats,  and  took  counsel  of  him  in  reference  to  the  ascetic 
life.  He  warned  them  against  the  errors  of  his  own  early  expe- 
rience, telling  them  to  occupy  their  minds  with  good  thoughts  and 
healthful  work,  and  thus  rid  themselves  of  evil  imaginations.  In 
his  admonitions  he  was  wise  and  charitable.  He  was  neither  ser- 
vile before  the  great  nor  proud  before  the  humble.  The  word 
which  he  sent  to  the  emperors  was  an  exhortation  to  do  justice  and 
to  remember  the  poor.  On  two  or  three  occasions  of  peculiar 
peril  he  appeared  in  Alexandria,  either  to  encourage  the  faithful 
under  persecution  or  to  resist  the  progress  of  Ai-ian  heresy.  His 
humility  lasted  to  the  end.  When  death  was  near,  he  ordered  his 
sepulchre  to  be  concealed  that  his  body  might  not  be  an  object  of 
reverence. 

The  life  of  Anthony,  be  it  historical  or  mythical,  may  be  taken 
as  a  picture  of  the  course  pm-sued  by  the  better  class  of  anchorites. 
They  rapidly  increased  in  numbers  and  spread  their  cells  over  the 
desolate  and  secluded  regions  of  Egypt,  Syria,  and  Palestine.  They 
subjected  themselves  to  every  form  of  physical  privation  and  suf- 
fering, often  devising  curious  and  extravagant  modes  of  self-torture. 
The  most  notable  of  them  was  Si_meoia^the  Stylite,  so  called  because 
he  took  up  his  abode  on  the  top  of  a  pillar.  From  this  lofty  posi- 
tion, sixty  feet  from  the  gi'ound,  he  preached  to  those  whom  curi- 
osity and  admiring  devotion  gathered  about  him. 

Many  anchorites,  Avho  became  widely  revered  for  sanctity,  were 


312-590.]  CHRISTIAN  LIFE  AND  WORSHIP.  113 

honored  and  addressed  by  men  of  distinction  as  their  spiritual  fa- 
influence  of  thers.  Pupils  listened  to  their  teachings,  and  thus  small 
anchorites,      monkish  Communities  grew  up  around  them. 

But,  independently  of  this  e£fect,  a  movement  toward  the  clois- 
ter life  was  made  by  Pachomius.  On  an  island  in  the  Upper  Nile 
he  formed  the  monks  into  a  society.  This  was  first 
called  a  coenobium — a  term  signifying  "common  life." 
It  was  applied  later  to  each  single  cloister.  Pachomius  and  his 
successors  became  abbots,  or,  as  these  were  styled  by  the  Greeks, 
archimandrites,  of  the  principal  cloister,  with  full  authority  over 
all  others  connected  with  it.  The  monks  were  divided  into  classes, 
according  to  the  measure  of  their  spiritual  development ;  and  to 
each  class  were  assigned  its  peculiar  duties.  They  employed  them- 
selves, for  the  most  part,  in  making  baskets  and  in  agi'icultural 
labors.  The  fruits  of  their  work  were  received  by  the  steward  of 
the  cloister,  who  was  under  the  supervision  of  the  chief  steward  of 
the  whole  organization.  All  the  profits  from  the  sale  of  their  wares 
were  given  to  the  poor.  These  cloisters  multipHed  rapidly.  Soon 
similar  establishments  were  founded  for  women. 

The  most  influential  among  the  promoters  of  Eastern  monasti- 
cism  was  Basil,  Bishop  of  Csesarea.  In  his  youth,  when  a  student 
Basil,  c.  ^t  Athens,  he  was  intimately  associated  with  Gregory  of 

330-379.  Nazianzus.      The  two  friends,  pondering  the  question 

what  course  they  should  follow,  resolved  to  take  orders  and  to 
choose  a  life  of  celibacy  and  poverty.  Then  they  considered  the 
question  whether  they  should  become  hermits  or  lead  a  more  pub- 
lic life,  the  life  of  the  "  secular."  They  determined  on  a  course  mid- 
way between  the  two,  such  as  was  adopted  by  the  coenobites.  This 
passage  in  their  early  lives  is  described  in  lines  of  Gregory,  as 
translated  by  Cardinal  Newman  : 

"  Long  was  the  inward  strife,  till  ended  thus  : 
I  saw,  when  men  lived  in  the  fretful  world, 
They  vantaged  other  men,  but  missed  the  while 
The  calmness,  and  the  pureness  of  their  hearts. 
They  who  retired  held  an  uprighter  post, 
And  raised  their  eyes  with  quiet  strength  toward  heaven  ; 
Yet  served  self  only,  unfraternally. 
And  so,  'twixt  these  and  those,  I  struck  my  path, 
To  meditate  with  the  free  solitary, 
Yet  to  live  secular,  and  serve  mankind." 

Gregory,  partly  on  account  of  filial  obligations,  and  partly  owing 
to  peculiarities  of  temperament,  had  less  experience  of  the  se- 


114  FROM  CONSTANTINE  TO  GREGORY  I.        [Period  HI. 

eluded  life.  But  Basil  carried  out  the  ideal  thus  early  formed.  He 
became  the  guide  of  others  who  were  attracted  to  the  cloister  by 
his  influence  and  example.  His  rule,  or  system  of  regulations,  was 
characterized  by  good  sense  and  moderation.  He  condemned  the 
solitary  life  and  urged  the  necessity  of  industrious  habits.  The 
coenobites  were  exposed  to  fewer  dangers  and  temptations  than 
^^of  were  the  anchorites.  These  extreme  ascetics  naturally 
monasticism.  i)elieved  that  their  greater  privations  won  for  them 
a  higher  degree  of  merit  in  the  sight  of  God.  They  were  often 
driven  by  the  silence  and  gloom  of  a  solitary  life,  or  by  the  exces- 
sive heat  of  a  tropical  sun,  into  insanity.  The  coenobites  suffered 
from  like  causes,  although  to  a  far  less  extent.  Many  monks 
passed  thi-ough  violent  and  morbid  reactions  of  feeling.  From 
lives  of  extravagant  self-denial  they  plunged  into  the  wildest  ex- 
cesses. Some  became  lawless  fanatics,  like  the  fierce  monks  who 
mixed  in  the  Nestorian  controversy,  or,  like  the  circunicellions  in 
North  Afxica,  who  took  up  the  cause  of  the  persecuted  Douatists. 
Certain  mystical  sects  arose,  claiming  to  have  attained  to  the  high- 
,„^  T,   ^.       est  perfection.     The  most  prominent  of  these  were  the 

The  Euchites.  ■»■  ^ 

^  Euchites.     They  believed  themselves  to  be  freed  from 

the  dominion  of  sense  by  a  state  of  inward  praj-er.  They  re- 
nounced all  forms  of  manual  labor,  and  wandered  about  like  the 
mendicant  friars  of  a  later  age. 

The  evils  and  excesses  incident  to  the  solitary  life  of  the  ancho- 
rites led  many,  including  Jerome,  to  condemn  it.  They  advocated 
the  cloister  life,  where  the  monks  might  receive  the  wholesome 
counsels  of  a  superior  and  might  better  cultivate  the  spirit  of 
Christian  love  toward  their  brethren.  It  was  also  felt  to  be  neces- 
sary to  check  the  irregularities  of  the  monks  and  to  bring  them 
more  under  ei:)iscoiDal  supervision. 

Monasticism  grew  up  in  the  "West  much  more  slowly  than  it 
did  in  the  East.  It  found  zealous  advocates  in  Jerome,  Ambrose, 
Monasttcism  ^^^  Augustiuc.  Early  in  the  fifth  century,  John  Cassian, 
in  the  West,  ^j^q  came  from  the  East,  founded  a  cloister  at  Marseilles. 
In  the  same  century,  monasticism  appeared  in  other  parts  of  Gaul, 
and  in  Britain  and  Ireland.  Of  all  these  settlements  the  noblest 
and  most  beneficial  was  the  Scottish  cloister  on  the  island  of  lona. 

Inasmuch  as  the  mental  qualities  of  the  Western  nations  dif- 
fered from  those  of  the  Eastern,  monasticism  in  the  West  was 
modified  in  certain  of  its  phases,  and  in  other  features  was  more 
fully  developed.  The  people  of  the  West  were  less  given  to  mysti- 
cal speculation.     A  more  crude  imagination  clothed  their  supersti- 


312-590.]  CHRISTIAN  LIFE  AND  WORSHIP.  115 

tious  fancies  in  material  forms,  and  prepared  them  to  see  miracles 
at  every  turn.  They  were  kept,  by  the  greater  rigor  of  the  Western 
climate,  from  many  of  the  extravagances  of  Eastern  asceticism. 
And  yet  even  Western  anchorites  made  their  abode  in  some  weird 
cleft  of  the  volcanic  rocks  of  Italy,  or  on  the  lonely  shore  of  the  sea. 
„     ^.  ,  .     Benedict  was  for  the  West  the  ideal  monk,  and  into  the 

Benedict  of  ' 

Nursia,  480-  story  of  his  life  his  disciples  delighted  to  weave  wonder- 
ful and  supernatural  elements.  In  the  later  years  of  the 
fifth  century,  while  a  mere  boy,  he  was  taken  to  Eome  to  be  edu- 
cated. Shocked  at  the  spectacle  of  the  vices  of  mankind,  he  sud- 
denly left  the  city,  attended  only  by  a  faithful  nurse,  who  had  dis- 
covered his  purpose.  Soon  after,  he  eluded  her  also,  and  hid 
himself  in  a  cavern  near  Subiaco.  Here  Satan  tormented  him  with 
temptations,  trying,  without  success,  to  break  his  pious  resolution. 
By  the  invitation  of  some  neighboring  monks,  he  became  abbot  of 
their  monastery.  But  they  soon  learned  to  hate  him  on  account 
of  his  rigorous  discipline,  and  were  kept  only  by  a  miracle  from 
poisoning  him.  He  now  went  back  to  his  former  abode,  which  the 
fame  of  his  sanctity  changed  from  a  solitude  into  a  cluster  of  mon- 
asteries. Not  yet  satisfied,  he  turned  his  steps  towards  Monte 
Cassino,  fifty  miles  away,  on  the  heights  of  the  Apennines.  There 
he  put  an  end  to  the  pagan  worship,  and  founded  the  monastery 
which  had  so  universal  an  influence  in  the  West  as  an  incentive  to 
the  monastic  life  and  a  pattern  in  its  organization.  Benedict's 
regulations  enjoined  upon  his  monks  a  life  of  sti'ict  silence,  hu- 
mility, and  implicit  obedience.  Their  hours  of  labor,  their  diet, 
and  their  religious  exercises,  were  carefully  and  systematically  ar- 
ranged. The  disciples  of  Benedict,  the  most  notable  of  whom 
was  Maurus  (St.  Maur),  spread  his  order  into  Gaul  and  Sicily.  Its 
cloisters  sprang  up  eveiy  where.  The  monks  taught  the  barbarians , 
the  art  of  agriculture  and  kept  alive  the  light  of  knowledge.  To  < 
the  weary  traveller  they  always  offered  a  ready  hospitality.  Like 
other  institutions  of  the  West,  however,  the  cloisters  suffered  much 
at  the  hands  of  the  barbarians. 

There  were  many,  even  in  this  period,  who  objected  to  the 
monastic  life.  They  asserted  that  Christians  who  fled  to  the  desert 
Defences  of  ov  the  cloistcr  wcrc  lost  to  the  world.  Against  them  it 
nionasticism.  ^^^  contended  that  the  prayers  of  the  godly  monks  were 
useful.  Their  lives  certainly  presented  a  sharp  contrast  to  the  pre- 
vailing corruption  of  society,  and  held  before  the  minds  of  men  an 
example  of  self-denying  devotion  to  what  was  then  believed  to  be 
the  highest  ideal.     They  exercised  hospitality,  they  were  kind  to 


116  FROM  CONSTANTINE  TO   GREGORY  L         [Period  III. 

the  poor,  and  they  befriended  all  who  were  in  distress.  The  re- 
spect entertained  for  their  sanctity  made  it  possible  for  them  boldly 
to  rebuke  the  sins  of  the  powerful,  even  where  such  words  would 
have  cost  other  men  their  Hves.  Monasticism  was  vindicated  by 
the  gi'eat  Church  teachei's.  They  censured  many  of  its  abuses,  but 
defended  the  conceptions  which  lay  at  the  basis  of  the  system,  and 
jovinian,  especially  lauded  the  virtue  of  celibacy.  Jo^dnian  was 
d.  c.  406.  prominent  among  the  few  in  this  period  who  attacked 
these  fundamental  conceptions.  Although  himself  a  celibate  and 
ascetic  in  life,  he  held  that  all  such  austerities  were  purely  volun- 
tary, and  involved  no  peculiar  merit.  He  maintained  that  the  or- 
dinary Christian  life  was  holy.  The  world  is  divided  up  into  but 
Ltwo  classes,  those  who  by  faith  have  fellowship  with  Christ,  and 
;  those  who  do  not.  He  therefore  denied  that  among  real  Christians 
any  distinctions  are  to  be  made.  These  views  were  vehemently 
resisted  by  Jerome,  and  were  condemned  by  Siricius,  Bishop  of 
Kome,  and  by  Ambrose.  Many  hundi-ed  years  were  to  elapse  be- 
fore the  mind  of  the  Church  would  be  ready  for  such  a  reformation 
as  Jovinian  would  have  favoi-ed.  The  ideas  which  cre- 
things  sacred  ated  the  distinction  between  clergy  and  laity,  also  divided 
and  secular,  .j^jj^gg^  r^-j^^  places,  and  actious  into  secular  and  sacred. 
The  belief  of  the  early  Church,  that  all  of  life  was  consecrated  to  God, 
gave  way  before  a  spirit  akin  to  that  of  Old  Testament  legalism. 
Such  men  as  Augustine  and  Cbrysostom  tried  to  keep  this  tendency 
within  bounds,  but  without  much  effect,  since  even  they  were  not 
free  from  similar  impressions.  Worship  was  resolved  into  forms 
and  ceremonies  which  received  the  sanction  of  ecclesiastical  author- 
ity. Instead  of  being  recognized  as  the  spontaneous  expression  of 
Christian  feeling,  it  appeared  to  many  to  be  a  round  of  arbitrarily 
imposed  observances.  When  the  worldly-minded  were  rebuked 
for  their  lack  of  diligence  in  the  worship  of  God,  they  alleged  the 
cares  of  business  and  the  inconvenience  of  attending  the  frequent 
services  of  the  Church. 

In  the  early  part  of  this  period  the  people  not  only  had  access 
to  the  Scriptures,  but  were  urged  to  study  them  carefully.  Some, 
TiBe  of  the  howcvcr,  could  uot  read,  and  others  were  too  poor  to  buy 
Bible.  manuscripts.     But  since  the  Bible  was  read  in  course  in 

the  public  services  of  the  Church,  anyone  by  constant  attendance 
might  become  familiar  with  it.  Those  who  were  disposed  to  read 
or  meditate,  could  retire  to  rooms  in  the  galleries,  devoted  to  their 
use,  and  provided  with  copies  of  the  Scriptures. 

As  soon  as  Christianity  became  the  religion  of  the  rich  and 


312-590.]  CHRISTIAN  LIFE  AND  WORSHIP.  117 

powerful,   and    the  desire   to  oppose  to   the   splendor   of   pagan 

temples  a  severe  simplicity,  was  less  felt,  the  primitive  aversion 

to   art  in  worship  be^^an  to  pass   away.     Churches   of 

Churches.  .  •  ,•  j  n        j;         ■   ^ 

more  imposmg  proportions  and  more  costly  furnish- 
ings began  to  be  erected.  The  public  buildings  and  pagan  temples 
which  were  sometimes  obtained  through  the  munificence  of  the 
emperors,  and  were  slightly  remodelled  for  the  uses  of  Christian 
worship,  added  much  to  the  magnificence  of  Church  architecture. 
Most  of  all  these  buildings  were,  as  in  the  previous  period,  in  the 
basilica  form.  They  were  consecrated  with  great  solemnity,  and 
thenceforth  a  peculiar  sanctity  was  attached  to  them.  More  care 
was  now  given  to  the  decoration  of  the  interior.  The  cross,  which 
was  universally  used  in  daily  life,  and  at  an  earlier  date  had  found 
its  way  into  places  of  worship,  was  splendidly  ornamented  with 
Pictures  in  prccious  stoucs.  Pictures,  especially  those  representing 
worship.  Bible  scenes  and  ideas,  like  Daniel  in  the  lions'  den,  or 
Christ  under  the  image  of  the  Good  Shepherd,  came  into  general 
use,  and,  to  some  extent,  in  the  minds  of  the  half-converted  hea- 
then, took  the  place  of  the  artistic  decorations  of  their  abandoned 
temples.  Churches  built  in  memory  of  martyrs  were  often  adorned 
with  paintings  portraying  their  sufferings.  This  movement  toward 
sensuous  expression  in  Christian  worship  did  not  come  so  much 
from  the  clergy  as  from  the  mass  of  Christians  and  the  Christian 
princes.  The  wealthy,  on  whose  garments  were  frequently  to  be 
seen  embroideries  depicting  some  story  from  the  Scriptures,  were 
natiu'ally  ready  to  encourage  the  embellishment  of  churches  with 
paintings  and  images.  The  evils  to  which  this  desire  might  lead, 
were  pointed  out  by  the  more  enlightened  bishops,  such  as  Euse- 
bius  of  Csesarea.  They  especially  resisted  attempts  to  introduce 
representations  of  Christ,  urging  people  rather  to  strive  to  be  like 
him  in  their  lives.     But  towards  the  end  of  the  fourth  century,  the 

use  of  images  in  the  churches  became  general.  People 
images  and      began  to  pi'ostrate  themselves  before  them,  and  many  of 

the  more  ignorant  to  worship  them.  The  defenders  of 
this  practice  said  that  they  were  merely  showing  their  reverence 
for  the  precious  symbols  of  an  absent  Lord  and  his  saints.  Miracu- 
lous powers  were  ascribed  to  these  images,  and  legends  of  marvel- 
ous cures  and  wonderful  portents  were  related,  of  them.  As  the 
heroic  age  of  the  Church  passed  away,  the  veneration  for  departed 
saints  and  martyrs  became  more  extravagant.  Churches  were  dedi- 
cated to  their  memories.  The  half-christianized  heathen  looked 
upon  them  somewhat  in  the  same  light  as  they  formerly  regarded 


118  FROM  CONSTANTINE  TO  GREGORY  I.        [Period  HL 

their  heroes.  Their  intercessions  were  invoked,  especially  for  the 
cure  of  diseases,  and  if,  perchance,  help  seemed  to  come  to  anyone, 
he  hung  up  in  the  church  a  gold  or  silver  image  of  the  part  which 
had  been  healed.  Saints  were  chosen  guardians  of  churches,  soci- 
eties, cities,  and  districts.  Their  relics  began  to  work  miracles. 
The  reverence  with  which  ruder  Christians  regarded  their  memo- 
ries gradually  grew  into  worship.  This  new  form  of  idolatry  was 
condemned  by  the  Church  teachers,  and  yet  its  cause — the  extrava- 
gant veneration  of  the  saints — was  commended  by  them,  and  vindi- 
cated against  those  who,  like  Vigilantius  of  Barcelona,  and  ^rius 
and  his  followers,  attacked  the  whole  practice. 

The  adoration  of  Mary  became  prevalent.  The  doctrine  of  her 
perpetual  virginity  was  established  in  the  Church.  In  the  course 
Worship  of  of  the  Nestorian  controversy  she  received  the  name 
Mary.  ..  Mother  of  God,"  and  was  elevated  in  the  hearts  of  the 

devout  above  all  the  saints.  The  monks  were  especially  zealous  in 
promoting  this  worship  of  Mary.  To  her,  and,  in  a  less  degree,  to 
the  saints,  the  common  Christians  looked  for  that  mediatorial  sym- 
pathy which  they  dared  not  seek  from  the  Christ  whose  humanity 
seemed  lost  in  his  exaltation. 

Palestine  and  the  churches  of  the  apostles  had  begun  to  acquire 

fame  for  peculiar  sanctity  on  account  of  their  relation  to 
Pilgrimages.  ^^^  founding  of  Christianity,  and  thus  became  the  ob- 
ject of  pious  pilgrimages. 

From  earlier  times  it  had  been  the  custom  of  the  Church  to 
observe  Sunday  by  special  religious  exei'cises  and  by  an  increasing 

abstinence  from  the  pursuits  of  secular  life.  This  cus- 
church'         torn  was  made  a  law  by  the  Council  of  Laodicea  (363). 

Constantine  legally  recognized  it,  in  321,  by  forbidding 
the  courts  of  justice  to  hold  their  sessions  on  that  day,  except  for 
the  humane  purpose  of  manumitting  slaves.  He  also  commanded 
his  soldiers  to  refrain  from  their  customary  military  exercises. 
The  public  games,  however,  still  continued  to  attract  many  from 
the  proper  observance  of  Sunday  and  of  the  Church  festivals. 
But  in  425  a  law  was  passed  forbidding  all  games  on  such  days. 
The  custom  of  observing  Wednesday  and  Friday  {dies  slationum) 
as  half-fasts  was  less  usual,  and  soon  ceased  altogether  in  regard  to 
Wednesday.  Friday  continued  to  be  kept  in  memory  of  Christ's 
passion.     In  many  of  the  Oi'ieutal  churches  the  Sabbath  (Saturday) 

was  still  observed  like  Sunda}',  while  in  the  West  a  Large 

number, by  way  of  opposition  to  Jewish  institution?.,  held 
a  fast  on  that  day.     The  first  feast  of  the  year  was  Epiphany,  the 


313-590.]  CHRISTIAN  LIFE  AND  WORSHIP.  119 

manifestation,  wliicli  in  the  East  connected  itself  with  Christ's 
baptism  ;  while  iu  the  West,  where  it  appeared  later,  it  commem- 
orated also  the  coming  of  the  wise  men  and  the  first  exhibition 
of  miraculous  power  at  Cana.  Christmas  originated  in 
the  West,  and  from  there  passed  over  into  the  Eastern 
Church.  Many  Christians  still  took  part  in  the  heathen  festival 
of  New  Year's.  To  put  an  end  to  this  practice  a  fast  was  pro- 
claimed at  that  time,  and  was  gradually  developed  into  the  festival 
of  Christ's  circumcision. 

The  great  religious  anniversary  of  the  year  was  Easter,  with 
its  associated  feasts.  A  period  of  fasting,  which  finally  was  forty 
days  in  duration,  preceded  it.  This  gave  those  who  for 
months  had  been  absorbed  in  the  cares  of  business  or 
the  gaieties  of  society  time  for  thoughtful  and  penitent  preparation 
for  the  sacred  duties  of  the  great  week.  The  festival  began  with 
Palm  Sunday.  At  that  time,  to  increase  the  thanksgivings  of  the 
people,  the  emperor  was  accustomed  to  publish  special  decrees  of 
mercy.  During  the  whole  week,  daily  morning  and  evening  ser- 
vices were  held.  Quietness  and  abstinence  from  labor  were  en- 
joined. On  Thursday,  the  Lord's  Supper  was  joyously  celebrated, 
without  the  usual  fasting,  in  commemoration  of  its  original  institu- 
tion. Good-Friday  was  kept  with  gi-eat  solemnity,  not  even  the 
kiss  of  peace  being  allowed.  Then  came  the  gx-eat  Sabbath,  Satur- 
day, the  day  before  Easter.  On  that  day  many  were  baptized  and 
clothed  in  white  robes.  In  the  evening,  the  people,  with  torches 
iu  their  hands,  filled  the  churches,  where  services  were  held  until 
dawn.  The  Easter  celebration  was  concluded,  after  the  manner  of 
the  Jewish  Passover,  on  the  eighth  day,  White  Sunday.  Then  the 
baptized  laid  aside  their  white  robes  and  appeared  with  the  rest  of 
the  Church.  The  festal  season  was  prolonged  from  White  Sunday 
to  the  day  of  Pentecost.  The  controversy  in  respect  to  the  time 
for  the  celebi-ation  of  Easter  was  settled  by  the  Council  of  Nicea. 
But  owing  to  a  better  knowledge  of  astronomy  in  the  East,  the 
Alexandrian  reckoning,  and  therefore  that  of  the  whole  Eastern 
Church,'  differed  from  that  of  Rome,  until  through  the  efforts  of 
Diouysius  Exiguus,  to  whom  we  owe  our  calendar,  the  same 
method  was  introduced  at  Rome  also. 

Those  who  were  being  prepared  for  entrance  into  the  com- 
munity of  believers  were  divided  into  classes,  according  to  their 
Catechumens  different  stagcs  of  advancement  in  instniction,  and  of 
and  baptism,  ^jjg^j,  participation  in  the  public  services  of  the  Church. 
Baptism,  which  by  the  addition  of  supplementary  rites  had  lost 

/ 


120  FROM  CONSTANTINE  TO  GREGORY  I.        [Period  HI. 

its  original  simplicity,  was  administered  in  general  only  on  Easter 
and  Pentecost. 

The  Lord's  Supper  was  the  great  act  in  which  the  worship  of 
the  Church  centred.  It  was  the  privilege  of  the  Chui-ch  to  be 
The  Lord's  alone  during  its  celebration.  The  earlier  view  in  regard 
Supper.  ^Q  ^{.g  j^fiture  gave  way  to  the  belief  that  it  was  a  sacrifi- 

cial offering  by  the  Christian  priest.  Intercessory  prayers  offered 
then  were  thought  to  be  especially  efficacious.  Thus  it  was  that 
prayers  for  the  dead  became  commonly  connected  with  it,  and  it 
began  to  be  considered  a  sacrifice  for  them. 

The  ancient  liturgies  grew  up  about  the  service  of  the  Loi-d's 
Supper.  Liturgical  worship  was  a  gradual  growth,  each  church,  or 
its  bishop,  regulating  its  own  worship  or  framing  its  own  liturgy. 
By  degrees,  as  uniformity  was  sought,  the  liturgy  of  the  metropoli- 
tan church  became  authoritative.  In  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries, 
and  later,  numerous  liturgies  arose,  most  of  which  bear  the  names 
of  apostles,  without  any  claim,  however,  to  apostolic  authorship. 
"Yet,"  to  quote  the  words  of  Schaff,  "they  are  based  on  a  common 
liturgical  tradition,  which  in  its  essential  elements  reaches  back  to 
an  earlier  time,  perhaps  in  some  jDoints  to  the  apostolic  age,  or 
even  comes  down  from  the  Jewish  worship  through  the  channel  of 
the  Jewish  Christian  congregations."  In  this  department,  as  else- 
where, there  was  a  growth.  We  find  in  this  period  four  groups  of 
liturgies :  the  Oriental,  the  Alexandrian,  the  Roman,  and  the  Gal- 
ilean, all  of  which  have  certain  resemblances  to  each  other.  In 
general  the  order  of  service  was  divided  into  two  parts.  In  the 
first  were  the  reading  of  Scriptures  appropriate  to  the  division  of  the 
year,  the  prayers  for  communicants  and  non-communicants,  and 
the  sermon.  Then  all  those  who  were  not  members  of  the  Church 
were  dismissed.  In  the  second  part  was  the  celebration  of  the 
Supper,  with  its  introductory  liturgy  and  ceremonies. 

The  prominence  given  to  the  sermon  depended  partly  upon  the 
amount  of  culture  prevailing  in  each  country,  and  partly  upon  the 
different  ideas  held  as  to  the  nature  of  the  priestly 
reac  ing.  Q£j(.g_  jjj  ^]^q  West,  where  there  was  less  culture,  and  a 
greater  value  was  set  upon  the  outward  acts  of  the  priest,  the  ser- 
mon did  not  excite  much  attention  ;  although  men  like  Augustine 
and  Ambrose  were  effective  preachers.  In  the  East,  on  the  other 
hand,  fine  oratory  was  prized.  The  sermon  in  the  fourth  century 
became  more  rhetorical.  Its  brilliant  thoughts  or  witty  expres- 
sions were  sometimes  received  with  loud  applause.  While  there 
were  some  truly  great  preachers,  like  Basil,  the  two  Gregories,  and 


312-590.]  HISTORY  OP  DOCTRINE.  121 

Chrysostom,  many  were  guilty  of  poor  exegesis,  want  of  definite 
plan,  and  empty  rhetorical  artifices. 

The  primitive  Church  music  was  choral  and  congregational. 
Hilary,  and  in  the  early  part  of  the  next  period,  Gregory  the  Great, 
Church  were  influential  in  improving  Church  music.     The  Aii- 

music.  g^jjg  Q^^  other  heretics  embodied  their  doctrines  in  verses 

to  be  sung.  It  was  to  counteract  this  influence  that  Chrysostom 
caused  antiphonies  and  doxologies  to  be  sung  in  processions.  In 
the  West,  Ambrose,  in  his  contest  with  the  Arians,  taught  his  con- 
gregation to  sing  antiphonal  hymns.  The  most  famous  composers 
were  Ephraem  Syrus,  Hilary  of  Poictiers,  and  Ambrose.  There  was 
some  opposition  to  the  use  of  such  hymns,  on  the  ground  that  they 
were  not  taken  from  the  Scriptures ;  and  this  could  only  be  over- 
come by  age  and  usage.  Among  the  earliest  extant  Christian  songs 
are  :  The  "  Gloria  in  Excelsis,"  a  translation  (thought  to  be  by  Hil- 
ary) of  a  much  older  Greek  hymn;  the  "Trisagion"  (Holy,  Holy, 
Holy) ;  and  the  "  Te  Deum,"  probably  transferred  into  Latin  by 
Ambrose  from  a  Greek  original. 

There  is  no  record  of  any  peculiar  robes  being  worn  in  public 
by  the  clergy.  The  ecclesiastical  garments  had  no  symbolical  or 
Vestments  of  saccrdotal  significance.  They  were  the  apparel  of  the 
the  clergy.  Romaus  in  the  early  centuries,  kept  by  the  clergy  after 
the  garments  had  ceased  to  be  the  fashion  among  the  people.  The 
first  appearance  of  a  distinction  between  priestly  and  secular  dress 
is  in  a  mosaic  in  the  Church  of  St.  Vitalis  at  Kavenna,  belonging 
to  the  sixth  century,  and  in  another  mosaic  of  the  same  period  in 
the  Church  of  St.  Sophia  at  Constantinople.  From  two  jDieces 
of  the  ancient  Roman  dress,  the  tunic  and  the  toga,  the  costume  of 
the  Churches,  East  and  West,  was  developed. 


CHAPTER  lY. 

HISTORY   OP   DOCTRINE, 


In  this  period  there  were  controversies  on  the  main  points  of 
Christian  doctrine,  which  agitated  the  Church  to  its  centre.  Great 
Great  contro-  ecclcsiastical  asscmbhes,  called  oecumenical  councils, 
versies.  ^^^.^  j^^j^^  ^^^  ^-^^  purposc  of  Settling  these  disputes  and 

of  defining  orthodox  opinion.    The  interference  of  the  state  in  mat- 
ters of  doctrine  is  a  fact  that  calls  for  particular  notice.    In  philoso- 


122  FROM  CONSTANTINE  TO  GREGORY  I.        [Period  III. 

phy,  Plato's  influence  was  still  predominant :  Augustine,  as  well  as 
Origen,  was  steeped  in  the  Platonic  spirit. 

There  were  two  principal  schools  in  theology,  two  chief  centres 
of  theological  influence.  These  were  Antioch  and  Alexandria. 
„  ,   ,    ,       Enthusiasm  for  bibHcal  study  left  Alexandria  for  the 

Schools  of  ,  ,  \ 

Alexandria      Svriau   Capital ;   but  the   Antioch   scholars   adopted  a 

and  Antioch.         *'  ,     -^        ^  ,  .    ,       .      .  .        ,.  .    ,  ...         ,,         n      t 

more  sober  and  historical  mode  oi  intepretation  than  had 
belonged  to  the  school  of  Origen,  in  which  the  allegorical  method 
had  prevailed.  The  interest  in  doctrinal  theology  was  kept  up  in 
the  Alexandrian  school,  which,  in  this  particular,  maintained  its 
former  repute. 

It  is  interesting  to  observe  the  marked  difference  in  the  themes 
of  theological  discussion  between  the  East  and  the  "West.  It  was 
Character  of  the  morc  siDcculativc  side  of  theology,  questions  per- 
the^East  and"  taiuiug  to  the  Trinity  and  the  person  of  Christ,  that  was 
the  West.  uppermost  in  the  East.  In  the  West,  on  the  contrary, 
comparatively  little  was  done  in  this  j)articular  province.  Prac- 
tical subjects — the  doctrine  of  sin  and  of  man's  recovery  by  divine 
grace — absorbed  the  attention.  Among  the  Latins  there  were  no 
such  heated  disputes  on  abstruse  points  of  metaphysical  di^dnity  as 
one  might  have  heard  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries,  even  from 
tradesmen  and  mechanics,  in  the  Greek-speaking  cities  of  the  East. 
This  difference  was  mainly  owing  to  the  native  diversity  of  the 
Greek  and  the  Eoman  character. 

The  fourth  and  fifth  centuries  were  the  golden  age  of  patristic 
literature.  Of  the  Alexandrian  teachers,  Didymus,  although  blind 
Didymus,  f^'O^i  childhood,  was  eminent  for  his  learning.  The 
308-395.  most  famous   teacher  of   this   school  was  Athanasius, 

who  was  made  Bishop  of  Alexandria  in  328,  and  was  for  half  a 
Athanasius,  ccutury  the  untiring  and  intrepid  defender  of  the  doc- 
298-373.  trine  of  the  divinity  of  Christ  against  its  Ai'ian  assailants. 

rive  times  he  was  driven  into  exile.  Even  Gibbon  is  moved  to 
say  of  him  that  he  "  displayed  a  superiority  of  character  and 
abilities  which  would  have  qualified  him,  far  better  than  the  de- 
generate sons  of  Constantine,  for  the  government  of  a  great  mon- 
archy." Both  in  writing  and  speaking,  he  was  "  clear,  forcible,  and 
persuasive."  The  numerous  treatises  from  his  pen  relate  mostly  to 
the  incarnation  and  divinity  of  Jesus.  Cyril,  Patriarch  of  Alexan- 
dria, played  a  very  conspicuous  pai-t  in  the  controversies 

Cyril,  d.  444.  '  ^     /  .  -&  ■  •  t         • 

of  the  tilth  century.     He  was  an  acrimonious  polemic. 

Among  his  various  writings  is  an  elaborate  work  against  Nestorius. 

There  were  prominent  writers  who,  although  they  might  differ 


(312-590.]  HISTORY  OF  DOCTRINE.  123 

widely  from  Origen  on  various  points,  were  imbued  with  his  spirit. 

One  of  these  was  Eusebius  of  Csesarea,  in  Palestine,  who  is  best 

..  ^^^     known  as  a  historian,  but  was  also  a  fruitful  author  in 

cajsarea,  c.      other  branches  of  theology.     Under  this  head  may  also 

be  placed  the  three  great  Cappadocian  bishops — the  two 
Gregories  and  Basil — who,  in  connection  with  Athanasius,  exercised 
a  ruling  influence  in  the  Greek  Church  in  subsequent  generations. 
Basil  was  Bishop  of  Csesarea  in  Cappadocia,  which  was  his  native 
Basil,  c.  330-  placc.  In  his  youth  he  Avas  a  fellow-student  at  Athens 
^'^^-  with  the  Emperor  Julian.     He  united  an  ardent  attach- 

ment to  a  life  of  monastic  retirement  with  extraordinary  talents  for 
public  life.  Hence  while  he  took  the  lead  in  organizing  monasti- 
cism  in  the  East,  he  made  a  deep  impression  by  his  administrative 
activity  as  a  bishop.  His  vast  influence  was  more  due  to  his  per- 
sonal weight  than  to  his  capacity  as  an  author.  Yet  he  had  great 
authority  as  a  theologian.  Among  his  productions  is  a  collection 
of  letters  which  throw  much  light  on  the  character  of  the  times. 

Gregory  of  Nyssa  was,  perhaps,  the  most  profound 
Nyssa,  b.  c.      thcoloffiau  of  the  three  doctors  of  the  Church  whose 

332,  d.  0. 394.  ^  .     1        TT 

names  are  so  often  connected.  He  was  a  younger 
brother  of  Basil.     Gregory  of  Nazianzus — Gregory  Nazianzen,  as 

he  is  generally  styled — was  for  a  short  time  Bishop 
anzen,  c.  330-  of  Constantinople,  but  prefered  to  relinquish  the  office, 

rather  than  withstand  the  j)arty  in  opposition  to  him. 
He  was  an  orator  of  splendid  ability,  yet  he  was  naturally  shy  and 
sensitive,  and  was  subject,  for  this  reason,  to  constant  annoyance 
in  the  lofty  station  to  which  he  was  elevated,  and  which  he  was 
unwilling  to  retain,  yet  reluctant  to  lay  down.  He  had  been  a 
fellow-student  and  room-mate  of  Basil  at  Athens,  and  was  after- 
wards intimately  associated  with  him.  There  was  a  partial 
estrangement  near  the  close  of  Basil's  life,  but  Gregory  made  him 
the  subject  of  a  glowing  panegyric.  Gregory  was  a  man  of  ardent 
temperament,  a  poet  of  merit  as  well  as  a  theological  thinker. 

A  contemporary  of  the  illustrious  Cappadociaus,  but  a  theolo- 
gian of  an  utterly  different  spirit,  was  Epiphanius,  Bishop  of  Constan- 
Epiphanius,  tia,  the  ancient  Salamis,  in  Cyprus.  He  was  a  fanatical 
c.  310-403.  opponent  of  Origen's  theology.  His  principal  work,  en- 
titled "Drug-Chest,"  is  a  description  and  confutation  of  eighty 
heresies,  the  origin  and  peculiarities  of  which  he  took  great  pains 
to  inquire  into.  Its  historical  value  is  much  lessened  by  the  spirit 
of  bigotry  which  actuated  him  in  his  researches. 

Among  the  Syrian  fathers  the  most  eminent  in  the  fourth  cen- 


124  FROM  CONSTANTINE  TO  GREGORY  L        [Period  ni. 

tury  was  Ephraem,  generally  called  Ephraem  Syrus.  He  pai-took 
of  the  prevalent  monastic  spirit,  and  lived  as  an  anchorite  near 
Ephraem  By-  Edessa.  So  highly  was  he  esteemed  that  in  some  of  the 
rus,  d.c.378.  churches  of  Greece  his  homilies  were  read  immediately 
after  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures.  He  was  a  prolific  author. 
Among  his  compositions  were  hymns  which  showed  him  to  be  a 
poet  of  no  inferior  merit. 

There  were  three  distinguished  teachers  of  the  Antiochian 
school,  of  whom  the  most  renowned  was  John  Chrysostom,  or  John 
chrysostom,  of  "  the  Goldeu  Mouth,"  so  styled  on  account  of  his  un- 
347-^07.  rivalled  eloquence  in  the  pulpit.     He  was  of  noble  par- 

entage. From  his  mother,  Anthusa,  he  received  religious  impres- 
sions strong  enough  to  shape  his  career.  A  student  of  Libanius, 
the  Sophist,  he  obtained  for  his  rhetorical  ability  and  proficiency 
the  highest  praise  from  that  famous  master.  His  strong  religious 
bent  took  the  ascetic  form.  He  weakened  his  health  by  self-imposed 
austerities.  A  presbyter  in  his  native  city,  he  achieved  an  astonish- 
ing success  as  a  preacher.  In  398  he  was  made  Bishop  of  Con- 
stantinox^le.  From  the  pulpit  of  St.  Sophia  he  preached  to  vast 
applauding  congregations.  At  first  his  popularity  was  almost  uni- 
versal. But  his  simple  mode  of  life  and  his  righteous  and  strict 
administration  of  his  office  offended  the  laxer  portion  of  the  clergy. 
The  plainness  of  his  public  rebukes  of  vice,  and  especially  of  the 
vices  of  the  court,  turned  Eudoxia,  the  pleasure-loving  empress,  the 
wife  of  Arcadius,  into  a  bitter  enemy.  The  foes  of  the  eloquent  and 
evangelical  bishop  were  reinforced  by  a  jealous  rival,  Theoj)hilus, 
Bishop  of  Alexandria,  who  was  eager  to  advance  his  own  episcopal 
authority.  At  length  Chrysostom,  despite  the  enthusiastic  affection 
of  his  people,  was  banished.  He  was  recalled,  however,  but  was 
again  doomed  to  exile,  and  was  purposely  subjected  to  hardship 
and  indignities  which  terminated  his  life.  As  an  expositor  of 
Scripture,  thoughtful  and  at  the  same  time  practical,  bringing  the 
truth  of  the  Bible  home  to  the  heart  and  conscience,  and  in  contact 
with  the  lives  of  men,  Chrysostom  has  had  few,  if  any,  superiors. 
His  works  consist  mostly  of  homilies  and  discourses. 

A  great  light  in  the  Antiochian  school  was  Theodore  of  Mop- 
Theodore,  suestia,  in  Cilicia.  His  exegetical  writings,  in  which  he 
c.  350-428.  ^g^g  governed  by  sound  principles  of  grammatical  and 
historical  criticism,  mark  an  epoch  in  the  progress  of  bibhcal  in- 
Thpodoret,  tcrpretation.  Only  second  to  him  in  rank  as  an  exegete 
c.  390-457.  ^g^g  Theodoret,  who,  like  Theodore,  was  a  native  of  An- 
tioch,  but  was  Bishoj)  of  Cyrus,  a  town  in  Syria. 


312-590.]  HISTORY   OF  DOCTRINE.  125 

One  of  the  most  conspicuous  of  the  Latin  vrriters  of  the  fourth 
and  fifth  centuries  was  Hilary,  Bishop  of  Poictiers,  in  Gaul.  He 
Hilary,  ^^^  vfell  educatccl  by  his  parents,  who  were  pagans  of 

bp.  350-368.  rank.  He  was  an  exceedingly  active  defender  of  the 
orthodox  doctrine  against  Arianism.  He  was  the  first  to  discuss 
in  Latin  the  recondite  questions  which  afforded  peculiar  delight 
to  the  more  subtle  intellect  of  the  Greek  theologians.  Hence 
he  has  been  sometimes  styled  the  Athanasius  of  the  West.  Of 
Ambrose,  Ambrose,  Bishop  of  Milan,  one  of  the  most  celebrated  of 
340-397.  ^^Q  leaders  of  the  Church  in  this  period,  we  have  already 

spoken.  He  was  a  Roman  by  birth,  was  trained  for  the  bar,  and 
became  a  magistrate  at  Milan  ;  but  an  exigency  arose  which  led 
the  people  to  raise  him  by  acclamation  to  the  archbish- 
op's throne.  He  ruled  with  extraordinary  wisdom  and 
energy,  carrying  into  the  management  of  Church  affairs  the  ri^De 
sagacity  of  a  statesman.  His  mind,  if  not  highly  original  or  spe- 
cially fertile  in  thought,  was  characterized  by  good  sense.  His 
writings  are  partly  doctrinal,  and  partly  ascetic  and  moral.  He  was 
much  influenced  by  the  teaching  of  Basil.  The  great  scholar  at 
Jerome,  ^his  time  among  the  Latins  was  Jerome,  a  considerable 

c.  340-420.  pfjj.j;  q£  whose  life  was  spent  in  the  East.  He  was  born 
at  Stridon,  on  the  borders  of  Dalmatia  and  Pannonia.  He  studied 
Greek  and  Roman  literature  at  Rome.  He  sojourned  for  a  time  at 
Antioch,  where  he  was  led,  by  a  voice  of  warning  heard  in  a  dream, 
to  turn  away  from  literary  to  ecclesiastical  studies.  After  a  resi- 
dence in  Rome  he  betook  himself  to  Bethlehem,  in  the  Holy  Land, 
where  he  px-esided  over  a  convent  for  the  remainder  of  his  life. 
There,  in  his  cell,  he  pursued  the  studies  and  composed  the  works 
which  placed  him  at  the  head  of  the  scholars  of  the  Church,  and 
almost  on  a  level  with  Origen,  of  whose  theological  opinions  he  was 
finally  a  virulent  opponent.  Among  the  various  productions  of 
Jerome  the  Latin  version  of  the  Bible,  called  the  Vulgate,  is  the 
best  known  and  the  most  useful.  This  he  framed  by  revising  the 
old  Italic  versions  of  the  New  Testament,  and  by  translating  the  Old 
Testament  from  the  Hebrew.  He  was  a  correspondent  of  Augus- 
tine, and  was  prominent  in  the  contx'oversies  of  the  day.  Unhap- 
pily, neither  his  scholarship  and  learning,  nor  his  religious  princi- 
ples, availed  to  curb  effectually  the  vehemence  of  temper  which 
made  him  an  adept  in  denunciation.  In  connection  with  the  name 
Rufinua,  oi  Jerome  may  be  mentioned  one  of  his  opponents  in 
^-  '^^'^-  the  disputes  about  Origen,  Rufinus.     He  was  an  Italian 

by  birth.     He   rendered  a  very  important  service  in  translating 


126  FROM  CONST ANTINE  TO  GREGORY  I.        [Pebiod  HI. 

Greek  ecclesiastical  authors  into  Latin.     He  wrote,  also,  after  dili- 
gent researches,  a  work  on  the  Apostles'  Creed. 

None  of  the  writers  who  have  been  named,  not  even  Ambrose 
or  Jerome,  Athanasius  or  Chrysostom,  can  be  said  to  equal  in  dis- 
tinction and  in  wide-spread  and  lasting  influence,  the  foremost  of 
Augustine.  the  Latin  fathers,  Augustine.  His  "  Confessions  "  are 
His"Confes-  ^^  autobiographj,  in  which  the  story  of  his  sins  and 
sions."  spiritual  struggles  is  faithfully  and  frankly  told.     His 

self-abasement,  so  deep  and  heartfelt,  stands  in  striking  contrast 
with  the  tone  of  a  noted  work  bearing  the  same  title,  from  the  pen 
of  a  celebrated  writer  in  the  last  century,  the  father  of  the  senti- 
mental school,  Jean  Jacques  Kousseau.  Augustine  was  born  at 
Tagaste,  a  village  of  Numidia,  on  November  13,  354.  His  fa- 
ther, Patricius,  a  burgess  of  the  town,  was  a  pagan  at  that  time, 
and  so  continued  until  near  the  end  of  life.  He  was  a  man  vulgar 
in  tone  and  of  violent  temper.  To  the  affectionate  so- 
ismo  ei.  2j(.j|.^(--[q  Qf  ]^jg  mother,  Monica,  a  Christian  woman,  of  a 
tender,  devout,  and  elevated  spirit,  the  son  was  indebted  for  his 
rescue  from  a  jDath  of  sin.  He  studied  grammar  and  rhetoric  in 
the  schools  of  Tagaste  and  Carthage.  He  read  the  Latin  authors 
with  zest  and  appreciation,  but  he  deplores  his  early  neglect  of 
Greek,  a  language  in  which  he  never  became  a  proficient.  His  pas- 
sions were  fervent,  and  he  gave  way  to  sensual  temptation.  "While 
still  a  youth  he  formed  an  illicit  connection,  and  became  the  father 
of  a  child,  whom  he  named  Deodatus.  He  adopted  the  profession 
of  a  rhetorical  teacher,  first  at  Carthage.  At  the  age  of  nineteen, 
higher  thoughts  and  aspirations  were  stirred  within  him  by  a  pas- 
sage in  the  "  Hortensius  "  of  Cicero,  on  the  worth  and  dignity  of 
philosophy.  It  was  the  beginning  of  an  inward  conflict  of  long- 
duration,  during  which  he  was  followed  by  the  unceasing  prayers, 
and  earnest,  yet  prudent,  counsels  of  his  mother.  He  left  Carthage 
for  Eome,  but  departed  thence,  after  a  time,  and  took  up  his  abode 
in  Milan.  For  a  period  he  was  enamored  of  the  Manichean  doc- 
trine. The  strife  of  good  and  evil  in  his  own  soul  inclined  him  to 
a  theory  of  dualism.  Weaned  from  this  delusion,  he  became  deeply 
and  profitably  interested  in  New  Platonism.  In  this  state  of  mind 
he  listened,  at  first  mainly  from  curiosity,  to  the  preaching  of  Am- 
brose. He  was  moved  far  more  deeply  than  he  had  expected,  was 
converted,  and  was  baptized.  He  was  at  this  time  thirty-three 
years  of  age.  His  mother  had  joined  him  in  Milan.  At  Ostia,  as 
they  were  preparing  to  embark  for  home,  she  died.  The  account 
of  her  death  forms  one  of  the  most  pathetic  passages  in  the  "Con- 


313-590.]  HISTORY  OP  DOCTRINE.  127 

fessioDs."    He  gave  up  his  property  to  the  Church,  and  with  a  few 
friends,  some  of  whom  had  followed  him  from  Italy,  he  lived  in  se- 
clusion in  a  house  not  far  from  Tagaste,  si^ending  the  time  in  ex- 
ercises of  study  and  devotion.     From  this  quiet  retreat  he  was 
called  to  Hippo,  where  he  became  a  priest,  then  a  colleague  of  the 
bishop,  Valerius,  and  finally,  in  395,  his  successor.     During  the    / 
invasion  of  the  Vandals,  and  while  Hippo  was  besieged  by  them,    I 
on  the  28th  of  August,  430,  he  died,  in  the  seventy-sixth  year  of   | 
his  age.     As  a  teacher,  preacher,  and  writer,  and  as  an  ecclesiastic    \ 
whose  influence  extended  far  and  wide,  his  career  had  been  one  of 
incessant  and,  in  the  main,  of  wholesome  activity.     Of  the  contro- 
versies in  which  he  mingled,  the  contests  with  the  Donatists  and   * 
with  the  Pelagians  are  the  most  noteworthy.     He  was  a  very  vo-  -^ 
„.      . .        luminous  writer.    He  wrote  on  themes  of  philosophv  and 

His  writings.  .  ,    -  .  J:-  ir    J 

on  topics  of  dogmatic  theology,  in  treatises  not  included 
in  his  numerous  controversial  publications.  His  "  City  of  God  "is 
the  principal  apologetic  work  of  that  age.  He  composed  exegetical 
homilies,  sermons,  and  epistles,  not  to  speak  of  other  works  not  fall- 
ing under  either  of  these  classes. 

In  the  intellectual  and  spiritual  development  of  Augustine, 
thought  and  experience  were  blended.  He  combined  the  genius  of 
Character  of  ^  dialccticiau  and  a  mystic,  and  the  characteristics  of 
his  mina.  gg-ch  in  an  extraordinary  degree.  His  intellect  is  clear, 
acute,  fond  of  speculation,  yet  on  fire  with  emotion.  In  his  own 
day,  Augustine  exerted  a  predominant  influence  on  the  grave  doc- 
trinal questions  that  were  under  debate  in  the  "Western  Church. 
His  continued  sway  is  seen  in  the  Church  of  the  Middle  Ages — in 
its  theory  of  the  sacraments  and  of  the  authority  of  tradition,  and 
in  the  scholastic  philosophy  in  which  his  dialectic  turn  reappears. 
Luther,  an  Augustinian  monk,  declared  himself  more  indebted  to 
Augustine  than  to  any  other  writer.  Calvin  constantly  quotes 
him,  and  eulogizes  him  as  the  best  of  the  Fathers.  His  influence 
was  powerfully  felt  in  the  Church  of  the  West  for  ujjwards  of  a 
thousand  years,  and  has  continued  until  the  present  day. 

Several  other  writers  among  the  Latins  in  the  fourth  and  fifth 
centuries  were  specially  distinguished.  John  Cassianus  is  one  to 
Cassianus,  whom  reference  has  already  been  made.  He  was  born 
d.  c.  448.  Q^^  educated  in  the  East.  He  was  a  jDupil  of  Chrysos- 
tom  ;  but  when  Chrysostom  was  driven  from  his  see,  Cassianus  emi- 
grated to  the  West.  He  founded  cloisters  in  Marseilles,  and  was 
active  in  introducing  monastic  life  in  Western  Europe.  He  wrote 
on  this  subject,  and  he  is  also  noted  as  the  expounder  and  de- 


128  PROM  CONST ANTINE  TO  GREGORY  I.        [Period  III. 

fender  of  the  form  of  doctrine  known  as  Semi-Pelagian  ism.     Vin- 
cent of  Leiins  derived  his  surname  from  the  cloister  on 
Lerfu^  °        the  island  of  Lerina,  near  the  coast  of  Gallia  Narbonica. 
d.  c.  450.        jj^  j^-g  .yyoj.]j^   entitled  "  Commonotories,"  he  set  forth 
the  criteria  of  catholic  doctrine  as  opposed  to  disputable  opinions. 
Salvian,  a  native  of  Gaul,  was  born  near  the  beginning, 
"  ^^  '         and  died  near  the  end,  of  the  fifth  century.     His  prin- 
cipal work  is  a  thoughtful  and  elegant  treatise  on  divine  Provi- 
dence, in  which  he  propounds  views  similar  to  those  of  Augustine 
Leo  I.,  ^^  *^^  "  ^^^y  of  God."     Leo  L,  Bishop  of  Kome,  who  was 

Bp.  440-461.  go  eminent  as  an  ecclesiastical  leader,  was  the  author  of 
numerous  epistles  and  of  a  large  collection  of  brief  sermons.  He 
was  one  of  the  earliest  examples  of  pulpit  eloquence  among  Eoman 
ecclesiastics. 

In  the  sixth  and  seventh  centuries,  in  the  fast-advancing  eclipse 
of  culture  and  learning,  the  writers  were  few.  Previously,  in  the 
Church  East,  the  work  of  Eusebius  as  a  Church  historian  had 

historians.  been  carried  forward  by  Theodoret,  whose  book  covers 
the  period  from  325  to  429 ;  by  Socrates,  who  treats  of  the  interval 
from  306  to  439  ;  and  by  Sozomen,  whose  work  extends  over  about 
the  same  period.  Socrates  is  a  writer  whose  critical  ability  is  fully 
equal  to  that  of  Eusebius.  Theodoras,  a  lector  at  Constantino- 
ple, narrates  the  events  of  Church  history  from  439  to  518  ;  and 
Evagrius,  of  Antioch,  from  431  to  594.  Boetius,  or  Boethius,  was  a 
Boetius  trusted  counsellor  of  Theodoric,  King  of  the  Ostrogoths. 

c.  475-525.  jje  -^as  a  man  of  scholarly  tastes  and  profound  learning. 
He  was  the  victim  of  the  machinations  of  powerful  enemies  whose 
iniquitous  schemes  he  had  thwarted,  but  who  awakened  in  Theo- 
doric's  mind  false  suspicions  of  his  fidelity.  He  was  imprisoned  in 
Pavia,  and  was  put  to  death — an  act  for  which  the  king  is  said  to 
have  suffered  poignant  remorse.  Boetius  translated  writings  of 
Aristotle  and  of  other  Greek  authors.  The  most  important  of  his 
works  was  the  interesting  book  on  the  "  Consolations  of  Philoso- 
phy." He  was  a  Christian  by  profession,  but  there  are  no  refer- 
ences to  the  Christian  faith  in  this  volume.  Boetius  by  his  transla- 
tions, and  through  the  book  just  referred  to,  became  a  connecting 
link  between  the  ancient  period  and  the  mediaeval  era,  in  which  he 
was  held  in  high  esteem. 

Cassiodorus  was  a  statesman  high  in  station  and  influence 
Cassiodorus.  under  Theodoric  and  his  successors,  but,  late  in  life,  re- 
c.  468-c.  6fi0.  lii-eJ  to  a  monastery  which  he  had  founded  at  Viviers,  in 
Bruttium,  his  native  province.     His  works  relate  to  history  and 


312-590.]  HISTORY  OP  DOCTRINE. 

"•81 

theology.     Gregory,  Bishop  of  Tours,  in  Gaul,  besides  his  work  on 

^  ^j       "Miracles,"  composed  an  "  Ecclesiastical  History  of  the 

Tours  Franks,"  which  is  the  most  valuable  historical  monument 

Abp.  57o-5"5. 

for  that  period  of  French  history.  He  is  a  credulous, 
but  truthful,  chronicler.  Gregory  I.,  or  Gregory  the  Great,  like 
Gregory  I  ^^^  ^'  ^^^  chicfly  eminent  as  an  ecclesiastical  ruler  ; 
Bp- of  Rome,   but  lie  wrote  a  copious  theological  treatise,  called  "Mo- 

ralia,"  founded  on  the  book  of  Job,  besides  homilies  and 
very  many  letters  of  much  historical  value.     Isidore,  Archbishop  of 

Seville,  in  Spain,  was  the  most  celebrated  writer  of  his 
'  day.  His  works  related  to  almost  all  branches  of  knowl- 
edge, and  were  considered  to  embody  the  learning  of  the  time. 

The  three  great  doctrinal  controversies  in  this  period  were  the 
Arian,  relating  to  the  divinity  of  Christ  and  the  Trinity  ;  the 
The  great  Christological,  which  had  to  do  with  the  two  natures  of 
controevrsies.  cj^j-ig^^  qj.  ^^e  inner  constitution  of  his  person  ;  and  the 
Pelagian,  which  had  for  its  subject  divine  and  human  agency,  sin, 
and  the  operations  of  grace  in  man's  salvation. 

Arius  was  a  presbyter  in  Alexandria.  He  is  described  as  tall 
in  stature  and  of  a  serious,  and  even  austere,  character.  His  intel- 
The  Arian  lect  was  keen,  but  he  was  deficient  in  the  intuitive  fac- 
controversy.  ^jj.^  ^^^  lacked  breadth  of  vision.  He  was  educated  at 
Antioch.  He  kindled  the  fires  of  debate  by  propounding  the  bald 
[doctrine  that  Christ  is  a  created  being — the  first  of  creatures,  to 
be  sure,  and  the  being  by  whom  all  other  creaturely  beings  are 
made.  He  was  not  created  in  time,  since  time  began  with  crea- 
tion ;  yet  "once  he  was  not."  In  321,  his  bishop,  Alexander,  de- 
posed Ai-ius  from  his  ofiice,  but  he  was  befriended  by  powerful 
ecclesiastics.  Constantine,  having  in  vain  attempted  to  aj)pease  the 
strife,  called  a  general  council  to  determine  the  question,  which  met 
at  Nicea,  a  town  in  Bithynia,  in  325. 

This  was  the  first  of  the  oecumenical  councils.  There  are  seven 
to  which  the  Greek  and  Roman  churches  ascribe  this  character. 
cEcumenioai  The  term  oecumenical  signifies  of  the  empire.  They  were 
councils.  convoked,  not  by  the  Roman  bishop,  but  by  the  em- 
perors. Either  in  person,  or  by  deputies,  they  were  present  to 
take  part  in  tlie  superintendence  of  the  proceedings,  although  not 
professing  to  dictate  the  doctrinal  conclusions.  With  the  imperial 
commissioners  there  were  associated  in  the  presidency,  patriarchs, 
or  their  representatives,  who  were  not  always  or  of  necessity  legates 
of  the  Roman  see.     On  matters  of  doctrine,  it  was  assumed  that 


128  FROM  CONSTANTINE  TO  GREGORY  I.        [Period  HI. 

the  vote  must  be  unanimous  ;  on  questions  of  order  and  discipline, 
a  majority  vote  was  sufficient.  Disciplinary  ordinances  might  be  re- 
voked subsequently,  for  circumstances  might  alter.  This  was  not  the 
case  with  definitions  of  dogma.  Unanimity  was  generally  gained 
on  these  points,  however,  by  exscinding  the  dissentient  minority. 
The  theory  was  that  only  bishops  could  vote,  but  priests  and  deacons 
took  part  in  the  deliberations.  At  Nicea,  Athanasius  was  only  a 
deacon  ;  yet  few,  if  any,  of  the  members  were  more  influential. 

Most  of  the  authorities  make  the  Nicene  Council  to  have  con- 
sisted of  three  hundred  and  twenty-eight  members.  Some  of  the 
Council  of  authorities  reduce  the  number  to  about  two  hundred 
Nicea..  i  ^^^  Mij.  Among  them  were  venerable  men  who  wore 
the  scars  that  were  printed  on  them  by  the  tortures  which  they 
had  suffered  in  the  Diocletian  persecution.  As  was  true  of  the 
oecumenical  councils  generally,  nearly  aU  of  them  were  Eastern 
bishops.  One  influential  member,  however,  a  ti'usted  counsellor 
of  Constantine,  was  a  Spanish  prelate,  Hosius  of  Cordova.  There 
Parties  in  wcrc  three  parties  in  the  council.  The  first  was  that  of 
the  council,  ^j^g  Arians.  The  second  was  the  orthodox  party,  which 
finally  prevailed,  whom  we  may  call  the  Athanasians.  The  third^ 
comprising  at  the  outset  a  large  majority,  were  fully  satisfied  with 
neither  of  the  opposing  formulas,  but  would  have  preferred  less 
definite  statements.  It  included  numerous  shades  of  behef.  Should 
the  council  affirm  the  "  Homoousian "  view — i.e.,  that  the  Son 
is  of  the  same  essence  with  the  Father — or  the  "Homceousian," 
that  he  is  of  like  essence  ?  Constantine  and  Hosius  threw  their 
influence  on  the  side  of  the  first  of  these  definitions,  the 

The  decision.  i  •   i       i         »       •    »    •  • 

one  which  the  Anti-Arians  demanded,  and  the  council 
assented.  The  Son  was  declared  to  be  coequal  with  the  Father  ; 
the  creation  of  the  Son  was  denied,  and  his  eternal  sonship  or  gen- 
eration was  affirmed  ;  and  the  characteristic  Arian  phrases  or  watch- 
words were  anathematized.  Arius  and  two  of  his  friends  were  ban- 
ished to  Illyria.  Two  other  bishops,  Eusebius  of  Nicomedia  and 
Theognis  of  Nicea,  who  declined  to  subscribe  to  the  damnatory 
clauses,  were  deposed  and  banished,  but  they  afterwards  retracted 
their  refusal  and  were  restored  to  their  sees. 

A  peace  thus  made  could  not  be  permament.    Coiistantine  him- 

self  soon  fell  under  Arian  influences,  and  turned  against 
century  of       Athauasius.     Hc  was  banished  from  hi&;  diocese,   and 

debate. 

obliged  to  reside  for  twenty-eight  months  at  Treves.  Ari- 
us would  have  been  received  back  to  the  communion  of  the  church 
at  Constantinople,  had  not  his  sudden  death  on  the  day  before  the 


312-590.]  HISTORY  OF  DOCTRINE.  131 

time  appointed  for  the  ceremony  prevented.  For  half  a  century, 
controversy  raged  between  the  contending  parties.  In  3S5,  the 
Semi-Arians,  or  Eusebians,  as  they  were  sometimes  called,  Euse- 
bius  of  Nicomedia  being  one  of  their  most  prominent  leaders,  were 
in  the  ascendent  in  the  East.  A  second  time  Athana- 
sius  was  driven  into  exile,  and  passed  three  years  in  the 
West,  under  the  protection  of  Constansand  of  Julius  I,  the  Eoman 
bishop.  In  342  the  Western  Church  declared  for  Athanasius.  To 
avert  a  threatened  division  between  the  East  and  the  West,  the 
341-345  Orientals,  in  a  series  of  synods  at  Antioch,  framed  not  less 

than  five  ambiguous  symbols.    At  Sardica  the  Occidentals 
met  in  a  council  and  sustained  Athanasius.     At  Philip- 
opolis  the  Eastern  bishops  in  a  smaller  number  condemned  him. 
The  death  of  Constans  exjDOsed  Athanasius  anew  to  the  enmity  of 
Constantius,  who  was  now  the  I'uler  of  the  West  as  well  as  of  the 
East.     By  fraud  and  bribery,  the  Western   councils  of 
Ai'les  and  Milan  were  prevailed  on  to  pi-onounce  against 
Athanasius.     He  now  stood  alone  against  the  world,  and  for  six 
years  was  sheltered  by  faithful  monks  in  the  lonely  mon- 
asteries of  Thebais,  situated  on  the  tops  of  mountains  or 
on  the  islands  of  the  Nile.     Finally  the  Nicene  theology  established 
Victor  of       ^^^  ascendency.     Some  of  the   Semi-Arian  theologians 
the  Nicene      pushed  the  Ariau  theology  to  extremes,  from  which  the 

theology.  •'•  .  '^•^  _ 

more  conservative  of  the  party  recoiled ;  for  the  only 
real  bond  of  unity  was  a  common  opposition  to  certain  Athanasian 
terms.  Wise  and  moderate  theologians,  especially  Basil  and  the 
two  Gregories,  recommended  to  favor  the  Nicene  type  of  belief,  of 
which  they  were  earnest  advocates.  The  churches  of  the  West, 
with  the  exception  of  brief  intervals  when  they  were  warped  by 
sinister  influences  from  their  real  bent,  were  on  the  same  side.  At 
last,  Theodosius  the  Great,  an  adherent  of  Nicea,  summoned  the 
Council  of  second  oecumenical  council  to  meet  at  Constantinople  in 
Constantino-    381,     There  the  Nicene  Creed  was  reaffirmed,  with  slipfht 

pie.  .  '-' 

amendments,  the  most  important  of  which  referred  to 
the  Holy  Spirit.  Long  afterwards,  at  a  council  at  Toledo,  in  Spain, 
held  in  589,  filioque  was  inserted  in  the  creed,  by  which 
it  was  made  to  affimi  the  procession  of  the  Spirit  from 
the  Father  and  the  Son,  instead  of  "from  the  Father,"  as  the  for- 
mula had  stood  befoi-e.  This  addition  to  the  creed  was  not  accept- 
able to  the  Eastern  churches,  and  is  one  of  the  standing  points  of 
disagreement  between  the  Greeks  and  the  Latins.  The  words 
"  God  of  God  "  were  in  the  Nicene  Creed ;  they  were  omitted,  as 


132  FROM  COXSTANTINE  TO  GREGORY  I.        [Period  IH. 

being  superfluous,  at  Constantinople,  but  were  restored  in  the  Latin 
form  of  the  symbol.  Prior  to  the  council  of  Constantinople,  there 
had  been  comparatively  little  discussion  relative  to  the  Holy  Spirit. 
Unanimity  on  this  doctrine  it  might  not  have  been  easy  to  reach, 
and  the  Fathers  of  the  council  chose  to  formulate  it  in  phrases 
culled  from  the  Scriptures,  from  Vi^hich  none  would  dissent. 

The  Nicene  Creed,  as  framed  in  325  in  Nicea,  enlarged  in  381  at 
Constantinople,  and,  among  the  Latins,  in  589  at  the  Spanish  Coun- 
cil of  Toledo,  reads  in  English  as  follows  : 

I  believe  in  one  God  the  Father  Almighty  ;  Maker  of  heaven  and  earth, 
and  of  all  things  visible  and  invisible. 

And  in  one  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  only-begotten  Son  of  God,  begotten  of 
the  Father  before  all  worlds  [God  of  God],  Light  of  Light,  very  God  of  very 
God,  begotten,  not  made,  being  of  one  substance  [essence]  with  the  Father; 
by  whom  all  things  were  made  ;  who,  for  us  men  and  for  our  salvation,  came 
down  from  heaven,  and  was  incarnate  by  the  Holy  Ghost  of  the  Virgin  Mary, 
and  was  made  man ;  and  was  crucified  also  for  us  under  Pontius  Pilate  ;  he 
suffered  and  was  buried  ;  and  the  third  day  he  rose  again,  according  to  the 
Scriptures ;  and  ascended  into  heaven,  and  sitteth  on  the  right  hand  of  the 
Father  ;  and  he  shall  come  again,  with  glory,  to  judge  both  the  quick  and 
the  dead  ;  whose  kingdom  shall  have  no  end. 

And  [I  believe]  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Lord  and  Giver  of  Life ;  who  pro- 
ceedeth  from  the  Father  [and  the  Son]  ;  who  with  the  Father  and  the  Son  to- 
gether is  worshipped  and  glorified ;  who  spake  by  the  prophets.  And  [I  be- 
lieve] one  Holy  Catholic  and  Apostolic  Church.  I  acknowledge  one  baptism 
for  the  remission  of  sins  ;  and  I  look  for  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  and  the 
life  of  the  world  to  come.     Amen. 

In  the  Latin  Church,  which  had  always  clung  tenaciously  to  the 
unity  of  the  divine  essence,  the  remains  of  subordinationism,  which 
belonged  to  the  current  conceptions  on  this  mysterious 
of  the  doctrine  subject,  wcrc  eliminated  from  the  doctrine.  In  the 
"  ^  ^* '  teaching  of  Augustine  the  mission  of  the  Son  is  the 
act,  not  of  the  Father  alone,  but  of  the  whole  Trinity  ;  and  the  the- 
ophanies  of  the  Old  Testament  are  referred,  not  to  the  Son  alone, 
but  to  the  three  persons  in  common.  The  numerical  unity,  or 
the  identity  of  the  persons,  as  to  substance,  which  was  not  explic- 
itly asserted  at  Nicea,  and,  although  taught  by  Athanasius,  was  a 
view  which  many  of  the  Nicene  Fathers  did  not  hold,  became  the 
established  belief  in  the  West.  The  ideas  of  the  Latins  found  a 
terse  expression  in  the  paradoxical  statements  of  the  creed  called 
The  "  Athana-  ^"^^  Athauasiau  Symbol,  which  was  composed  by  some 
Bian  Creed."  guthor  unkuowu.  Certainly  not  earlier  than  the  closing 
part  of  the  fifth  century.  It  is  not  until  near  the  age  of  Char- 
lemagne   that   the   fii'st    perfectly   undoubted   traces   of   its   use 


312-590.]  HISTORY  OF  DOCTRINE.  133 

appear.  In  the  West,  as  in  the  East,  the  Father  continued  to  be 
distinguished  from  the  Son,  and  each  from  the  Spirit ;  but  this 
distinction  among  the  Latins  was  shut  up  within  narrower  limits. 

The  next  great  subject  of  investigation  and  conflict  in  the 
Church  was  the  relation  of  the  divine  to  the  human  nature  in  Jesus. 
christoiogicai  ApolHuaris,  Bishop  of  Laodicea,  about  the  year  360, 
ATomnarSn-  fitlopted  the  opinion  which  the  Arians  had  entertained,  that 
^^^-  the  Word  or  Logos  in  Christ  took  the  place  of  the  spirit, 

or  the  rational  human  soul,  in  man.  This  opinion  was  generally 
opposed  and  was  pronounced  a  heresy.  There  gradually  arose  in 
The  Aiexan-  ^^^^  ^^^t  two  parties,  the  Alexandrian  and  the  Antiochian. 
drian  view,  tjj^g  Alexandrian  view,  of  which  C^ril  was  an  eager  and 
intolerant  champion,  made  the  two  natures  to  be  so  unified  by  the 
preponderance  of  the  divine,  which  takes  up  humanity  into  itself. 
The  Antioch-  that  Christ  is  the  single,  undivided  object  of  adoration, 
ianview.  rpj^g  Antiochiau  vicw  was  that  the  two  natures  remain 
distinct  in  their  atlrib'utes,  and  that  the  incarnation  in  its  effects  is 
gradual,  so  that  room  is  left  for  the  action  in  Jesus  of  a  human 
will  that  freely  overcomes  temptation.  The  opposing  tendencies 
of  opinion  came  into  conflict  in  consequence  of  the  condemnation 
NeRtorius:  ^7  Ncstorius,  Bishop  of  Constantinople,  of  the  title 
Bp.  428-431.  «  Mother  of  God,"  which  the  monks,  zealous  for  the  Marian 
cultus,  applied  to  the  Virgin.  God,  he  said,  could  not  have  a  human 
parent.  Cyril,  on  the  contrary,  asserted  that  there  is  such  a  unifi- 
cation of  the  two  natures  that  one  personal  subject  is  constituted, 
with  one  nature  which  is  divine-human.  Cyril's  zeal  was  height- 
ened by  his  jealousy  of  the  rival  patriarchate  of  Constantinople. 
Anathemas  on  the  one  side  called  forth  counter-anathemas  on  the 
other.  Cyril  secured  the  adhesion  of  the  Koman  bishop.  To  settle 
Council  of  the  controversy,  the  Emperor,  Theodosius  11.,  called 
Ephesus.  ^  General  Council,  at  Ephesus,  in  431.  There  Cyril 
organized  an  assembly  of  his  followers  without  waiting  for  lead- 
ing Oriental  bishops  to  arrive,  and  condemned  Nestorius.  Later, 
the  Orientals  met  in  council  and  condemned  Cyril.  Theodosius, 
after  an  interval,  took  sides  against  the  Nestorians.  Cyril  made 
Persecution  Very. important  doctrinal  concessions  to  his  theological 
of  Nestorius.  allies.  Ncstorius  was  driven  from  one  place  of  exile  to 
another,  and  died  about  the  year  440.  The  theological  school  at 
Edessa  refused  to  acquiesce  in  the  measures  of  the  Anti-Nestorians, 
The  Nestorian  ^ud  it  was  brokcu  up.  Many  who  were  oppressed  by 
^®°*^-  the  dominant  party  fled  into  Persia,  spread  far  into  the 

East,  and  perpetuated  their  creed  in  the  Nestorian  sect. 


134  FROM  CONSTANTINE  TO  GREGORY  I.        [Pekiod  III. 

The  Egyptians  who  opposed  the  doctrine  of  two  natures,  and 
held  that  both  were  resolved  into  one  by  the  incarnation,  went  by 
TheMonophy-  ^^^  name  of  Monophysites.  But  a  reaction  against  them 
Bite  conflict.  ^^^^  provoked  by  Eutyches,  an  over-zealous  Cyi-illian, 
who  carried  the  deification  of  Christ's  humanity  so  far  as  to  hesi- 
tate to  admit  that  his  body  was  of  the  same  nature  as  ours.  Con- 
demned by  his  bishop,  Flavianus  of  Constantinople,  and  by  Leo  I., 
Bishop  of  Eome,  he  was  protected  by  Dioscuros  of  AJexandria,  who 
"  Bobber  presided  over  a  council  at  Ephesus,  which,  from  the  vio- 
synod,"  449.  Iq-^qq  of  its  Spirit  and  proceedings,  was  styled  the  "  Bob- 
ber Synod."  Shortly  after,  the  imperial  court,  the  influence  of  which 
had  become  extremely  potent  in  matters  of  doctrine,  turned  against 
councu  of  ^^^  monophysites.  The  (Ecumenical  Council  of  Chalce- 
Chaicedoii.  ^^^^  jj^  45]^^  followed  the  suggestions  of  a  letter  of  Leo 
to  Flavian,  and  framed  a  creed,  parallel  in  importance,  as  regards 
this  subject,  with  the  Nicene  formulary.  The  Chalcedon  creed 
affirmed  two  natures  in  one  person,  united  without  confusion, 
change,  division,  or  separation,  the  properties  of  each  nature  being 
preserved.  It  is  a  creed  which  even  Nestorius  would  not  have 
rejected.  But  the  long  debate  was  not  concluded.  The  strife  of 
tongues  went  on.  The  emperors  intervened,  now  on  one  side  and 
now  on  the  other.  The  attitude  of  Justin  L  moved  the  Monophy- 
justin  I.  sites  to  break  off  their  connection  with  the  orthodox  ad- 
518-52".  herents  of  Chalcedon,  and  in  the  course  of  the  sixth  cen- 

tury to  form  sects  in  Egypt,  Syria,  and  Armenia,  which  still  exist 
Monophysite  ""dcr  the  names  of  the  Coptic,  Ethiopic,  Jacobite,  and 
Eects.  Ai-menian  Chm-ches.     Justinian  (527-565)  sought  to  win 

back  the  Monophysites  by  concessions  which  created  more  dis- 
^.,  ^  _         content  than  they  quelled.     An  edict  called  the  "Three 

Fifth  CEcu-  .  T  1       T-i 

menicai coun-  Chapters,"  designed  to  please  the  Egyptian  party,  roused 
a  violent  dispute,  and  was  very  obnoxious  in  the  West. 
The  fifth  (Ecumenical  Council  failed  to  conciliate  the  opponents  of 
the  Chalcedon  creed.  The  last  phase  in  the  long  contention  was 
the  Monothelite  controversy,  on  the  question  whether  there  are,  or 
are  not,  two  wills  in  the  incarnate  Christ.  It  was  fomented  by  an 
imprudent  attempt  to  pacify  the  conflicting  parties  by  means  of  a 
new  formula.  In  680,  the  Emperor,  Constantinus  Pogonatus,  sum- 
„.   ^  _  moned  the  sixth  (Ecumenical  Council  to  settle  the  point. 

Sixth  CEcu-  ^ 

menicai  Coun-  As  the  will,  in  the  current  philosophy,  was  counted  as 

one  of  the  properties  of  the  nature,  it  was  determined 

that  the  Duothelites,  or  adherents  of  the  doctrine  of  two  wills,  were 

right.     The  oj^posite  oiDiniou  had  been  maintained  by  Pope  Houo- 


313-590.]  HISTORY  OP  DOCTRINE.  135 

rius  I.  Hence  he  was,  by  name,  anathematized  by  the  council  as  a 
Pope  Hono-  heretic,  and  this  declaration  was  approved  by  more  than 
rius  I.  one  of  his  successors,  notably  by  Leo  II,     After  this  con- 

ciliar  verdict,  the  monothelite  opinion  continued  to  be  cherished 
The  Maron-  ^J  ^^^  Marouitcs,  a  party  of  separatists  from  the  Catho- 
ites.  j-g  Church.     They  still  exist  as  a  distinct  community  in 

and  near  the  Lebanon.  Their  name  is  connected  with  an  ancient 
monastery  of  St.  Maron  on  the  Orontes,  and  is,  besides,  obscui-ely 
traced  to  one  or  more  personages  bearing  this  name  and  title.  In 
1182,  they  were  brought  into  connection  with  the  Church  of  Rome, 
but  this  union  was  not  formally  completed  until  the  Council  of 
Florence,  in  1445.  Special  privileges  are  still  conceded  to  them  by 
the  Roman  see. 

Only  one  other  OScumenical  Council  after  the  sixth  is  owned 
alike  by  the  Greeks  and  Latins.  It  is  the  second  Nicene  Council 
Character  of  (787),  whcrc  the  icouoclasts  were  condemned.  These 
tne  Councils,  ancient  assemblies  were  often  tumultuous,  and  their  pro- 
ceedings were  frequently  marked  by  an  absence  of  fairness  as  well 
as  of  dignity.  Even  the  first  Nicene  Council,  as  we  have  seen,  the 
noblest  of  these  bodies,  was  governed  by  the  imperial  will.  Gregory 
of  Nazianzus,  the  renowned  theologian,  who  presided  for  a  while 
over  the  first  Council  of  Constantinople,  in  381,  said  that  he  had 
never  known  a  synod  which  did  not  aggravate  the  evils  which  it 
undertook  to  remedy.  Cardinal  Newman,  an  admirer  of  the  OEcu- 
menical  Councils,  says  that  "  they  have  nothing  to  boast  of  in  re- 
gard to  the  fathers,  taken  individually,  which  compose  them.  They 
appear  as  the  antagonist  host  in  a  battle,  not  as  the  shepherds  of 
their  people."  And  he  has  drawn  a  graphic  picture  of  the  scenes  of 
violence  at  Ephesus  in  431,  where  Cyril  and  other  leaders,  inflamed 
with  bitter  hostility,  appeared  each  with  an  armed  escort.  Even  at 
Chalcedon,  the  outcries  of  the  bishops,  and  other  unseemly  displays 
of  passion,  were  such  as  would  hojDelessly  disgrace  any  modern 
church  assembly. 

If  the  East  was  kept  in  a  ferment  by  the  intricate  problems  per- 
taining to  the  Trinity  and  the  Saviour's  person,  it  was  among  the 
The  Pelagian  Latius  that  the  doctrine  of  sin,  and  the  question  of  the 
controversy,  g^teut  of  mau's  dependence  on  grace,  were  of  absorbing 
interest.  Pelagius  was  a  British  monk,  who  came  to  Rome  in  the 
last  decade  of  the  fourth  century.  Where  he  was  educated  we  do 
not  know,  but  wherever  he  was  taught,  Greek  was  among  the 
studies  that  he  had  pursued.  He  was  a  man  of  large  frame,  sober 
and  strict  in  his  morals,  and  with  an  understanding  clear,  if  not 


136  FROM  CONST AIITINE  TO  GREGORY  I.        [Period  HL 

deep.  He  was  offended  by  the  laxness  of  conduct  which  he  ob- 
served at  Rome,  even  among  the  clergy,  and  was  inclined  to  attrib- 
ute it  to  the  effect  of  the  doctrine  of  man's  helplessness,  which 
nothing  in  the  course  of  his  own  religious  experience  inclined  him 
to  adopt.  For  he  had  not,  like  Augustine,  wrestled  in  agony  with 
temptation  and  been  vanquished  in  the  conflict.  With  a  younger 
man,  Ccelestius,  a  lawyer,  who  embraced  a  religious  life,  and  joined 
him,  he  crossed  over  to  Africa.  There  it  was  that  the  resistance  to 
the  doctrines  of  Pelagius  began  in  earnest;  and  in  this  warfare, 
which  spread  far  and  wide,  Augustine  was  his  most  effective  adver- 
sary. Augustine  and  Pelagius  were  the  representatives 
and 'peiaglTn-  of  two  Opposite  systems.  They  differed  in  their  idea  of 
'^™'  the  relation  of  God  to  the  creation,  and  especially  to  man. 

The  one  conceived  of  the  divine  energy  as  perpetually  needed  and 
forever  exerted.  The  other  regarded  the  world  and  man  as  fur- 
nished, at  the  start,  with  inherent  powers  sufficient  for  self-move- 
ment and  self-guidance.  "With  Pelagius,  freedom  is  power  of  elec- 
tion, in  which  the  power  of  contrary  choice  is  always  present.  With 
Augustine,  true  freedom  is  the  union  of  the  will  with  the  divine 
law,  the  result  of  which  is  voluntary,  yet  spontaneous  obedience, 
where  freedom  and  necessity  coalesce.  Both  agreed  that  the  first 
sin  was  Adam's  free  act,  when  there  was  still  a  power  to  the  oppo- 
site. But  that  sin,  according  to  Augustine,  brought  u^Don  Adam, 
and  equally  on  the  race  that  was  to  spring  from  him,  physical  death, 
guilt,  and  a  bondage  of  the  will,  or  an  inherited  dominion  of  sin 
Augustine's  in  the  soul.  Humanity,  before  it  was  individualized,  was 
realism.  really  in  Adam,  and  in  him  acted  and  was  corrupted. 

We  are  responsible  at  birth  for  that  act,  and  share  all  its  conse- 
quences. Pelagius,  on  the  contrary,  held  that  we  sin  only  by  imi- 
tation of  our  first  parent,  that  there  is  no  such  helpless  slavery  of 
the  will  as  Augustine  asserted,  and  that  physical  death  is  a  natural 
necessity,  apart  from  the  effect  of  the  primal  transgression.  Char- 
Nature  of  acter,  instead  of  being,  as  Augustine  said,  a  single,  dom- 
1  character.  inatiug  principle,  either  morally  good  or  morally  evil,  is 
;  rather  a  series  of  acts,  or  a  congeries  of  traits,  some  of  them  right 
and  some  of  them  wrong.  Holding  to  the  absolute  impotence  of 
Grace  in  con-  ^^^  ^ill  siuce  the  fall,  as  regards  goodness  and  hoHness, 
version.  Augustinc  ascribed  conversion  wholly  to  the  efficiency  of 

divine  grace,  which  touches  the  springs  of  choice,  is  irresistible,  and 
is  bestowed  on  those  whom  God  has  purposed  to  recover  to  him- 
self. But  the  gift  of  perseverance  he  does  not  impart  to  all  of  the 
regenerated.    It  is  only  the  elect  who  receive  it.     All  these  propo- 


312-590.]  HISTORY  OF  DOCTRINE.  137 

sitions  Pelagius  denied,  "With  him  grace  was  mainly  the  outward 
teaching  of  the  law,  of  the  gospel,  and  of  divine  providence.  It  is 
Opinions  of  Optional  with  the  sinner  whether  or  not  he  Avill  yield  to 
Pelagius.  j.jjg  g^ll  qI  ^]jg  gospel,  and  whether,  in  case  he  does  yield, 
he  will  persevere  in  the  chosen  jDath.  Predestination,  as  Augustine 
held  it,  according  to  whom  the  number  of  the  saved  was  pre-de- 
termined,  and  their  salvation  secured  by  omnipofent  power,  the 
decision  not  being  left  with  man,  was  regarded  by  Pelagius  as  de- 
structive of  human  responsibility.  Augustine,  at  an  earlier  day,  but 
Augustine's  after  his  conversion,  had  taught  conditional  predestina- 
eariier  views.  i[qj^^  resistible  grace,  and  a  reserved  power  in  the  will. 
Reflection  led  him  to  a  change  of  opinion.  His  earlier  views,  he 
came  to  think,  underrated  the  strength  of  sin,  and  logically  divided 
the  glory  of  man's  emancipation  from  evil  between  himself  and  God. 
In  this  change  he  advanced  beyond  the  type  of  opinion 
vious  to  Au-  which  Ambi'ose  and  other  teachers  in  the  Western  Church 
^^  '"*''  had  previously  adopted.  They  had  denied  that  the  be- 
liever merits  reward  for  his  faith,  and  had  emphasized  the  agency 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  but  had  not  made  the  Spirit  the  sole  efficient  in 
the  work  of  regeneration. 

Coelestius  was  excommunicated  for  heresy  by  the  synod  of  Car- 
thage in  412.  Pelagius  had  not  remained  long  in  Africa,  but  had 
Events  of  the  bctakcu  liimself  to  Palestine.  In  415,  he  appeared  before 
controversy.  ^^^  gyuods,  the  last  of  whicli  was  held  at  Diospolis,  and 
at  both  synods  was  acquitted.  Augustine  charged  that  at  these  as- 
semblies he  had  not  frankly  brought  out  his  opinions.  The  Roman 
bishop,  Innocent  I.,  favored  the  North  African  opponents  of  Pelagius. 
His  successor,  Zosimus,  at  first  wavered,  but  at  length  took  the 
same  position,  and  adopted  the  Anti-Pelagian  canons  of  a  council 
of  Carthage,  held  in  418.  Imperial  edicts  were  issued  in  favor  of 
them.  Bishops,  among  them  an  able  man,  Julian  of  Eclanum,  who 
refused  to  subscribe  to  the  verdict  of  Zosimus,  were  banished.  In 
the  East,  the  cause  of  Pelagius  became  mixed  with  the  Nestorian  con- 
test in  such  a  way  that  his  tenets,  also,  were  proscribed 
doctrine  in  by  the  couucil  of  Ephesus,  in  431.  But  the  prevailing 
theology  in  the  East  was  really  not  Augustinian.  Neither 
was  it  Pelagian.  Theodore  of  Mopsuestia,  and  his  school,  taught 
that  redemption  was  not  exclusively  negative  ;  it  raised  man  to  a 
higher  than  his  oinginal  state  prior  to  the  fall.  Chrysostom  teaches 
that  the  free  action  of  the  will  is  the  condition  and  concomitant  of 
all  the  operations  of  grace.  The  position  of  the  Greeks  was  inter- 
mediate between  that  of  the  Pelagians  and  Augustinians. 


138  PROM  CONSTANTINE  TO  GREGORY  L        [Period  lit 

Such  an  intermediate  type  of  belief  was  brought  forward  in  the 
West  by  Cassianus,  in  the  form  of  "  Semi-Pelagianism. "  The  innate 
Semi-Peiagi-  pi'ocHvity  of  man  to  sin,  and  the  need  of  the  grace  of 
aniam.  ^j^g  Spirit,  Were  strongly  asserted  ;  but  inborn  guilt  was 

denied,  and  conversion  was  made  to  result  from  the  joint  influence 
of  the  two  factors,  the  agency  of  God  and  the  free  action  of  the 
will.  A  distinguished  Semi-Pelagian,  in  the  middle  of  the  fifth 
century,  was  Faustus,  Bishop  of  Khegium.  At  length,  two  coun- 
cils, the  Synod  of  Orange,  and  the  Synod  of  Valence, 
Orange  and  both  held  in  529,  condemned  the  Semi-Pelagian  doctrine 
of  the  cooperation  of  grace  and  free-will,  condemned, 
also,  the  doctrine  of  predestination  to  sin,  which  not  Augustine, 
but  some  extreme  Augustinians,  had  broached,  and  Were  silent  on 
the  general  point  of  absolute  predestination  and  irresistible  grace. 
In  530,  the  decision  of  these  synods  was  approved  by  the  Koman 
Bishop,  Boniface  IL 

We  have  now  to  glance  at  the  topics  of  Christian  doctrine  that 
are  not  directly  included  in  the  great  controversies  which  have  just 
been  reviewed.     The  form  of  the  defences  of  Christianity 
was  determined  by  the  character  of  the  attacks  and  ob- 
jections, which  were  in  part  new,  and  in  part  the  same  as  in  the 
Julian's  former  period.     The  Emperor  Julian  found  an  opponent 

attack.  ^^  Cyril  of  Alexandria.     Among  the  reproaches  brought 

by  JuHan  against  the  Christians  were  the  spirit  of  persecution 
which  had  sprung  up  among  them,  and  the  homage  paid  to  the 
reHcs  and  the  graves  of  martyrs  ;  practices,  however,  which  he  ad- 
mitted and  even  charged  were  discountenanced  by  the  teaching  of 
their  Master.  The  principal  apologetic  treatise  in  this  era  was  the 
Au  ustine's  ^o^l®  work  of  Augustiue,  the  "  City  of  God,"  the  first  at- 
"  City  of  tempt  in  Christian  times  at  something  like  a  philosophy 
of  history.  In  410,  a  thrill  of  dismay  went  through  the 
empire  at  the  news  of  the  capture  and  sack  of  Rome  by  Alaric  the 
Goth.  The  foundations  of  the  world  seemed  to  be  shaken  by  the 
fall  of  the  eternal  city.  Complaints  broke  out  with  renewed  vehe- 
mence against  the  religion  whose  God  had  failed  to  shield  Rome 
from  the  appalling  disaster,  and  against  its  disciples  who  had  foi*- 
saken  the  divinities  of  the  ancient  system.  To  meet  this  assault, 
Augustine  composed  his  work,  which  embraces,  also,  a  positive  ex- 
planation and  vindication  of  the  Christian  faith.  He  refers  to  terii- 
ble  calamities  that  occurred  in  the  days  of  the  Republic,  and  of  the 
earlier  Csesars.     He  insists  that  disasters  may  have  a  disciplinary 


312-590.]  HISTORY  OP  DOCTRINE.  139 

value  greater  than  their  cost.  He  undertakes  to  show  that  there 
are,  and  have  been  from  the  beginning,  two  great  communities  or 
cities,  the  city  of  God,  comprising  within  it  all  his  true  worshippers, 
and  the  city  of  the  world,  whose  denizens  may  prosper  in  this  life  but 
have  no  part  in  the  future  and  everlasting  blessedness  of  the  right- 
eous. A  Spanish  presbyter,  Orosius,  a  contemporary  of 
Augustine,  wrote  a  briefer  work  in  the  same  general  strain. 
Among  the  proofs  adduced  by  Eusebius  of  Caesarea,  and  other  de- 
proofs  of  fenders  of  the  gospel,  were  the  character  of  Jesus  and  the 
Christianity,  apostles,  wMcli  excludcs  the  idea  of  deception  on  their 
part ;  the  evidence  of  miracles  and  prophecies,  and  the  spread  of 
Christianity  in  the  face  of  almost  invincible  obstacles.  Worthy  of 
notice  is  Augustine's  idea  of  a  miracle  as  an  event  which  excites  an 
unwonted  degz-ee  of  astonishment ;  although  natural  events,  since 
they,  too,  spriug  just  as  directly  from  the  will  of  God,  would  occa- 
sion the  same  feeling,  if  they  were  not  familiar. 

Scholars  like  Jerome  and  Rufinus  knew  how  to  discriminate 
between  the  apjacr^'phal  and  the  canonical  books  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, but  their  knowledge  of  this  distinction  did  not 

The  canon,  . 

diffuse  itself.     Augustine  quotes  the  two  classes  of  books 
indiscriminately.     Both  are  included  in  the  list  of  books  sanctioned 
Council  of      ^^  canonical  by  the  Council  of  Carthage  in  397.     The 
Carthage,       same  council  includes  in  the  canon  all  the  Antilegomena, 
or  books  that  had  been  doubted  by  some.     These  were 
all  recognized  by  Jerome  and  Augustine.     The  day  of  critical  in- 
quiry and  discussion  was  passing  by,  and  the  drift  was  towards 
uniformity  on  all  points  of  this  nature.     The  Church  of  Rome  now 
received  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  which  it  had  rejected  ;  and 
in  the  East,  after  the  sixth  century,  the  Apocalypse,  which  had 
I    not  been  received  by  leading  theologians,  as  Gregory  Nazianzen, 
"T  Chrysostom,  and   Theodoret,  takes  its  place  in  the  canon.     The 
I  s  i^ation      doctriuc  of  Verbal  inspiration  was  widely  prevalent,  and 
ana  interpre-   ^as  cvcu  held  by  many  to  extend  to  the  Septuagint  ver- 
sion.    Mystical  and  allegorical  modes  of  interpretation 
were  much  in  vogue.     In  j>he  Antiochian  school,  in  such  writers  as 
Theodore  and  Chrysostom,  the  view  taken  of  inspiration  allows 
much  more  to  the  human  factor  in  the  composition  of  the  Script- 
ures, and  among  them  there  is  a  sounder  method   of  exegesis. 
Tradition  as  a  source  of  knowledge  as  to  apostolic  teach- 
ing was  highly  valued  ;  but,  generally  sj)eaking,  every- 
thing thus  transmitted  was  thought  to  be  contained,  in  some  form, 
either  clear  or  obscure,  in  the  Scriptures.     Vincent  of  Lerins  laid 


140  FROM  CONSTAITTINB  TO  GREGORY  I.        [Period  IH. 

down  as  the  note  of  catholic  or  orthodox  doctrine,  that  it  is  always, 
everywhere,  and  by  all  believed — quod  semper,  ubique 
cathoEcdoc-  et  ob  omnibus  creditum  est.  In  the  Latin  Church  this 
rule  has  been  regarded  as  sound,  although  it  was 
used  by  the  author  as  a  bulwark  for  the  Semi-Pelagian  opinion. 
Authority  ^hc  authority  of  general  councils  was  recognized  as 
of  councils,  supreme,  they  being  under  the  special  guidance  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  They  do  not  add  to  the  sum  of  Chx-istian  doctrine, 
but  define  what  has  been  revealed  by  Christ  and  the  aj)ostles.  Au- 
gustine holds  that  the  decisions  of  a  council  may  be  improved  by  a 
later  council  ;  but  whether  such  improvement  may  include  cor- 
rection is  not  stated.  His  theory  is  that  a  general  council  simj)ly 
gives  definite  form  to  a  conviction  to  which  the  Church,  through  a 
l)rocess  of  investigation  and  reflection,  under  the  guidance  of  the 
Spirit,  has  been  previously  led.  Behind  the  council  is  the  univer- 
sal Christian  consciousness  at  a  particular  stage  of  its  progress. 

Augustine  laid  down  the  maxim  that  "  faith  precedes  knowl- 
edge ;  "  that  is,  a  living  esj)erience  of  the  gospel  is  requisite  for  in- 
Faith  and  sight  iuto  its  meaning.  It  is  meant  that  we  should  under- 
reason.  stand  the  truth,  but  the  practical  appropriation  of  it  is 

first  in  order.  The  era  of  critical  scholarship  was  vanishing,  and 
reverence  for  Church  authority  was  growing.  Augustine  says  that 
he  should  not  believe  the  gospel,  if  he  were  not  moved  thereto  by 
Authority  of  ^^^  authority  of  the  Church.  He  looks  on  the  Church  as 
the  Church,  g^  sufficient  vouchcr  for  the  canon  and  the  authorized  in- 
terpreter of  its  contents.  In  this  period,  manuscripts  of  the  Bible 
were  multiplied,  and  the  laity  were  exhorted  to  read  it.  Yet  as 
we  approach  the  close  of  the  period,  the  custom  of  reading  it  is 
seen  to  be  j^assing  away,  partly  from  the  incoming  of  barbarism, 
and  partly  because  the  prevalence  of  allegorical  interpretation  cre- 
ated the  feeling  that  a  layman  could  not  understand  it. 

Along  with  the  ordinary  proofs  of  the  existence  of  God  from 
the  necessity  for  a  first  cause,  and  from  the  evidences  of  design, 
Proofs  of  the  Augustiue  sccks  to  frame  a  demonstrative  argument, 
being  of  God.  j^ascd  ou  the  plulosophical  doctrine  of  realism,  and  Boe- 
tius  makes  a  like  attempt  on  the  same  foundation,  which  was  de- 
rived from  Plato.  Our  knowledge  of  God,  according  to  Augustine, 
is  relative  ;  that  is,  we  know  him  not  as  he  is  in  himself,  but  only 
in  the  revelation  of  himself,  which  is  shaped  to  correspond  to  the 
limited  measure  of  our  undei'standing.  In  him  the  attributes  are 
Angels  and  neither  distinguished  from  one  another,  nor  from  the  sub- 
demons,         stance  of  his  being.     Angels  and  demons  are  the  instru- 


313-590.]  HISTORY  OF  DOCTRINE.  141 

ments  of  his  will,  for  dispensing  mercies  and  executing  judgments. 
Angels  were  divided  into  three  general  and  nine  special  classes. 
The  first  clear  sanction  of  the  invocation  of  angels,  as  intercessors, 
is  in  Ambrose.  In  the  sixth  century,  churches  were  dedicated  by 
Justinian,  and,  also,  in  Gaul,  to  the  Archangel  Michael.  As  the 
homage  of  angels  spread,  the  scriptural  prohibitions  of  the  wor- 
ship of  the  creature  were  avoided  or  evaded  by  distinctions  in  the 
kind  and  degree  of  worship  which  is  offered  to  different  orders  of 
supernal  beings.  It  was  not  to  be  expected  that  common  people 
would  clearly  comprehend,  or  faithfully  observe,  these  theological 
distinctions. 

On  the  subject  of  redemption,  it  was  still  the  doctrine  that 
Christ,  in  some  way,  has  rescued  us  from  the  hands  of  Satan.  The 
The  atone-  posterity  of  Adam,  it  was  said  by  Augustine,  by  the  laws 
ment.  q£  ^g^j.^  share  in  the  lot  of  their  parent  Adam,  who  gave 

himself  up  a  captive  to  Satan.  They  must  be  liberated,  not  by  dint 
of  power,  but  by  righteous  means.  Satan  exceeded  his  power  in 
slaying  Jesus,  and  lost  all  right  over  believers  in  him.  By  others, 
it  was  said  that  Christ  discharged  a  debt  due  to  God  from  the  sin- 
ner. God's  truth  and  his  love  were  both  maintained  through  the 
work  of  Christ.  Cyril  of  Alexandria  says  that  he  bore  the  curse  of 
sin  which  rested  on  us.  Much  was  made  of  the  physical  union  of 
Christ  with  humanity,  whereby,  as  it  was  believed,  immortal  life, 
including  the  glorified  body  received  at  the  resurrection,  are  im- 
parted to  his  followers.  He  leavens,  as  it  were,  with  a  life-giving 
Faith  and  influence  the  race  into  which  he  enters.  Faith  was  al- 
woiks.  most  universally  made  a  synonym  of  orthodoxy,  so  that 

good  works  must  be  conjoined  with  faith  as  the  condition  of  sal- 
vation. Baptism  is  necessary,  and  for  sins  after  baptism  penance 
Mortal  and  ^^  requisite.  Mortal  were  distinguished  from  venial 
venial  sins,  gjjjg  .  ^]^q  former  iuvolve  the  forfeiture  of  grace,  and,  un- 
less repented  of,  bring  perdition.  In  the  fourth  century  the  cus- 
tom began  of  invoking  deceased  martyrs  and  asking  for  their 
prayers.  With  this  habit,  it  has  already  been  explained,  the  rev- 
erence for  their  relics  and  images  was  enhanced. 

In  confuting  the  Donatists,  who  claimed  that  the  note  of  the 
true  Church  was  the  holiness  of  its  members,  Augustine  set  forth 
The  note  of  cathoHcity  as  the  real  and  principal  criterion.  By  this 
cathoucity.  j^g  meant  that  the  Church  is  the  visible  society,  spread 
over  the  earth,  and  having  within  it  the  apostolic  sees.  This 
Church,  he  claimed,  is  to  be  called  holy,  even  if  it  contain  within 
it  unworthy  members,  who,  although  in  it,  are  not  of  it.     The  tares 


142  FROM  CONSTANTINE  TO  GREGORY  I.        [Period  III. 

must  be  left  to  grow  with  the  wheat.  The  Church  held,  moreover, 
against  the  Donatists,  that  the  efficacy  of  the  saci-aments  is  inde- 
pendent of  the  character  of  the  officiating  minister.  Baptism  by 
one  who  is  pronounced  a  heretic  will  save  a  man  only  in  case  he 
afterwards  enters  into  communion  with  the  catholic  body.  The 
central  point  of  Church  authority — the  culmen  auctoritatis — Augus- 
Theseeoi  ^^^^  places  in  the  see  of  Peter  at  Eome.  Yet  in  one 
Rome.  place  he  makes  Christ  himself  to  be  the  "■  rock,"  in  the 

declaration  of  the  Lord  to  Peter,  although  elsewhere  he  interprets 
the  rock  as  denoting  Peter. 

The  sacraments,  the  visible  signs  and  vehicles  of  an  invisible 
grace  which  accompanies  them,  were  especially  baptism  and  the 
The  sacra-  Lord's  Supper,  although  the  term  "sacrament"  was  fre- 
ments.  quently  applied  to  marriage,  the  ordination  of  priests, 

and  even  to  Old  Testament  usages,  including  the  Sabbath  and 
sacrifices.  Through  the  influence  of  Augustine,  the  doctrine 
came  to  prevail  in  the  West  that  unbaptized  infants  are 
lost.  Their  punishment,  he  taught,  is  not  merely  nega- 
tive, or  the  deprivation  of  good,  but  is  yet  of  the  mildest  sort. 
Transubstantiation  was  not  taught.  The  prevailing  tenet  respect- 
The  Lord's  i"o  ^^^  Lord's  Supper  was  that  the  glorified  Christ  unites 
Supper.  himself  Avith  the  bread  and  the  wine,  as  the  Logos  once 

entered  into  humanity.  They  become  in  us  the  seed  of  a  glorified 
body,  the  source  of  immortal  life.  The  Lord's  SupjDer  was  an  offer- 
ing to  God,  so  held  at  first  in  a  figurative  sense,  and  afterwards 
literally.  Prayers  at  the  Lord's  Supper  were  considered  to  be 
remarkably  efficacious. 

The  transference  of  the  j)ious  dead  in  Hades  to  paradise,  by  Je- 
sus, in  the  interval  between  his  death  and  resurrection,  was  still  an 
The  interme-  accepted  belief.  The  phrase,  "  He  descended  into  Hades," 
diate  state.  ^^^  ^^^  generally  found  in  the  Apostles'  Creed  until  the 
beginning  of  the  fifth  century.  The  introduction  of  the  doctrine 
Doctrine  of  of  purgatory  was  due  to  the  influence  of  Augustine, 
purgatory.  ^j^g  Suggested  that  imperfect  Christians  may  be  purified 
in  the  intermediate  state,  by  purgatorial  fire,  from  their  remaining 
sin.  His  conjecture  was  converted  into  a  fixed  belief.  Thus  the  in- 
termediate state  was  transmuted  into  a  purgatory.  All  j^erfected 
saints,  it  was  now  believed,  and  not  alone  martyrs  with  others  of 
exceptional  sanctity,  as  had  been  formerly  assumed,  go  at  once  to 
heaven. 

Supplication  for  departed  Christians  had  been  common  since 
the  second  century.     With  the  spreading  belief  in  pui*gatory  there 


312-590.]  HISTORY  OF  DOCTRINE.  143 

was  a  new  motive  for  offering  these  prayers,  since  tliey  might  pro- 
prayersfor  ^ure  an  abridgment  of  this  species  of  torment.  The  be- 
the  dead.  jief  in  apparitions  of  the  dead,  opposed  by  Chrysostom, 
favored  by  Augustine,  established  itself  in  the  Church.  Tlie  mil- 
lenarian  theory  was  discarded  by  the  educated  class.  The  doctrine 
of  the  resurrection  of  the  body  was  taught  in  the  more 
of  the  resur-  refined  Alexandrian  form  by  the  principal  Greek  theolo- 
gians, but  was  advocated  by  Augustine  with  a  grotesque 
and  startling  literalism.  In  the  fourth  century,  restorationism, 
or  the  ultimate  salvation  of  all,  was  the  opinion  of  theologians  as 
eminent  as  Gregory  of  Nyssa  and  Theodore  of  Mopsuestia,  and 
was  accepted  less  definitely  by  Gregory  Nazianzen.  These  held, 
with  Origen,  that  the  design  of  punishment  is  to  reform.  The 
crusade  against  Origen's  teaching  included  restorationism  among 
its  objects  of  attack.  From  the  beginning  of  the  fifth  century,  this 
doctrine,  which  was  withstood  by  Augustine,  was  discarded. 


PERIOD  IV. 
FROM  GREGORY  I.  TO  CHARLEMAGNE  (590-800). 

THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  CHUKCH  AMONG  THE  GERMANIC 
NATIONS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE   SPREAD   OF  CHRISTIANITY:  THE    RISE   AND  PROGRESS  OP 
MOHAMMEDANISM. 

Chkistiaotty  had  become  the  religion  of  the  old  nations  of  the 
empire  and  of  those  Teutonic  peoples  who  came  down  from  the 
north  and  settled  in  Italy,  Gaul,  and  Spain.  The  gos- 
ch^tianity.  P^l  was  now  to  extend  its  influence  into  regions  where 
the  Koman  arms  had  never  penetrated,  or  whence  they 
had  receded  at  the  first  alarm  from  the  barbarian  invaders.  Anglo- 
Saxon  England,  Germany,  and  the  new  nations  along  the  Danube 
were  to  be  reached  by  the  Christian  faith.  In  this  period,  also,  it 
was  to  receive  a  terrific  blow  in  the  rise  of  Mohammedanism,  and 
the  victorious  march  of  Islam  over  Syria,  Palestine,  Africa,  and 
Spain. 

The  Christianity  which  was  to  accomplish  this  work  of  conver- 
sion, and  to  come  into  conflict  with  these  opposing  forces,  had,  un- 
De  enerate  ■'^^PP^^J'  Parted  with  its  aucieut  purity  and  simplicity, 
character  of    The  kingdom  of  God  had  become  identified  with  the  vis- 

Christianity. 

ible  Church,  through  whose  mediation,  it  was  thought, 
salvation  was  alone  possible,  and  obedience  to  whose  laws  was 
often  the  sum  of  the  requirements  laid  on  converts.  The  relig- 
ious training  of  the  mediaeval  peoples  was  analogous  to  that  of  the 
Jews  under  the  completed  hierarchical  system.  But  the  inner,  liv- 
ing pi'inciple  of  the  gospel  was  still  in  being,  and  was  powerful 
enough  to  survive,  despite  obscurations,  and  to  preserve  the  ele- 
ments of  a  purifying  reaction.  The  development  of  Christianity 
Traits  and  re  was  influenced  in  an  important  manner  by  the  charac- 
^rma°n  ^nl  tcr  of  the  German  nations,  and  especially  of  those  who 
tions.  dwelt  somewhat  beyond  the  reach  of  Roman  traditions. 

In  their  sense  of  personal  independence,  in  their  courage,  faith- 


590-800.]  THE  SPREAD  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  145 

fulness  and  purity,  the  Germans  excelled  other  barbarian  tribes. 
The  Teutonic  religion  reflects  the  strength  and  -warlike  propensi- 
ties of  the  peoples  to  whom  it  belonged.  The  voluptuous  and  ef- 
feminate side  of  the  classic  mythology  is  absent.  The  religion  of 
the  Germans  is  closely  allied  to  that  of  the  Scandinavians,  with 
which  we  are  made  acquainted  in  the  Eddas.  The  more  promi- 
nent divinities  are  recalled  in  the  names  of  the  four  days  of  the 
week  :  Tuesday  (named  from  Thiu,  god  of  war) ;  Wednesday  (from 
Woden,  the  chief  divinity,  the  god  of  the  air  and  sky,  the  giver  of 
fruits,  and  delighting  in  battle) ;  Thursday  (from  Thor,  the  Scandi- 
navian equivalent  of  Donar,  the  god  of  thunder  and  the  weather, 
armed  with  a  hammer  and  thunderbolt)  ;  Friday  (from  Freyr, 
Scandinavian  for  Fro,  god  of  love).  The  name  Easter  also  comes 
from  Ostara,  goddess  of  the  morning  light,  or  of  the  i^eturn  of  the 
sun  in  spring.  The  popular  belief  in  dwarfs,  fairies,  and  elves, 
which  lingered  for  ages,  recalls  to  remembrance  the  lesser  Teu- 
tonic divinities.  The  Germans  were  the  Protestants  of  heathen 
nations.  Deep  woods  were  often  their  only  temples.  It  was  the 
myterious,  and  not  the  sensuous,  that  called  out  reverence.  They 
consecrated  venerable  trees  to  their  gods.  Unlike  the  Celts  they 
had  no  powerful  priesthood.  Every  head  of  a  family  might  per- 
form the  rites  of  worship  in  his  own  household  without  the  inter- 
vention of  the  priest  of  the  community.  Women  were  held  to  be 
peculiarly  wise  and  skilful  in  learning  the  will  of  the  gods.  This 
feeling  also  manifested  itself  in  a  belief  in  witches,  a  belief  which 
unhappily  long  survived  the  decay  of  the  Teutonic  religion.  As 
was  the  custom  with  other  savage  tribes,  human  victims  were 
sometimes  slain  in  the  sacrifices.  Brave  wari'iors  expected  at  death 
to  be  received  in  Walhalla,  where  they  were  to  sit  at  banquet  with 
the  gods, 

Christianity  had  to  overcome  many  obstacles  in  the  conver- 
sion of  the  Germans.  It  not  only  aimed  to  supplant  the  gods 
Obstacles  to  whom  they  had  been  taught  by  their  fathers  to  honor, 
of  the  o'eT'"''  ^^^  *°  whom  they  traced  the  lineage  of  their  kings,  but 
mans.  {j^  Seemed  to  threaten  their  national  independence.     It 

was  brought  to  them  by  ecclesiastics  who  were  subjects  of  a  foreign 
power  ;  its  services  were  held  for  the  most  part  in  Latin  ;  and  its 
converts  were  generally  required  to  look  to  the  Bishop  of  Kome  as 
their  lord  in  spiritual  things.  They  were  told  by  the  missionaries 
— men  of  ascetic  manners  and  frequently  of  narrow  views — that 
their  own  gods  wei'e  demons,  and  that  to  worship  them  was  a 
damnable  sin,  for  which  their  ancestors  were  suffering  eternal  tor- 
10 


146  FROM  GREGORY  I.   TO  CHARLEMAGNE.        [Period  IV, 

ments.  Later  in  this  period,  among  the  Frisians  and  Saxons  on 
the  continent,  and  even  in  some  parts  of  England,  Christianity 
was  looked  upon  as  the  badge  of  slavery  to  a  foreign  despot,  and 
all  the  patriotism  of  the  people  was  awakened  in  the  defence  alike 
of  their  homes  and  of  their  gods. 

And  yet,  notwithstanding  these  hindrances,  the  Germans  were 

rapidly  converted  to  the  principles  of  Christianity,     It  has  been 

suf^gested  that  perhaps  the  old  religion  was  insensibly 

Aids  in  the  oo  ...  .     ^ 

conversion  of  losing  its  hold  upon  theu'  minds.     Political  influences 

the  Germans.  -,,,.,  .  ,.•  i      ■,      ^  t     ,        -i 

and  the  intermarriage  of  princes  had  also  much  to  do 
with  the  introduction  and  jirogress  of  the  gospel  among  the  various 
tribes.  The  minds  of  the  rude  multitudes  were  attracted  by  the 
sight  of  wonder-working  relics.  Marvels  occurred  in  their  presence, 
which  their  fancies  or  their  fears,  wrought  upon  by  the  stories  of 
the  missionaries,  readily  accepted  as  miraculous  attestations  of  the 
truth  of  the  new  religion.  That  holy  men  could  work  miracles  was 
never  for  a  moment  doubted.  Even  missionaries  like  Boniface  and 
Ansgar,  although  disclaiming  such  supernatural  gifts  for  themselves, 
believed  that  others  possessed  them. 

The  Anglo-Saxons  were  the  first  who  now  became  objects  of  the 
missionary  efforts  of  the  Church.  They  did  not  receive  Christianity 
_         .      ,  from  the  Britons,  because  in  the  bitter  struggle  which 

Conversion  of  '  _  ^^ 

the  Anglo-       attended  their  conquest  of  Britain  the  Celtic  inhabitants 

Saxons.  ■*• 

were  driven,  step  by  step,  back  to  the  western  part  of 
the  island,  and  with  them  went  their  civilization  and  religion.  In 
Ireland,  however,  "  the  island  of  the  saints,"  were  preparing  influ- 
ences that  would  help  in  bringing  a  part  of  England  again  under 
the  influences  of  the  gospel.  From  Ireland  Columba  went  out  in 
the  last  half  of  the  sixth  centuryTlmd'^onverted  the  Northern  Picts. 
Upon  the  island  of  Hy,  given  by  them,  he  founded  the  monastery 
■  of  lona,  which  had  the  highest  reputation  for  the  learning  and  piety 
of  its  inmates. 

But  Christianity  was  to  come  to  the  Anglo-Saxons  first  from 
Eome.  Gregory,  an  abbot  of  a  Eoman  convent,  was  attracted  by 
the  faces  of  some  young  captives  in  the  slave-market.  Tradition 
said  that  when  informed  that  they  were  Angles,  he  exclaimed  : 
"  Not  Angles,  but  angels."  He  forthwith  became  interested  for 
the  conversion  of  their  countrymen,  and  although  he  was  j^revented 
from  going  to  them  himself  as  a  missionary,  he  did  not  forget 
Conversion  of  them  whcu  he  was  called  to  fill  the  chair  of  St.  Peter. 
Ethcibert.  Ethelbert,  King  of  Kent,  who  had  married  Bertha,  a 
Fraukish  princess,  allowed  her  to  observe  freely  the  rites  of  her  reli- 


590-SOO.]  THE  SPREAD  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  147 

giou.  At  this  opportune  moment,  Gregory  sent  the  abbot  Augus- 
tine, with  a  numerous  train  of  followers,  as  missionaries  to  the 
English.  After  some  delays  they  landed  on  the  island  of  Thanet, 
east  of  Kent.  It  was  nearly  two  hundred  years  since  the  legions 
of  the  empire  had  been  withdrawn,  and  now  this  band  of  monks 
came  to  reunite  the  country  to  Rome,  not,  however,  to  the  seat  of 
imperial  but  of  spiritual  authority.  The  king  hastened  to  meet 
Augustine,  but,  fearful  of  magic,  received  him  and  his  companions 
in  the  ojDen  air.  The  simple  and  unselfish  life  of  the  monks  won 
the  confidence  and  respect  of  all.  The  minds  of  the  people  were 
impressed  by  the  mysterious  ritual  and  by  the  miracles  which  they 
believed  that  the  missionaries  performed,  Ethelbert  gave  Augus- 
tine a  residence  in  Canterbury.  He  soon  yielded  to  the  influence 
of  his  wife  and  of  the  preachers.  His  conversion  led  multitudes 
to  embrace  Christianity.  Augustine,  who  now  received  episcopal 
consecration,  carried  out  the  moderate  policy  which  Gregory  had 
outlined.  Temples  were  changed  into  churches,  and  furnished 
with  relics.  For  heathen  festivals,  there  were  substituted  Chris- 
tian festivals  on  sacred  days  of  the  Church.  At  the  time  of  the  con- 
version of  Kent,  Ethelbert  exercised  a  sort  of  jurisdiction  over 
Essex.  He  therefore  used  his  influence  to  introduce  Christianity 
tliere.  About  the  year  601,  Augvistine  was  made  archbishop,  with 
Augustine  powcr  not  Only  over  the  English  churches,  but  over  the 
bishop^oT''"  British  likewise.  He  still  resided  in  Canterbury.  This 
Canterbury,  place  and  not  London,  as  Gregory  at  first  intended,  be- 
came, on  account  of  the  political  divisions  of  the  country,  the  metro- 
politan town.  Augustine  required  of  the  British  conformity  to  the 
Roman  ritual  and  submission  to  himself  as  primate.  Being  unable 
to  accomplish  his  purpose,  he  is  said  to  have  threatened  them  with 
the  vengeance  of  the  Anglo-Saxons.  After  the  death  of  Ethelbert, 
Christianity  met  with  serious  reverses  in  his  dominions.  But  it  was 
soon  to  find  a  potent  ally  in  the  north.  Edwin,  King  of  Northum-^ 
bria,  became  the  most  powerful  ruler  in  England.  He  married  a 
daughter  of  Ethelbert,  who  brought  with  her  a  bishop,  Paulinus. 
The  king,  although  he  abandoned  Paganism,  did  not  immediately 
accept  Christianity.  He  was  finally  moved  to  call  together  his 
wise  men  to  decide  between  the  two  religions.  At  this  council 
one  of  them  thus  addressed  him  :  "The  present  life  of  man  on 
earth,  O  king,  seems  to  me,  in  comparison  with  that  time  which  is 
unknown  to  us,  like  the  swift  flight  of  a  sparrow  through  the  room 
where  you  sit  at  supjDer  in  winter.  The  sparrow  flies  in  at  one 
door  and  immediately  out  at  another,  and,  whilst  he  is  within,  is 


148  FROM  GREGORY  I.   TO  CHARLEMAGNE.        [Period  IV. 

safe  from  tlie  wintry  storm  ;  but  he  soon  passes  out  of  your  sight 
into  the  darkness  from  which  he  had  emerged.  So  this  life  of  man 
appears  for  a  short  space,  but  of  what  went  before,  or  what  is  to 
follow,  we  are  utterly  ignorant.  If,  therefore,  this  new  doctrine 
contains  something  more  certain,  it  seems  justly  to  deserve  to  be 
followed."  The  high-priest  of  paganism  was  the  first  to  declare  for 
Christianity.  Northumbria  had,  however,  become  Christian,  but,  a 
Northumbria  ^ ^w  years  before,  it  lost  its  power  through  the  rise  of  the 
and  jiercia.  jjeathcn  kingdom  of  Mercia.  Paulinus  fled  to  the  south. 
Soon  another  champion  was  raised  up  iu  King  Oswald,  and  under 
him  the  Irish  missionaries  from  Columba's  monastery  at  lona  car- 
ried on  the  work  left  by  Pauhnus.  Aidan  was  made  bishop,  and 
given  a  residence  at  Lindesfarne.  But  Christianity  was  not  safe 
from  the  attacks  of  Mercia  until  Oswin,  Oswald's  successor,  defeated 
the  Mercians  in  655.  In  the  meantime  devoted  men  had  carried 
the  gospel  to  the  other  nations  of  the  island. 

As  soon  as  political  affairs  in  the  north  were  in  a  more  settled 
condition,  strife  arose  between  the  British  and  the  Romish  church- 
strife  between  men.  Colman,  who  now  presided  over  the  Northum- 
saxotTcTris-  briau  see  which  Aidan  had  held,  was,  like  his  prede- 
tiauity.  cessor,  of  the  Scottish  persuasion.     The  differences  in 

ecclesiastical  customs  between  the  British,  or  Scottish  party,  and 
the  Romanists  had  become  a  source  of  trouble,  even  dividing  the 
royal  family  upon  the  question  respecting  the  day  on  which  to  ob- 
serve Easter.  Not  to  dwell  on  a  peculiar  style  of  tonsure  in  vogue 
among  the  British,  and  the  non-observance  of  a  rule  of  celibacy 
by  their  clergy,  the  Easter  question  was  the  most  important  point 
of  conflict.  The  British  adhered  to  the  old  method  of  reckoning 
which  had  been  in  use  at  Eome  until  the  reform  introduced  by 
Dionysius  Esiguus.  Furthermore,  they  did  not  hesitate  to  hold 
Easter  on  the  14th  of  Nisan,  the  Jewish  lunar  month,  if  that  came 
on  Sunday,  while  iu  such  a  case  the  Piomans  postponed  the  festi- 
val one  week.  The  British  were  not  Quarto-decimans  in  the  sense 
which  this  term  had  in  the  second  century,  and  therefore  from 
their  customs  nothing  can  be  inferred  in  favor  of  a  direct  Asi- 
atic origin  for  their  Church.  To  adjust  the  differences,  a  con- 
conferonceat  fercuce  was  held  at  "Whitby  in  GG^.iu  the  presence  of 
Whitby.  King  Oswin,  between  Colman  and  his  Scottish  friends 
on  the  one  side,  and  the  Saxons,  led  by  the  presbyter  Wilfred, 
afterwards  Archbishop  of  York,  on  the  other.  The  king  decided 
for  Rome,  influenced  probably  by  a  reverence  for  the  divine  au- 
thority claimed  for  it,  although  he  expressed  his  feeling  as  a  fear 


590-800.]  THE  SPREAD  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  149 

that  St.  Peter,  who  had  the  keys,  would  otherwise  exclude  him 
from  heaven.  Colman  and  his  followers  forthwith  left  the  see 
of  St.  Aidan  and  went  back  to  Zona.  The  decision  had  an  im- 
2Dortant  effect  on  the  subsequent  history  of  the  English  Church. 
The  more  free  spirit  of  the  British,  which  would  have  proved 
powerful  in  resisting  the  encroachments  of  Eome,  was  driven 
out.  Yet  the  Church  was  perhaps  saved  from  perilous  irreg- 
ularities, and  brought  into  close  connection  with  the  development 
of  the  civilization  and  Christianity  of  Europe. 

The  Irish  cloisters,  still  famous  for  learning,  continued  to  at- 
tract many  English  youth,  until  Theodore  of  Tarsus,  a  man  of 
Schools  in  scliolarly  abilities,  was  sent  to  England  as  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  to  confirm  the  Roman  hieivarchy  and  to  in- 
C68-690.  '  troduce  schools.  Wilfred,  Archbishop  of  York,  was  also 
instrumental,  despite  the  troubles  bx'ought  upon  him  by  the  jealousy 
of  Theodore,  in  promoting  the  same  ends.  The  schools  planted 
by  Theodore  were  celebrated  for  their  successful  devotion  to  learn- 
ing. In  them  the  Greek  language  was  cultivated.  The  most  noted 
scholar  of  the  age  was  a  monk,  who  spent  his  days  in  the  monas- 
tery at  Yarrow.  It  was  the  Venerable  Bede,  to  whom  we  owe 
much  of  what  we  know  of  the  history  of  the  EngHsh  Church.  The 
beginnings  of  Anglo-Saxon  literature  were  made.  Bible  stories, 
turned  into  a  simple  and  vigorous  verse  by  Csedmon,  were  circu- 
lated everywhere  among  the  common  people. 

The  cloisters  which  sprung  up  in  different  parts  of  the  country 
bound  men  together  by  the  monastic  tie,  and  gave  rise  to  a  con- 
sciousness of  unity  which  was  helpful  in  its  influence  on 
the  Saxon  the  political  growth  of  England.  The  national  idea  also 
found  an  embodiment  in  the  allegiance  of  all  churches 
to  the  one  see  of  Canterbury.  The  close  dependence  of  the  Angio-r 
Saxon  Church  upon  Eome  w^as  gradually  weakened  as  it  ceased  to 
be  a  missionary  church,  and  as  the  English  kings,  like  their  Ger- 
man contemporaries,  began  to  grasp  authority  in  Church  affairs. 
The  Papal  see,  however,  still  enjoyed  more  power  and  respect  in 
England  than  among  the  other  German  nations.  The  constant  ef- 
forts made  to  reunite  the  old  British  Church  to  Eome  were  with- 
out permanent  results  until  the  conquest  of  Ireland  and  Wales  by 
U  Henry  II. 

Christianity  had  been  preached  at  an  early  period  in  the  Eoman 

.  .  parts  of  Germany.  The  influence  of  the  heroic,  disinter- 
in  Germany :  ested  beuevolcnce  of  such  men  as  Severin,  who  about 
everin.         ^^  middle  of  the  fifth  century  labored  near  the  Dan- 


150  FROM  GREGORY  I.   TO  CHARLEMAGNE.        [Period  IV. 

ube,  had  commended  the  gospel  to  those  who  were  enduring  the 
distress  consequent  on  the  barbarian  invasions,  and  the  general 
breaking  up  of  society.  Many  monks  came  over  from  England  and 
L-eland,  of  whom  Columban  was  the  most  influential.  While  in 
Burgundy  he  founded  several  monasteries,  the  most  notable  of 
which  was  that  of  Luxeuil.  The  degeneracy  of  the  Frankish  ec- 
clesiastics brought  him  into  conflict  with  them.  They  made  his 
Irish  custom  of  observing  Easter  a  pretext  for  attack.  In  the  con- 
troversy which  followed  with  Kome,  he  showed  a  firm  and  inde- 
pendent spirit.  He  did  not  hesitate  to  rebuke  the  vices  of  the 
Burgundian  ruling  family.  For  this  he  was  driven  into  exile,  and 
spent  the  rest  of  his  days  laboring  in  Switzerland  and  Northern 
Italy.  The  name  of  a  Swiss  canton,  St.  Gall,  recalls  that  of  his 
foremost  disciple, 

A  successful  missionary  work  was  finally  established  in  West 
Fi-iesland  through  the  labors  of  Willibrord,  a  Saxon  monk.     He 
was  made  Bishop  of  Utrecht,  and  devoted  himself  with 
self-sacrificing  zeal  to  the  work  of  his  diocese  until  his 
death  in  739.     Others  also  strove  to  spread  Christianity  in  these 
regions,  but  their  work  lacked  method,  and  its  results  were  often 
swept  away  by  sudden  incursions  of  pagan  Saxons  or  Frisians.     It 
seemed  necessary  that  a  practical  man  should  appear  who  should 
give  direction  and  permanence  to  the  missionary  efforts  and  should 
organize  Christian  institutions.     Germany  found  its  much-needed 
apostle  in  Boniface,  or  Winifred,  an  English  monk.    His 
very  faults  contributed  much  to  the  success  of  the  task 
which  he  set  before  him.     He  had  an  exaggerated  esteem  for  the 
external  unity  of  the  Church  and  for  its  ordinances.    He  was  ready 
to  render  a  devout  homage  to  the  papal  office.     This  legalism,  so 
characteristic  of  the  times,  was  in  him  somewhat  relieved  by  a 
spirit  of  genuine  Christian  piety,  and  by  a  moralit}^  so  strict  that 
he  did  not  withhold  his  censure  of  the  vices  and  superstitions 
prevalent  at  Rome  itself.     Boniface  gained  his  first  missionary  suc- 
cesses among  the  Hessians  in  722.     The  Pope,  Gregory  II.,  saw  in 
him  a  useful  instrument  for  advancing  the  interests  of  Eomish 
Christianity  in  this  part  of  Germany,  and  of  counteracting  the  ir- 
regularities and  heresies  introduced  by  the  Irish  missionaries.    He 
therefore  made  him  bishop,  at  the  same  time  exacting  an 
oath  of  fealty  to  him  and  his  successors  in  the  chair  of 
St.  Peter,  and  a  pledge  to  resist  all  departing  from  the  order  of  the 
Church.     The  Pope  recommended  him  to  the  protection  of  the 
Frankish  Mayor  of  the  Palace,  Charles  Martel,  without  which  he 


590-800.]  THE  SPREAD  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  151 

and  his  monks  would  have  frequently  been  exposed  to  the  fury  of 

the  Pagans,     Boniface  now  resumed  his  missionary  labors.     An 

ancient  oak,  consecrated  to  the  god  of  thunder,  proved  a  serious 

.^     .       obstacle  to  his  work  in  Upper  Hesse.     The  people  were 

Boniface  in  •'■■'•  ■'•■'• 

Hesse  and  accustomed  to  regard  it  with  peculiar  awe,  and  to  gather 
near  by  in  their  popular  assemblies.  Assisted  by  his 
followers,  Boniface  hewed  it  down  in  the  presence  of  the  aston- 
ished Pagans,  and  out  of  the  timber  built  a  church.  His  work  in 
Hesse,  and  later  in  Thuringia,  was  so  successful,  and  his  usefulness 
to  the  Pope  so  apparent,  that  Gregory  HI.  made  him  Archbishop 
Organization  ^^^  ApostoHc  Vicar.  He  now  proceeded  to  regulate  the 
of  '^iie  Ger-      ecclcsiastical  affairs  of  Germany,     But  it  was  not  possi- 

man  Church,  ''  ^ 

ble,  during  Charles  Martel's  life,  fully  to  establish  his 
authority  as  i^apal  legate.  Carloman  and  Pepin,  however,  earnestly 
co-operated  with  him  in  his  efforts  at  reform.  In  742  he  assembled 
the  first  German  council.  He  also  undertook  to  reform  the  Prank- 
ish Church.  The  fame  of  the  good  work  which  he  did  there  is 
somewhat  tarnished  by  his  efforts  to  bring  to  submission  or  pun- 
ishment men  like  Adelbert,  the  Frank,  and  Clement,  a  clergyman 
fi'om  Ireland,  who  retained  a  more  independent  Christian  spirit  in 
their  opinions  and  lives.  In  745  he  made  Mentz  the  seat  of  his 
archiepiscopal  residence.  In  753,  moved  by  a  restless  desire  to 
preach  among  the  people  whom  he  had  sought  to  convert  in  his  first 
missionary  labors,  he  turned  over  the  duties  of  his  office  to  Lullus, 
his  disciple.  Two  years  later,  he  found  a  martyr's  death  at  the 
Monasteries  hauds  of  the  still  pagan  Frisians.  Boniface  had  estab- 
in  Germany,  listed  many  cloistcrs.  Through  the  efforts  of  his  de- 
voted follower,  Sturm,  there  arose,  in  the  midst  of  a  wilderness,  the 
great  monastery  of  Fulda.  The  labors  of  the  monks  under  the  di- 
rection of  their  abbot  gradually  changed  the  character  of  the  whole 
region.  The  schools  which  Boniface  and  his  pupils  established  in 
connection  with  such  monasteries,  did  much  to  promote  the  cause 
of  education  in  Germany. 

In  the  latter  part  of  this  century,  attempts  were  made  to  convert 
the  Saxons.  They  wei'e  a  warlike,  freedom-loving  people.  They 
Christianit  associatcd  Christianity  Mdth  the  hated  Prankish  domin- 
among  the      ion.     The   defence   of  their   country   and  their  homes 

against  the  armies  of  Charlemagne,  and  of  their  worship 
against  the  priests  of  the  Church,  was  prompted  by  mingled  im- 
pulses of  patriotism  and  religion.  As  fast  as  Charlemagne  reduced 
them  to  subjection,  he  compelled  them  to  be  baptized.  The  sever- 
est laws  were  enacted  against  a  return  to  the  ancestral  religion. 


152  FROM  GREGORY  I.  TO  CHARLEMAGNE.  [Period  IV. 

These  violent  measures  were  opposed  by  Alcuin,  one  of  the  wise 
men  whom  Charlemagne  gathered  about  him.  The  labors  of  Luid- 
"•er  and  Willehad  were  more  productive  of  real  Christianity  among 
the  Saxons  than  were  the  arms  of  Charlemagne.  Willehad's  work 
lay  near  Bremen,  and  there,  after  the  suppression  of  the  insurrection 
of  Wittekind,  a  diocese  was  marked  out  over  which  he  was 

7S" 

placed  as  bishop ;  and  yet  it  was  not  until  after  a  series  of 
wars,  lasting  for  thirty  years,  that,  in  the  peace  of  Selz,  the  Saxons 

submitted  to  the  Fraukish  power  and  to  Christianity. 

The  story  of  the  spread  of  the  gospel  among  the  Avars 
who  dwelt  in  Hungary  is  similar.  Its  further  progress  to  the 
north  and  east  was  stopped  by  the  determined  resistance  of  the 
Slavonian  tribes. 

In  the  seventh  century  there  suddenly  appeared  in  the  East  a 
new  religion.     Inspired  by  the  genius  and  by  the  passionate  fanat- 
icism of  Mohammed,  a  band  of  warring  iirabian  tribes 

Rise  of  Mo- 

hammedan-     became  a  nation  bent  on  conquering  the  world  to  the 

belief  in  one  God  and  to  the  acknowledgment  of  his 

prophet.     Mohammed  was  born  in  Mecca,  probably  in  the  year 

572,  and  passed  his  early  life  in  obscurity.     At  the  age  of  twenty- 

,  eight,  by  his  mai'riage  with  a  wealthy  widow,  Kadijah,  he  was  re- 
lieved to  some  extent  from  worldly  cares  and  obtained  leisure  for 
contemiDlation. 

His  mind  was  shocked  by  the  religious  indifference  and  degen- 
eracy of  the  Ai'abs.  The  Judaism  and  Christianity  which  had  pen- 
etrated into  these  regions  were  debased  in  doctrine  as  well  as  ener- 
vated in  spiritual  power.  When  about  forty  years  of  age,  Moham- 
med began,  as  he  believed,  to  receive  from  above  intimations  of 
his  divine  mission.  At  first  he  ascribed  his  strange  ecstacies,  which 
may  have  been  in  part  the  result  of  hysteria  and  epilepsy,  disorders 
to  which  he  was  subject,  to  the  influence  of  evil  spirits.  He  was, 
however,  persuaded  by  his  wife  that  they  were  in  truth  revelations 
from  God.  Convinced  of  his  supernatural  call  as  a  religious  re- 
former,  he  began  to  preach  that  "  There  is  one  God,  and  Mohammed 

I  is  his  prophet."  His  faith  he  named  Islam— resignation  to  the 
divine  will.  Slowly  believers  gathered  about  him,  the  first  of  whom 
were  his  wife,  his  cousin  Ali,  and  his  friend  Abubekhr.    The  power- 

jfulKoreishites,  who  were  rulers  and  elders  in  Mecca,  now  began  to 

;  Fiij?ht  to        abuse  and  persecute  him.     To  save  his  life,  in  the  year 

G22,  he  fled  to  Medina.     This  year  thus  became  the  date 

of  the  Hegira,  or  of  the  prophet's  flight  from  Mecca  ;  and  from 


590-800.]  MOHAMMEDANISM.  153 

it  the  Mohammedan  calendar  is  reckoned.  Being  a  man  of  com- 
manding presence,  eloquent  and  pleasing  in  manner,  and  withal  an 
enthusiastic  teacher  and  adviser,  he  soon  became  a  political  leader 
and  religious  reformer  in  this  city,  which  was  in  many  ways  the 
rival  of  Mecca.  He  conceived  the  plan  of  uniting  the  Arab  tribesi 
by  the  bond  of  a  common  adherence  to  his  cause.  In  this  he  sol 
far  succeeded  that  he  re-entered  Mecca  in  630,  destroyed  idolatry! 
there,  and  thus  won  the  allegiance  of  the  principal  neighboring 
tribes.     Two  years  later  he  died. 

Mohammed  began  with  the  belief  that  he  was  called  to  extermi- 
nate idolatry  in  Arabia,  and  to  bring  his  countrymen  back  to  the  true 
Change  of  worship  of  God.  Soon  after  he  went  to  Medina  he  met 
P^^°'  with  opposition  on  the  part  of  the  Jews,  from  whom  he 

had  hoped  for  support,  and  thenceforward  was  fired  with  a  fa- 
natical zeal  against  them.  The  last  days  of  his  life  were  filled 
with  preparations  for  an  expedition  against  the  Greeks.  His  plan 
seems  to  have  changed.  He  ceased  to  be  a  mere  national  prophet, 
and  aspired  to  be  the  leader  of  a  fiei'ce  crusade  against  the  idol- 
atry of  the  world,  Thei'e  appeared  in  him  a  mingling  of  lofty 
devotion  to  the  will  of  God,  and  of  craft  and  cruelty  in  carrying 
forward  his  own  purposes. 

The  doctrines  and  ordinances  of  Mohammed  are  preserved  in 
the  Koran,  the  record  of  the  revelations  given  to  him  through  the 
Tenets  of  ^ugcl  Gabriel  and  accepted  by  his  followers  as  the  word 
Mohamme-  of  God.  It  was  his  purposc  to  restore  the  pure  reli- 
gion  which  he  believed  that  God  had  revealed  to  all  the 
prophets  from  Abraham  to  Christ.  In  his  religious  ideas  and 
stories  there  is  nothing  original.  Many  of  them  are  derived  from 
the  Jewish  rabbinical  writers  and  from  the  apocryphal  gospels. 
His  doctrine  of  God  was  the  monotheism  of  the  Jews,  with  the  idea 
of  holiness  obscured,  and  the  ideas  of  power  and  will  emphasized. 
God  rules  everywhere  by  his  omnipotent  energy,  and  yet  he  is  in- 
finitely exalted  above  the  creature.  There  is  no  mediator  to  reveal 
God  to  man,  and  to  bring  man  to  God.  Later,  the  importance 
given  to  God's  irresistible  will  led  to  an  extreme  form  of  fatalism. 
The  prophetic  mission  of  Mohammed  was  substituted  for  the  messi- 
anic reign  of  righteousness  and  peace.  The  torments  of  hell  which 
would  afflict  his  idolati'ous  opponents,  Mohammed  pictured  with 
graphic  realism,  while  for  the  faithful  he  depicted  the  joys  of  a  i 
sensual  paradise.  His  descriptions  of  the  future  existence  were 
not,  however,  Avithout  some  more  spiritual  features ;  and  the  po- 
lygamy which  he  allowed  was  much  better  than  the  unbridled  con- 


154  FROM  GREGORY  I.  TO  CHARLEMAGNE.         [Period  IV. 

cubinage  which  had  prevailed  iu  Arabia.  He  accepted  much  that 
he  knew  of  the  Old  Testament  saints,  and  acknowledged  the  pro- 
phetic mission  of  Christ,  although  he  rejected  with  scorn  the  doc- 
trine of  his  divinity.  Later  iu  his  career  he  was  loud  in  his  con- 
demnation of  both  Jews  and  Christians  for  their  hardness  of  heart 
in  not  believing  in  his  own  divine  calling. 

Under  the  calijohs,  who  were  the  successors  of  Mohammed,  and 

who  combined  the  functions  of  emperor  and  pope,  the  dominion 

of  the  Moslems  rapidly  extended.     According  to  the  in- 

Progres9of  x        »/  «-'  ^ 

Mohammedan  juuctious  of  the  propliet,  heathen,  apostates,  and  schis- 
conqucs  s.  jj^g^^jgg  -^erc  to  be  exterminated,  while  Jews  and  Chris- 
tians were  given  the  choice  of  the  Koran,  tribute,  or  death.  The 
Arabian  armies  were  full  of  unquenchable  fanaticism,  and  a  thirst 
for  plunder  and  dominion.  They  were  terrible  in  attack,  but  mild 
in  victory.  The  favorite  battle-cry  of  one  of  their  great  leaders 
was:  "Fight,  fight — Paradise,  Paradise."  To  the  victor  and  the 
slain  alike  the  delights  of  heaven  were  promised.  The  successors 
of  Mohammed  united  all  the  Arabs  under  their  banners.  The 
Eastern  provinces  of  the  empii-e,  i^oorly  supported  by  the  emj)eror, 
fell  an  easy  jDrey  to  the  furious  invaders.  By  637  Damascus  and 
Jerusalem  were  in  the  hands  of  the  infidel.  Africa,  weakened  by 
doctrinal  dissension,  was  next  invaded  and  conquered.  The  ene- 
mies of  Christianity  did  not  fare  any  better.  Persia  shared  the 
fate  of  Syria  and  Africa.  At  the  beginning  of  the  eighth  century 
the  Saracens  passed  over  into  Spain,  and  in  eight  years  completed 
the  conquest  of  that  country.  Then  they  crossed  the  Pyrenees  and 
occupied  the  south  of  Gaul.  The  Mohammedan  power  seemed  to 
be  encircling  Christendom,  and  threatening  to  destroy  the  Church 
and  Christianity  itself.  But  ujDon  the  plains  between  Tours  and 
_  ,   ,  ,  ,^     Poictiers,  Charles  with  his  Austrasian  Franks  met  and 

Defeat  01  the  ' 

Moslems,  732.  defeated  them  so  thoroughly  that  he  was  ever  afterwards 
called  Martel,  or  the  Hammer.  The  tide  was  stemmed.  Europe 
was  saved  from  the  danger  of  being  overrun  by  the  disciples  of  the 
Arabian  prophet. 

The  Arabians  had  an  indirect  but  important  influence  on  Chris- 
tianity by  their  devotion  to  the  arts  and  sciences.  Their  schools, 
two  of  which  were  established  at  Granada  and  Cordova,  were 
excellent,  and  attracted  many  Jewish  and  Christian  scholars. 
Christians  were  tolerated  iu  their  countries  as  long  as  they  paid 
tribute,  offered  no  insult  to  the  Moslem  faith,  and  did  not  attempt 
to  make  proselytes  fi-om  its  votaries. 


590-800.]        CHRISTIAN  LIFE,  WORSHIP,  AND  THEOLOGY.  155 

CHAPTER   11. 

CHRISTIAN  LIFE  :   CHRISTIAN  WORSHIP  :  CHRISTIAN  THEOLOGY. 

The  relation  between  Church  and  State  in  the  newly  formed 
Teutonic  nations,  although  it  was  to  some  extent  modified  by  the 
Eeiation  of  character  and  rising  institutions  of  each  people,  was,  on 
Church  and  the  wholc,  similar  to  that  subsisting  in  the  old  Koman 
empire  after  the  time  of  Constantine.  Among  the  Franks, 
until  the  later  years  of  this  period,  the  Church  was  involved  in  the 
confusion  of  the  State  and  largely  dominated  by  political  influ- 
ences. The  bishops  and  abbots,  while  nominally  exempt  from 
military  service,  were  drawn  into  the  sphere  of  the  developing  feu- 
dal relations,  and  were  in  many  cases  scarcely  distinguishable  in 
their  aims  or  their  morals  from  the  great  lay  lords.  Consequently 
when  Pepin — and  perhaps  the  same  was  true  of  his  predecessor, 
Charles  Martel — wished  to  strengthen  his  military  power,  he  did 
not  hesitate  to  resume  ecclesiastical  property,  as  though  it  were  held 
by  a  simple  feudal  tenure.  The  Franks  also  encroached  upon  the 
freedom  of  Church  elections,  despite  the  occasional  resistance  of 
synods.  These  abuses  were,  however,  partly  remedied  by  the  subse- 
quent reforms,  especially  those  undertaken  by  Charlemagne.  In 
England,  although  the  relations  of  Church  and  State  were  harmoni-/ 
ous,  there  was  no  such  mingling  of  ecclesiastical  and  civil  functions.) 
Owing,  perhajDS,  to  the  fact  that  most  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  clergy  were 
monks,  they  did  not,  like  some  of  their  Prankish  brethren,  gain  a 
temporal  lordship  over  their  dioceses.  The  history  of  Spain  pre- 
sents still  another  peculiarity.  The  monarchy  was  sorely  in  need 
of  moral  support.  The  Church,  therefore,  strove  to  give  it  a  sort  of 
theocratic  sanctity.  Among  the  Franks  for  many  years  provincial 
synods  ceased  to  be  convened.  Civil  and  ecclesiastical  laws  were 
passed  indiscriminately  at  the  general  assembly  of  noble  vassals, 
both  lay  and  clerical.  Such  interaction  in  matters  of  legislation 
was  more  to  the  advantage  of  the  State  than  of  the  Church.  The 
reforms  of  Boniface  and  Charlemagne  aimed  to  restore  the  earlier 
and  more  orderly  practice.  In  England  separate  councils  were 
held,  at  which  princes  and  ealdormen  were  pi-esent,  although  it  is 
probable  that  their  only  function  was  to  confirm  what  the  councils 
did.  The  Church  modified  beneficially  the  rude  conceptions  of 
justice  prevailing  among  the  Teutonic  peoples.     The  good  effect 


156  FROM  GREGORY  I.  TO  CHARLEMAGNE.         [Period  IV. 

was,  however,  partially  neutralized  by  the  growing  tendency  to 
withdraw  the  clergy  from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  civil  courts. 

The  lives  of  the  monks  often  presented  a  striking  contrast  with 

those  of  the  secular  clergy.     The  need  of  reformation,  which  was 

not  so  api^arent  in  the  mission  churches  of  England  and 

Deterioration  .  ,i  i  i  -,  i  ^ 

of  the  Frank-  Germany,  smce  they  were  largely  served  by  monks,  was 
c  trgy.  ggpecially  felt  in  the  older  communities,  and  nowhere 
more  than  among  the  Franks.  There  the  lower  orders  of  the  clergy 
were  recruited  largely  from  bondmen,  a  practice  growing  out  of 
the  necessities  of  the  government,  but  which  could  not  fail  to  be 
iujurious  to  the  jDurity  of  the  Chm'ch.  To  counteract  the  evil  ten- 
dencies to  a  decline  in  the  intelligence  and  character  of  the  priest- 
The  canonical  hood,  an  attempt  was  made,  about  the  middle  of  the 
hie.  eighth  century,  to  introduce  the  canonical  form  of  living. 

The  clergy  were  brought  together  in  one  house  and  j^laced  under 
regulations  similar  to  those  of  the  Benedictine  monks,  except  that 
the  clergy  were  allowed  to  retain  their  property'.  The  leader  in 
Chrodegang,  instituting  the  canonical  life  was  Chrodegang,  Bishop  of 
d.  .G6.  Metz.     The  dioceses  were  in  many  cases  too  large  to  be 

efficiently  managed  by  the  bishops.  Unworthy  men  got  themselves 
ordained  by  unlawful  means,  without  reference  to  a  particular 
church,  and  strolled  about,  making  money  by  the  exercise  of  spir- 
itual functions.  Nor  was  this  the  only  source  of  disorder.  The 
Frankish  j^rinces  had  their  court  chaplains,  and  the  nobles  their 
castle  chaplains.  The  result  was  that  in  many  cases  the  authority 
of  the  bishop  was  set  at  naught,  and  the  parish  churches,  being 
frequented  by  the  poor  alone,  lost  their  position  of  respectability. 
Abuse  of  Those  men,  or  their  heirs,  who,  as  founders  of  churches, 
patronage.  -^^^  becu  givcu  a  Certain  oversight  over  the  property 
which  they  had  bestowed,  and  the  right  of  nominating  holders  of 
its  livings,  often  wasted  the  possessions,  sold  the  offices,  and  at- 
tempted to  make  the  clergy  independent  of  the  bishop.  The  fact 
of  such  evils  gave  rise  to  the  requirement  of*  a  stricter  and  more 
frequent  visitation  by  the  bishops.  Ecclesiastical  courts  were  held 
and  a  minute  inquiry  made  into  the  practices  of  both  clergy  and 
laity. 

The  metropolitan  constitution,  which  depended  for  its  effective- 
ness on  the  existence  of  great  cities  and  a  political  centralization 
Thp  metro-  ^^^®  ^^^^  ^^  ^^^  Romau  empire,  had  become  undermined 
syston  ^^  Gaul  during  the  political  disorder  which  had  long 

prevailed   there.     Boniface,  as  vicar   of   the   pope,  at- 
tempted to  re-establish  it,  but  he  was  not  so  successfid  as  was 


590-800.]         CHRISTIAN  LIFE,  WORSHIP,  AND  THEOLOGY.  157 

Theodore  in  arranging  and  confirming  the  metropolitan  system  of 
England.  No  Frankish  see  rivalled  Canterbury  in  fame  and  influ- 
ence. The  bishops  preferred  the  distant  authority  of  Rome  to  that 
of  a  neighboring  metropolitan,  unmindful  of  the  fact  that  thus 
they  were  aiding  in  the  development  of  a  power  which  eventually 
would  prove  far  more  formidable  than  that  of  any  mere  provincial 
or  national  primate. 

The  papal  power  in  this  period  not  only  survived  the  political 
and  ecclesiastical  disorder,  but  came  out  of  it  with  added  strength. 
This  was  due  largely  to  the  three  significant  features  of 
its  history  :  the  character  and  foresight  of  its  bishops, 
its  missionary  zeal  which  constantly  won  new  subjects,  and  finally 
its  alliance  with  Pepin,  crowned  King  of  the  Franks.  The  traits 
Pope  Greg-  fii'st  mentioned  were  combined  in  Gregory  the  Great. 
°^^'  ^-  He  was  a  man  who  had  sincerely  preferred  the  retire- 

ment of  a  cloister  to  the  position  and  influence  which  wealth  and 
high  birth  confei-red  on  him.  From  a  life  of  ascetic  seclusion  he 
had  been  called,  much  against  his  will,  to  one  office  after  another, 
until  at  last  he  was  placed  in  the  chair  of  St.  Peter.  A  monk  was 
now  seated  on  the  papal  throne.  Although  not  a  learned  man  he 
attained  to  a  place  among  the  four  great  Latin  fathers.  He  was 
imbued  with  a  spirit  of  deep  moral  earnestness  and  fervent  piety  ; 
and  yet  he  was  often  narrow  in  his  views,  confounding  the  king- 
dom of  God  with  the  reign  of  the  papacy.  By  his  command,  mis-  i 
sionaries  went  to  England,  laid  the  foundations  of  the  English 
Church,  and  bound  it  closely  to  Rome.  He  succeeded  in  estab- 
lishing his  authority  in  the  organization  and  management  of  the 
Spanish  Church.  This  Church,  by  the  conversion  of  King  Rec- 
cared  in  589,  was  won  from  adherence  to  the  Arian  heresy.  Later 
a  more  independent  spirit  arose  among  the  Spanish  bishops.  The 
king,  Witiza,  in  701  forbade  all  appeals  to  Rome.  The  natural  re- 
sult of  these  proceedings  was,  however,  prevented  by  the  invasion 
of  the  Saracens,  which  took  place  not  long  afterwards.  Through 
Gregory's  eftbrts,  Gaul  was  brought  into  closer  connection  with 
Rome,  and  the  Bishop  of  Aries  was  made  apostolic  vicar.  With  a 
strong  hand  Gregory  checked  the  heresies  and  disorders  which 
had  crept  into  the  Church.  In  his  own  diocese  he  was  especially 
active,  punishing  the  sale  of  Church  offices — simony — and  reform- 
ing the  clergy  and  monastic  orders.  In  Italy,  the  problem  which 
was  so  successfully  brought  to  a  solution  by  later  popes  was  skil- 
fully dealt  with  by  this  jDontiff.  Although  nominally  subject  to 
the  Eastern  emperors,  the  popes  received  no  real  protection  from 


158  FROM  GREGORY  I.  TO  CHARLEMAGNE.         [Period  IV. 

Constantinople  against  the  Lombards,  who,  even  after  they  became 
Catholics,  continually  threatened  the  exarchate  and  Rome  itself. 
Relation  of  The  relations  between  Gregory  and  the  East  wei-e  I 
ami^vcstern  strained.  The  Bishop  of  Constantinople,  with  an  orien-  / 
Churches.  tal  love  of  display,  had  assumed  the  title  of  "  Universal 
Patriarch."  Gregory  j^rotested  against  this  infringement  of  the 
rights  of  the  see  of  Peter,  and  henceforth  took  the  contrasted  title 
of  "  Servant  of  Servants,"  which  his  successors,  even  the  most  ar- 
rogant, as  well  as  the  meekest  of  them,  have  since  worn. 

The  trouble  did  not  end  with  the  conclusion  of  Gi'egory's  life. 
Later  in  this  century  a  council  at  Constantinople  passed  several 
canons  which  were  particularly  unacceptable  to  Rome, 
Ian  council,  permitting,  as  they  did,  the  marriage  of  priests,  reaf- 
firming the  canon  of  the  Council  of  Chalcedon  on  the 
rank  of  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  and  declaring  against 
pictures  of  the  Lamb.  Pope  Sergius  I.  forbade  the  proclamation 
of  the  decrees  of  this  council  in  the  West.  This  was  the  beginning/ 
of  the  movement  which  at  length  separated  the  two  Churches.  It 
reached  its  second  stage  when,  in  the  first  half  of  the  next  century, 
the  great  controversy  about  images  broke  out.  The  Roman  Church 
vehemently  defended  those  sacred  emblems,  and  thus  incurred  the 
enmity  of  the  Eastern  emperor.  Luitpi-and,  the  ablest  of  the  Lom- 
bard kings,  saw  his  opportunity.  The  impregnable  city  of  Ravenna, 
weakened  by  civil  strife  over  the  iconoclastic  proclamation  of  the 
Emperor  Leo  m.,  issued  in  726,  feiff  aprey  to  his  devout  profes- 
sions as  much  as  to  the  valor  of  his  soldiers.  Although  the  city 
was  soon  recaptured,  the  exarchate  remained  at  the  mercy  of  the 
conqueror. 

The  pope  now  found  himself  at  enmity  with  his  lawful  ruler  in 
the  East,  and  exposed  to  the  designs  of  the  Lombard,  whose  jjower 
The  papacy  '^^^^  equally  dangcrous,  whether  it  appeared  in  open 
Tr'Llkt  hostility,  or  assumed  the  cloak  of  pious  reverence  and 

friendship.  The  i:)ontiff  anxiously  turned  his  eyes  be- 
yond the  Alps  to  the  Franks,  the  defenders  of  Christendom  against 
the  Moslem.  Li  741  Gregory  IIL  was  obliged  to  appeal,  in  al- 
most piteous  terms,  to  Charles  Martel  for  help.  But  the  death  of 
Charles  that  same  year  left  the  union  of  these  two  great  powers  to 
be  consummated  by  his  son.  Pepin  was  not  satisfied,  like  his 
predecessors,  with  the  mere  possession  of  real  sovereignty  in  the 
Frankish  monarchy  ;  he  desired  the  royal  crown,  which  was  so  un- 
worthily worn  by  the  degenerate  representative  of  the  Merovingian 
line.     He  feared,  however,  that  his  title  would  be  insecure  unless 


590-800.]        CHRISTIAN  LIFE,  WORSHIP,  AND  THEOLOGY.  159 

it  should  receive  an  additional  sanction  such  as  the  head  of  the 

Church  could  bestow.     The  pope  well  understood  the  value  of  a 

Frankish  ally,  and  he  did  not  hesitate  to  make  the  authority  of  St. 

Peter  felt  in  the  aflairs  of  a  neighboring  people.     By  his 

command  Boniface,  the    apostolic  vicar,  anointed  and 

crowned  Pepin  king ;   and  two   years   later  when  his  successor, 

Stephen,  fled  to  Pepin  for  immediate  aid  against  the  Lombards, 

another  and   more   august   coronation    took    place   at 

754. 

Kheims.  The  new  king  twice  rescued  Kome  from  the' 
hands  of  Aistulf,  the  Lombard  king,  won  back  the  conquered 
lands,  and  gave  them  to  the  Roman  Chui'ch.  This  was  the  begin- 
ning of  the  long-desired  temporal  dominion  of  the  popes.  Upon 
the  death  of  Pepin  the  Lombards  again  became  aggressive.  At 
the  call  of  the  pope,  Charlemagne  crossed  the  Alps,  overturned  the 
hostile  monarchy,  and  established  the  Frankish  rule  in  its  place,  at 
the  same  time  confirming  the  grants  made  by  his  predecessor 
to  the  head  of  the  Roman  Church.  Italy  remained  nominally 
subject  to  the  Eastern  emperor,  but  Charlemagne  exercised  impe- 
rial rights  by  virtue  of  his  possession  of  the  real  power,  and  of  the 
title  of  Patrician,  which  had  been  bestowed  by  the  pope  upon 
his  father  Pepin,  and  later  upon  himself,  and  which,  although 
originally  a  name  of  rank,  had  become  a  title  which  conveyed  an 
authority  similar  to  that  enjoyed  by  the  exarchs  at  Ravenna.  The 
climax  of  this  great  historic  drama  was  hastened  by  an  insurrection 
which  nearly  cost  Leo  III.  his  life.  Again  the  pope  fled  beyond 
the  Alps  to  the  court  of  the  Frankish  monarch.  Charlemagne 
came  to  Rome  to  re-establish  order.  On  Christmas-day,  800,  the 
Coronation  P^oplc  wci'e  gathered  in  the  Basilica  of  St.  Peter  to  hear 
of  charie-       mass.     During  the  service  the  pope  suddenly  advanced 

to  Charlemagne  and  crowned  him  emperor  amid  the  ac- 
clamations of  the  populace.  In  this  act  Leo  appeared  as  the  rep- 
resentative of  the  Roman  people.  They  believed  it  to  be  their  right, 
since  the  empire  had  been  usurped  by  a  woman,  Irene,  to  choose 
Charles,  who  possessed  the  real  power  in  the  West,  as  the  successor 
of  Constantine  VI.  Although  the  Roman  empire  had  been  scarcely 
more  than  a  name  in  the  West  for  three  hundred  years,  it  still  had 
a  powerful  influence  on  the  minds  of  men,  and  was  deemed  the 
necessary  counterpart  of  the  true  Catholic  Church.  The  kingdom 
of  God  was  one,  but  it  manifested  itself  in  two  directions,  the  tem- 
poral through  the  empire,  and  the  sj)iritual  through  the  papacy. 
On  this  Christmas-day  there  emerged  two  great  co-ordinate  powers, 
which  did  not  long  remain  in  harmony,  and  whose  struggle  for  the 


160  PROM  GREGORY  I.  TO  CHARLEMAGNE.        [Period  IV. 

mastery,  when  it  came,  absorbed  the  attention  of  Europe  for  three 
hundred  years.  The  part  which  Leo  played  in  this  transaction 
gave  plausibiHty  to  the  assertion  of  later  popes?  that  the  empire 
had  been  transferred  from  the  East  to  the  West  by  the  authority 
of  the  see  of  St.  Peter. 

Christianity  had  become  so  intermingled  with  elements  of  su- 
perstition and  legalism  that  it  could  not  quickly  revolutionize  the 
gj^^g^j.(2jjj^g  thoughts  and  practices  of  the  Teutonic  peoples.  Too 
tian  life.  often  it  almost  seemed  to  substitute  merely  the  saints 
and  Mary  for  the  gods,  to  replace  a  few  idols  by  a  multitude  of 
images  and  relics.  The  spiritual  truths  of  the  gospel  could  only 
gradually  supplant  the  crude  but  deeply  rooted  polytheistic  ideas. 
The  clergy,  whose  teaching  should  have  inculcated  them,  and 
whose  lives  should  have  exemplified  them,  were  in  many  cases 
grossly  ignorant  and  immoral. 

The  consciousness  of  Christ  as  the  Redeemer  became  obscured. 
Men  were  less  troubled  by  moral  evil  than  by  physical  afflictions. 
From  these  they  sought  relief  in  the  pity  of  the  saints,  and  es- 
pecially of  St.  Martin  at  Tours,  whose  influence  in  his  lifetime  had 
been  felt  through  all  Gaul.  They  gave  lavishly  to  the  poor,  built 
and  endowed  churches,  made  long  pilgrimages  to  Rome  or  other 
celebrated  shrines,  and  all  as  a  means  of  soothing  an  awakened 
conscience  or  of  allaying  fears  of  future  retribution. 

New  festivals  were  added  ;  the  most  important  being  that  of  the 
Assumption  of  Mary,  or  of  her  miraculous  ascent  to  heaven,  as  de- 
scribed in  a  fabulous  tradition  which  had  been  taken  up  by  Greg- 
ory of  Tours.  Those  who  had  the  welfare  of  Christendom  at  heart 
Penances  and  attempted  to  revivo  Church  discipline  in  its  ancient 
Indulgences,  ^.^g^y^  g^|.  j^  ^,^g  f^^^^l  difficult  to  euforcc  the  rulcs  of 
penance  among  the  Teutonic  peoples,  accustomed  as  they  were  to 
the  payment  of  money  as  a  composition  for  even  the  gravest 
crimes.  Certain  exceptional  cases  were,  therefore,  recognized,  in 
which  the  prescribed  penance  could  be  commuted  to  a  money  fine. 
Out  of  this  simple  and  seemingly  reasonable  arrangement  there 
was  developed  the  system  of  indulgences.  As  the  external  idea  of 
the  Church  more  and  more  prevailed,  the  visible  official  acts  of  the 
priesthood  were  more  highly  prized.  The  Lord's  Supper  contin- 
Mssses  for  ^^d  to  be  regarded  as  a  sacrifice,  at  which  jDrayers  for 
theuead.  q^q  ^^^^  ^^^.^  especially  efficacious.  The  clergy,  per- 
suaded by  the  gifts  of  anxious  friends,  said  masses  for  the  benefit 
of  the  departed,  that  their  souls  might  the  sooner  be  rescued  from 


590-800.]        CHRISTIAN  LIFE,  WORSHIP,  AND  THEOLOGY.  161 

the  ]3a^"  of  irgatory.  This  led  to  the  custom  of  i^rivate  masses, 
at  \vh  n  lie  officiating  priest  was  present.  The  pious  credu- 
1  "  i  ud  superstition  of  the  age  manifested  itself  in  a 
Xui  it  peculiar  way  in  the  ordeal,  which  was  a  survival  of 
heathenism,  and  was  taken  up  and  embellished  with  additional  so- 
lemnities by  the  Church.  When  it  became  necessary  to  decide  a 
dispute  or  detect  a  criminal,  and  the  evidence  was  insufficient,  it 
was  customary  to  resort  to  the  judgment  of  God.  A  ring  was 
thrown  into  a  caldron  of  boiling  water,  and  the  disputant  or  the 
accused,  as  the  Case  might  be,  was  required  to  thrust  his  arm  in 
and  take  it  out.  Or  he  might  be  compelled  to  walk  blindfold  over  a 
number  of  red-hot  ploughshares  placed  at  short  intervals.  It  was  be- 
lieved that  through  the  divine  intervention  the  guiltless  man  would 
escape  all  harm.  It  might  well  be  that  the  officiating  priest  was 
sometimes  venal  and  was  well  paid  beforehand,  or  if  the  priest 
was  honest,  and  knew  his  innocence,  that  he  took  pains  to  protect 
Ignorance  of  him.  Thcsc  supcrstitious  needed  to  be  counteracted  by 
the  clergy.  pj-Qper  instructiou,  and  that  could  only  come  from  an 
educated  priesthood.  Some  of  the  clergy  could  not  understand  the 
homilies  of  the  Father.s,  which  they  were  appointed  to  read  in  the 
churches,  and  others  were  unable  to  explain  even  the  Creed  and 
the  Lord's  Prayer  in  the  vulgar  tongue.  Praiseworthy  efforts  were 
made  by  some  of  the  bishops  and  by  Charlemagne  himself  to  cre- 
ate a  better-trained  clergy.  There  were  not  lacking  distinguished 
men,  who  rose  far  above  their  contemporaries  in  learning  and 
spiritual  insight.  The  influence  of  Christianity,  wherever  it  was 
able  to  penetrate  the  crust  of  legalism  and  the  overgrowth  of 
superstition,  purified  the  lives  of  men  and  nouiished  the  germs  of 
a  nobler  c'  ilization. 

Thest  ci^ntuj'ies  were  more  barren  in  theological  thought  than 

any  othe,  ^  jriod  in  the  history  of  the  Church.     Isidore  of  Seville, 

a  Spanish  ecclesiastic,  whose  writings  deal  with  a  variety 

of  themes,  compiled  a  collection  of  "  Sentences,"  or  ex- 

d!  63«.^'  cerpts  from  the  Fathers,  arranged  under  different  heads, 

^  ^     ^  which  long  served  as  a  manual  for  theological  study. 

John  of  °  o  J 

Damascus,      Somcwhat  later,  an  Eastern  monk,  John  of  Damascus, 

d.  c.  754. 

who  is  revered  as  a  saint  in  both  the  Greek  and  the 
Latin  churches,  composed  in  three  parts  a  theological  work 
called  the  "Fountain  of  Knowledge."  The  third  portion  is  an 
"Accurate  Exposition  of  the  Orthodox  Faith,"  a  system  of  theol- 
ogy derived  from  the  Fathers  and  councils  from  the  fourth  to  the 
11 


162  FROM  GREGORY  I.  TO  CHARLEMAGNE.         [Period  IV. 

seventh  century.  His  doctrineg  and  arguments  are  borrowed  from 
these  sources.  For  this  reason,  the  work  is  full  on  the^  Trinity  and 
the  Person  of  Christ,  but  meagre  on  the  practical  topiics,  on  which 
the  Greek  Fathers  had  less  to  say.  The  work  of  "  The  Damascene  " 
was  held  in  the  Eastern  Church  in  the  highest  esteem,  and  has  re- 
tained its  standing  down  to  the  present  time. 

About  the  middle  of  the  seventh  century  there  arose  in  the 
East  the  sect  of  Paulicians.     In  Mananalis,  near  Samosata,  there 
was  a  community  professing  dualism.    One  Constantine, 
cians.  who  belonged  to  it,  was  deeply  moved  by  reading  the 

epistles  of  Paul,  and  by  blending  his  teaching  with  his  own  pre- 
vious opinions  he  framed  a  dualistic  system  of  ^a  peculiar  charac- 
ggg  ter.     He  was  put  to  death  by  the  command  of  the  em- 

peror. The  system,  however,  continued  to  win  adher- 
ents. The  Paulicians  were  persecuted  by  a  succession  of  Greek 
sovereigns.  It  is  said  that  under  Theodore  not  less  than  one  hun- 
dred thousand  of  them  were  put  to  death  in  Grecian  Armenia. 
Paulicians  were  found  as  late  as  1204,  when  the  Latins  took  Con- 
stantinople. Of  the  tenets  of  this  sect  we  have  no  knowledge  ex- 
cept from  their  enemies.  It  would  appear  that  their  dualism  was 
more  like  the  doctrine  of  the  Gnostics  than  of  the  Manicheeans. 
The  Evil  Being  is  the  lord  of  the  present  visible  world.  Christ  ia 
sent  from  heaven  to  deliver  man  from  the  body  and  from  the  world 
of  sense.  They  discarded  the  sacraments.  In  some  of  their  cus- 
toms they  were  ascetic,  but  they  did  not  oppose  marriage.  They 
received  the  four  gospels,  and  most,  but  not  all,  of  the  epistles,  to- 
gether with  an  epistle  to  the  Laodiceans,  which  they  claimed  to 
possess. 


THE   MEDIEVAL  ERA. 

PERIOD  V. 

FKOM   CHARLEMAGNE   TO    POPE   GREGORY   YII. 

(800-1073). 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  SPREAD  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

The  conversion  of  the  English  and  of  the  Germans  gave  Christi- 
anity vantage-ground  from  which  to  push  out  its  missionary  sta- 
tions among  the  kindred  tribes  to  the  North  and  East.  The  gospel 
was  often  first  carried  thither  by  adventurous  travellers,  or  by  mer- 
chants, by  zealous  monks  anxious  for  the  crown  of  martyrdom,  or 
by  the  followers  of  some  conquering  army. 

Louis  the  Pious  (814-840)  used  his  imperial  influence  with 
Harold,  Prince  of  Jutland,  to  promote  the  introduction  of  Chris- 
Chiistianity  tiauity  among  the  Danes.  He  employed  as  a  missionary 
vian'^couii"^  Ansgar,  a  monk  of  Corvey,  and  afterwards  Archbishop  of 
tries.  Hamburg.     Christianity  met  with  various   vicissitudes 

until,  under  the  Danish  empire  of  Canute,  the  conqueror  of  Eng- 
1014-1035.  land,  it  became  finally  established  in  Denmark.  Ansgar 
S2U  and  855.  made  two  visits  to  Sweden,  and  laid  the  foundations  of  a 
mission  on  the  Eastern  coast.  He  was  a  man  of  courage  and  piety, 
and,  although  full  of  zeal,  was  gentle  and  patient.  "Youths  who 
were  taken  in  war  he  instructed  in  the  principles  of  the  gosiDel,  so 
that  they  might  preach  to  their  fellow-countrymen.  His  mission- 
ary efforts  were  disturbed  by  the  incursions  of  j)iratical  Normans, 
who  in  one  of  their  attacks  destroyed  Hamburg,  the  met- 
king),  i)93-  ropoHtan  town.  Through  the  influence  of  several  suc- 
cessive kings,  Sweden  at  length  became  christianized, 
and  was  attached  to  the  see  of  Bremen,  to  which  the  archbishopric 
had  been  transferred.  The  progress  of  Christianity  in  Norway  was 
similar.     Three  of  the  most  valiant  and  patriotic  Norman  princes. 


164  FROM  CHARLEMAGNE  TO  POPE  GREGORY  VII.     [Period  V. 

Hacon  and  tlie  two  Olafs,  who  had  become  acquainted  with  it  in 
their  travels,  endeavored  to  introduce  it  by  force.  Their  efforts 
St  oiaf  ^st  with  varying  success.     As  the  pagan  Swedes  had 

1015-1030.  found  a  rally ing-point  in  their  great  temple  at  Upsala, 
until  its  destruction  in  1075,  so  the  heathen  party  among  the  Nor- 
mans was  not  vanquished  until  the  sacred  image  of  Thor  fell  in 
fragments  under  the  blows  of  a  Christian  soldier,  and  out  of  it  crept 
a  multitude  of  mice,  snakes,  and  lizards.  In  passing  from  Paganism 
to  Christianity,  there  was  often  an  intermediate  stage  during  which 
.Christ  was  worshipped  along  with  the  older  divinities.  From  Nor- 
way, Chi'istianity  spread  to  Greenland  and  Iceland.  For  a  time,  the 
Icelanders  stoutly  contended  for  their  ancient  right  to  eat  horse-flesh 
and  to  expose  those  of  their  children  whose  lives  they  did  not  value. 
The  conversions  which  had  been  made  by  Charlemagne  among 
the  Slavic  nations  were  not  more  permanent  than  his  conquests. 
The  Slaves  who  dwelt  about  the  Danube  Avere  opposed 
in  the  Slavic  to  any  connection  with  German}',  and  theii-  ignorance  of 
na  ions.  German  and  Latin  would  prevent  them  from  being  af- 

fected by  influences  from  that  direction.     The  Bulgarians  coming 
from  Central  Asia  settled  on  the  borders  of  the  East  Koman  em- 
pire, and  adopted  the  Slavic  language  and  customs.     In 
ugarians.      ^j^g^j,  yyavs  with  the  cmperor  they  became  acquainted 
with  Christianity.    Afterwards,  for  a  time,  it  seemed  as  though  they 
would  break  ofi'  the  relations  which  had  arisen  between  them  and 
the  Eastern  Church,  and  subiect  themselves  to  the  in- 

865 

stitutions  and  authority  of  the  Eoman  see.  For  this 
purpose  they  negotiated  with  Pope  Nicholas  I. ;  but  finally,  influ- 
enced by  the  Emperor  Basilius,  they  attached  themselves  jDerma- 
nently  to  the  Greek  Church. 

Cyrill  and  Methodius,  missionaries  from  Constantinople,  went 
among  the  Moravians,  reduced  their  language  to  writing,  con- 
ducted the  services  of  the  Church,  in  the  native  tongue  of 
the  people,  and  gave  them  a  version  of  the  Scriptures. 
In  868,  Methodius  was  made  archbishop.  When,  later,  they  came 
into  close  connection  with  Rome,  the  use  of  the  Slavic  language 
and  the  Greek  forms  of  worship  was  still  allowed,  but  the  eflbrts  of 
Methodius  to  establish  a  national  church  were  rendered  ineftectnal 
by  the  intrigues  of  the  German  bishops.  In  908  the  Moravian 
kingdom  was  overthrown  by  the  Magyars,  a  horde  of  Asiatic  bar- 
Bohemia  and  barians,  and  out  of  its  ruins  arose  Bohemia  and  Huu- 
Hur.gary.  gary.  lu  thesc  nations  Christianity,  after  a  severe  strug- 
gle with  Paganism,  tiiumphed,  largely  through  the  influence  of 


800-1073.]  THE  SPREAD  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  165 

their  two  most  renowned  princes,  Bqleslaus  II.  (967)  and  Steplien 
(997-1038).      From  Bohemia  the  gospel  was  carried  to  Poland, 
and  there  also  became  the  state  religion.     These  churches  submit- 
ted to  the  jurisdiction  of  Rome.     Attempts  were  repeat- 
edly made  to  bring  the  Wends — Slavonian  tribes  which 
dwelt  on  the  north  and  east  of  Germany — under  the  Frankish  do- 
minion, and  to  impose  upon  them  the  Christian  religion.    The  great 
obstacle  was  that  of  language.     Most  missionaries  were  not  only 
ignorant  of  the  Slavic,  but  also  were  prejudiced  in  favor  of  using 
the  Latin  ritual  in  all  the  Church  services.     In  1047,  Gottschalk,  a 
Wendish  chief,  having  united  all  the  tribes  under  his  rule,  was 
moved  to  rebuild  the  churches  which  he  had  destroyed  in  his  revolt 
against  the  Germans,  and  to  found  pei'manent  Christian 
institutions.     But  he  fell  a  victim  to  his  zeal,  and  with 
his  death  his  people  returned  to  Paganism.     Nor  did  they  submit 
to  the  gospel  until  after  desolating  wars  had  left  but  few  of  them 
alive,  and  their  lands  had  been  settled  anew  by  German  colonists. 

In  the  meantime,  the  Russians  had  received  Christianity  from 
the  East.  The  conversion  of  King  Vladimir  (988)  marks  the  date 
Conversion  of  of  its  proper  establishment.  He  was  drawn  toward  it 
the  Russians,  jr^i-gely  by  the  maguificeuce  and  impressiveness  of  the 
ritual  of  the  Church  of  St.  Sophia  at  Constantinople,  as  it  was  de- 
scribed to  him  by  his  ambassadors.  Fortunately  the  Scriptures 
were  at  hand  in  the  Slavic  version  of  Cyrill,  and  the  king,  not  satis- 
fied with  the  mere  externals  of  Christianity,  made  use  of  this  ver- 
sion that  his  people  might  be  properly  instructed  in  the  truths  of 
the  new  religion. 

The  gospel  was  carried  in  the  twelfth  centviry  to  the  Pomera- 
nians, who  had  come  under  the  power  of  Poland.  The  first  mission- 
The  pomera-  ^^''^^^,  i^en  of  ascctic  habits  and  dressed  in  squalid  cloth- 
mans,  i^^g^  Qjjiy  succeeded  in  arousing  the  contempt  of  this 
simple,  pleasure-loving  people.  When,  however.  Otto,  Bishop  of 
Bamberg,  and  friend  of  the  Emperor  Henry  IV.,  went  among  them 
in  episcopal  pomp,  supported  by  the  authority  of  Poland,  and  at  the 
same  time  manifesting  a  spirit  of  unselfish  devotion,  the  Pomera- 
nians were  gradually  won  over  to  the  new  faith.  In  attempting 
to  Christianize  the  Livonians  and  Prussians  an  instrumentality  very 
characteristic  of  the  times  was  used.  Out  of  the  crusading  enthu- 
siasm of  the  twelfth  century  sprung  an  order  of  knights  called 
"Brethren  of  the  Sword."  By  their  military  valor 
Livonia  was  subjugated  and  its  new  bishoprics  protected. 
In  conquering  Prussia,  another  association  of  German  knights,  of 


166  FRO-M  CHARLEMAGNE  TO  POPE  GREGORY  VII.     [Period  V. 

similar  orif^in,  co-operated,  in  the  thirteenth  century,  with  these  vet- 
eran spiritual  warriors.  The  less  important  tribes  of  this  part  of 
Europe  gradually  embi'aced  Christianity,  influenced  by  the  example 
or  coerced  by  the  authority  of  their  more  powerful  neighbors. 

In  Spain,  although  the  Moslem  rule  proved  a  check  to  the  grow- 
ing power  of  Christianity,  still,  down  to  the  year  850,  the  Church 
Christianity  remained  undisturbed.  Christians  filled  military  and 
in  Spain.  ^[^[i  offices  without  suspiciou  or  offence.  And  yet  bitter 
divisions  frequently  sprung  up  in  families  where  one  parent  fol- 
lowed Mohammed  and  the  other  followed  Christ.  The  Moslems 
often  showed  their  contempt  for  Christianity,  and  in  return  re- 
ceived insult  from  its  more  hot-blooded  adherents.  Christians 
were  divided  into  two  parties  in  regard  to  the  j)roper  attitude  to  be 
taken  towai-ds  Mohammedanism.  Some  wei'e  for  boldly  confessing 
Christ  and  denouncing  the  false  prophet,  while  others  advocated  a 
more  quiet  and  inoffensive  conduct.  The  latter,  however,  when  led 
by  circumstances  to  state  their  real  beliefs  were  ready  to  do  so, 
and  of  their  number  were  the  first  martyrs.  A  fanatical  desire  for 
martyrdom  now  arose  in  the  hearts  of  others,  and  especially  of  the 
monks  who  came  out  from  the  mountains.  The  more  sober- 
minded  Christians  oj^posed  the  extravagance ;  and  in  852,  when 
there  was  danger  of  a  general  persecution,  the  Couucil  of  Cordova 
forbade  Christians  to  appear  before  the  magistrate  to  confess  their 
faith  unless  they  were  judicially  summoned.  The  excitement 
cooled  down  and  the  Christians  again  enjoyed  religious  freedom. 

Nestorian  missionaries  penetrated  into  Northern  and  Eastern 
Asia.  During  the  early  years  of  the  eleventh  century,  they  suc- 
^,    ,,      ,     ceeded  in  converting  a  Tartar  or  Mongol  Prince.     Exag- 

The  Mongols.  <^  °  ° 

gerated  reports  of  this  prince  and  of  his  nation  became 
so  current  in  the  West  that  Pope  Alexander  m.  invited 
him  to  put  himself  under  the  authority  of  the  see  of  St.  Peter.  As 
Prester  John,  the  popular  translation  of  his  name,  which  was  Gur 
Khan,  he  was  the  hero  of  legends  and  poems.  But  his  partly  fabu- 
Em  )ire  of  ^°^^  grcatucss  was  soon  eclipsed  by  the  establishment  of 
Ghengis  a  powcrful  Mougol  empire  under  Ghengis  Khan  and  his 
successors,  which  at  one  time  threatened  the  safety  of 
Europe.  High  hopes  were  entertained  in  the  West  of  converting 
these  mighty  potentates.  Mendicant  friars  were  for  this  purjDose 
sent  out  by  the  Koman  Church  and  by  St.  Louis  of  France.  The 
Mongol  religion  was  simple.  It  recognized  one  Almighty  Creator 
and  held  the  Khan  to  be  his  son,  the  appointed  ruler  of  the  world. 
The  Mongols,  governed  by  their  desii-e  to  extend  their  influence 


SOO-1073.]  THE  SPREAD  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  167 

and  conquests,  were  reluctant  to  embrace  either  Mohammedanism 
or  Christianity.  They  founded  two  empires,  one  in  Persia,  the 
other  in  China.  In  the  former,  Mohammedanism  triumi^hed,  while 
in  the  latter  Christianity  for  a  time,  through  the  efforts  of  the  cel- 
ebrated missionary,  John  de  Monte  Corvino,  made  hopeful  progi'ess. 
He  labored  in  Peking  eleven  years,  striving  to  educate  the  children 
and  to  train  u]3  missionaries  from  among  the  people  themselves. 
He  sought  to  promote  a  true  knowledge  of  the  gospel,  and  to  this 
end  he  translated  the  New  Testament  into  the  Tartar 
language.  But  the  little  community  over  which  he  had 
been  made  archbishop  by  Clement  V.  perished  in  a  subsequent 
Chinese  insurrection. 

A  few  missionaries  accompanied  the  crusaders  to  the  East  to 
preach  the  gospel  to  the  Mohammedans  as  they  should  have  oppor- 
tunity. During  the  siege  of  Damietta,  Francis  of  Assisi 
ventured  to  enter  the  camp  of  a  hostile  army.  He  was 
seized  and  hurried  before  the  Sultan  of  Egypt,  who,  strange  to  say, 
treated  him  with  respect,  listened  to  his  preaching,  and  after  several 
days  dismissed  him  with  honor  to  his  friends.  But  missionary 
efforts  could  not  well  be  combined  with  warlike  aims,  nor  could 
Christianity  be  much  recommended  by  the  lives  of  the  crusaders. 

A  more  hoj^ef  ul  j)lan  was  cherished  by  Kaymond  Lull.  In  him  we 
see  a  man  brilliant  and  prosperous,  devoted  to  the  pleasures  of  the 
Raymond  world,  Suddenly  turning  his  back  on  all  his  former  life 
I23fr-i3i5  ^^^  ^^^  associations,  and  becoming  wholly  absorbed  in 
the  philosophical  defence  of  Christianity,  and  in  schemes 
for  the  conversion  of  the  Saracens.  To  prepare  men  for  this  work, 
he  ui'ged  upon  the  leaders  of  the  Church  the  establishment  of 
schools  where  Arabic  should  be  taught.  His  words  at  last  suc- 
ceeded in  winning  from  the  pope  an  ordinance  for  the  founding  of 
professorships  of  Oriental  languages  in  the  principal  schools  of  the 
West.  He  did  not  long  survive  this  partial  realization  of  his  plans. 
Led  by  his  desire  to  carry  the  gospel  to  the  Saracens,  he  visited 
Africa,  whither  he  had  twice  gone  before  on  the  same  eiTand,  and 
while  preaching  was  stoned  to  death  by  a  mob  of  infuriated  Mos- 
lems, 

The  Jews,  who  were  scattered  in  great  numbers  throug-hout  the 

West,  were  despised  and  hated.     They  bent  all  their  energies  to 

the  accumulation  of  wealth  by  money-lending  and  trad- 

mg,  being  dnven  to  these  employments  as  their  only 

means  of  livelihood.     Their  riches  often  exposed  them  to  the  cov- 

etousness  of  powerful  and  unscrupulous  men.     They  were  accused 


168  FROM  CHARLEMAGNE  TO  POPE  GREGORY  VII.     [Period  V. 

of  unnatural  crimes ;  they  were  tortured  and  murdered.  None 
were  more  zealous  in  their  persecution  than  the  crusaders.  This 
cruel  oppression  went  on  despite  the  efforts  of  popes,  and  some- 
times of  princes,  to  whom  their  wealth  was  frequently  useful.  Such 
trials  only  confirmed  them  in  their  isolation  from  mankind,  and 
made  them  cling  all  the  more  tenaciously  to  their  ancient  exclusive 
customs  and  to  their  tenets  and  hopes. 


CHAPTER  IT. 

THE    POLITY    OF  THE    CHURCH,  AND    THE    RELATIONS   OF   THE 
CHURCH   TO   THE   CIVIL   AUTHORITY. 

The  imperial  dignity  gave  Charlemagne  a  strong  sense  of  his 
duty  as  protector  and  defender  of  the  Church  and  its  members, 
Control  of  ^^^^  it  could  add  little  to  the  control  in  ecclesiastical  af- 
hi'chu^h^"^  fairs  of  which  he  was  already  possessed.  He  received 
affairs.  ^f  ^|^g  popcs  their  oaths  of  allegiance,  and  admonished 

them  often  of  their  duty  even  in  matters  of  doctrine.  Whatever 
visions  of  spiritual  ascendency  floated  before  their  eyes,  and  what- 
ever plans  they  may  have  cherished  for  its  achievement  it  was  not 
then  the  time  to  realize  them.  But  the  strength  and  integrity  of 
the  empire  were  more  dependent  upon  the  genius  of  Charlemagne 
than  the  dominion  of  the  papacy  was  contingent  on  the  character 
and  sagacity  of  any  one  pope.  Charlemagne  died  in  814,  and 
after  a  few  years  his  empire  was  broken  up  by  warring  factions. 
T,^„ „„       Although  his  immediate  successors  maintained  to  some 

The  popes  o 

after  charie-  exteut  thc  samc  supremacy  in  the  affairs  of  the  Church, 
death.  the  popes  improved  every  opj)ortunity  afforded  by  the 

disorders  of  the  times  to  make  themselves  more  independent.  In 
this  aspiration  they  were  favored  by  the  hostility  of  the  Romans 
to  tlie  rule  of  the  Franks.  They  were,  however,  not  content  with 
mere  negative  advantages,  but  were  gradually  striving  for  power 
in  imperial  politics  and  in  the  administration  of  justice.  The  crim- 
inal who  fled  to  them  for  protection,  having  received  the  papal  ab- 
solution, might  bid  defiance  to  the  authority  of  the  secular  courts. 
The  bold  attempt  of  Gregory  TV.,  in  833,  to  interpose  between 
j  Louis  the  Pious  and  his  rebellious  sons,  called  forth  the  indignant 
'  protests  of  the  Prankish  bishops,  but  it  helped  the  cause  which  the 
pontiff  supported.     The  principle  that  the  crowns  of  kings  are  sub- 


800-1073.]  THE  POLITY   OF  THE  CHURCH.  169 

ject  to  the  arbitrament  of  bishops,  which  these  princes  adopted  as 
a  means  of  deposing  their  father,  and  the  desire  of  successive  em- 
perors to  gain  the  inviolability  supposed  to  be  conferred  by  the 
papal  unction,  could  not  fail  in  the  end  to  promote  the  pretensions 
of  the  papacy.  Louis  II.,  in  writing  to  the  Greek  emperor,  Basil, 
went  so  far  as  to  say  :  "  By  the  laying  on  of  hands  and  by  the  con- 
secration of  the  supreme  pontiff  are  we  brought  to  this  eminence." 
The  movement  of  the  age  was  toward  papal  ascendency.  The 
pious  looked  with  alarm  on  the  growing  spirit  of  faction.  They 
thoroughly  believed  in  the  superiority  of  the  Church  to  the  State,? 
The  pseudo-  ^^^  "wcre  eager  to  maintain  the  sacredness  of  the  priest- 
isidoriaii         hood  and  the  supremacy  of  the  successors  of  St.  Peter. 

decretals.  .    .         ,  .    , 

It  was  this  spirit  which  produced  the  Pseudo-Isidorian 
decretals.  Previous  editors  of  ecclesiastical  laws,  following  the  ex- 
ample of  Dionysius  Exiguus,  had  begun  their  collections  from  the 
reign  of  the  Roman  bishop,  Siricius,  which  extended  from  384 
to  398  ;  but  the  author  of  this  edition  boldly  cited  decrees,  pur- 
porting to  emanate  from  his  predecessor.?,  back  to  Clement,  second 
in  the  succession  from  St.  Peter  himself.  Although  the  forgeries 
were  clumsy,  and  abounded  with  anachronisms,  the  spurious  char- 
acter of  the  documents  escaped  detection  in  that  uncritical  age,  and 
for  centuries  after.  The  design  ofjthe  decretals  was^twof old.  ,  The  . 
priesthood  was  declared  to  be  inviolable  and  freed  from  secular  con-  ' 
trol.  Infringements  of  its  personal  or  property  rights  were  asserted 
to  be  sins  against  the  ordinance  of  God.  The  validity  and  effect  of  ^  ^ 
the  official  acts  and  words  of  the  clergy  were  regarded  as  in  nowise 
dependent  upon  their  personal  character.  To  complete  the  hierar- 
chical idea,  the  priesthood  was  looked  upon  as  comprising  definite 
grades  of  official  dignit}',  and  as  rising  through  inferior  clergy, 
priests,  bishops,  metropolitans,  and  primates,  to  the  successor  of 
Peter,  to  whom  every  inferior  might  appeal,  and  without  whose 
sanction  no  verdict  was  final.  From  him  as  the  fountain,  justice  and 
mercy  flowed  through  the  bishops  and  other  clergy  as  channels  that 
conveyed  the  blessing.  The  most  advanced  pretensions  ever  pro- 
j)ounded  or  hinted  at  by  the  most  ambitious  pontiffs  were  here  ex- 
plicitly and  systematically  set  forth  in  spurious  letters  and  decrees 
to  which  the  names  of  venerated  bishops  of  the  early  Church  were 
attached.  The  ideas  which  they  embodied  gradually  worked 
their  way  into  capitularies,  canons,  and  jiapal  decisions.  The 
unity  of  the  Church  was  thus  emphatically  set  forth  at  a  time 
when  the  different  peoples  were  becoming  filled  with  purely  local 


170  FROM  CHARLEMAGNE  TO  POPE  GREGORY  VII.     [Period  V. 

The  donation  of  Constantine,  a  still  bolder  fiction,  was  first 

alluded  to  in  these  decretals,  and  soon  after  the  deed  of  gift  was 

taken  up  into  the  collection.     Accordini?  to  its  terms 

The  donation  -^  .  o    i  t  i  ' 

ofconstan-  Constantiue  generously  gives  to  Sylvester  I.,  who  was 
Roman  bishop  from  Sli  to  335,  the  provinces  which 
make  up  the  occidental  Roman  empire,  and  with  them  all  the 
imperial  insignia.  He  exalts  the  dignity  of  the  pope  above  that 
of  the  emperor,  and  that  no  earthly  potentate  may  rule  where 
the  divinely  appointed  head  of  Christendom  resides,  he  removes 
the  seat  of  the  empire  to  ConstantinoiDle.  This  forgery  was  not  at 
first  so  influential  as  the  decretals,  because  it  was  less  insidi.ous  in 
its  workings.  Although  the  decretals  stood  in  contradiction  to  the 
earlier  ecclesiastical  laws  and  methods  of  procedure,  yet  the  selfish 
rivalries  of  princes  and  prelates  gave  a  field  for  the  exercise  of 
extravagant  pretensions  and  the  establishment  of  dangerous  pre- 
cedents. 

The  first  pope  who  clearly  comprehended  and  resolutely  asserted 
these  ideas,  and  quoted  the  decretals  themselves  in  their  defence, 
^^. .  ,    T       was  Nicholas  I.     He  came  into  conflict  with  Hincmar, 

Nicholas  I.,  _  ' 

858-867.  Archbishop  of  Rheims,  who  had  deposed  Rothad,  Bishop 

of  Soissons.  Rothad  made  his  appeal  to  Rome,  and  the  poj)e  or- 
dered him  to  be  reinstated.  He  met  with  less  opposition  be- 
cause he  was  espousing  the  cause  of  bishops  against  a  haughty 
metropolitan.  The  archbishojjs,  at  their  investiture  with  the  pal- 
lium, were  now  admonished  of  the  duty  of  obedience  to  the  Ro- 
man see.  Nicholas  availed  himself  of  the  power  of  judgment  in 
important  causes,  which  the  Frank  rulers  had  granted  to  their 
prelates,  to  interfere  as  the  champion  of  the  slandered  and  perse- 
cuted vnie  of  King  Lothair  II.,  who  desired  to  cast  her  off  for  the 
sake  of  a  mistress.  The  pope,  despite  the  threats  of  the  emperor, 
deposed  the  Archbishops  of  Treves  and  Cologne,  who  were  the  guilty 
instruments  which  the  king  employed  to  carry  out  his  unworthy 
purposes.  Nicholas,  aided  by  public  oj)inion  and  by  the  fears  of 
Lothair,  whose  uncles  were  his  political  rivals,  succeeded  in  main- 
taining the  cause  of  the  injured  wife,  although  he  died  before  the 
trouble  was  ended.  But  the  circumstances  which  favored  Nicholas 
Hadrian  II  "^^^'^  Wanting  in  the  case  of  his  successor.  Hadrian  11. 
667-872.  ignominiously  failed  in  his  interference  to  withstand  an 

unrighteous  greed  for  territory  on  the  part  of  Charles  the  Bald 
and  Louis  the  German,  as  well   as  in  his   attempt  to 
restore  the  deposed  Bishop  of   Laon,     Charles's  anger 
soon  passed  away,  and  when  he  ascended  the  imperial  throne,  John 


SOO-1073.]  THE  POLITY  OF  THE  CHURCH.  171 

Vin.,  -wlio  crowned  him,  declared  that  the  emperor  owed  his  crown 
John  VIII.  ^°  ^"^  alone.  Contrary  to  the  wishes  of  his  own  pre- 
8T2-ssa.  '  lates,  he  appointed  the  Archbishop  of  Sens  primate  of  the 
Frankish  and  German  Churches  and  apostolic  vicar,  and  by  many 
other  regulations  helj^ed  forward  the  very  pretensions  that  he 
before  had  spurned,  and  even  now  did  not  permit  to  be  fully 
realized. 

After  the  deposition  of  Charles  the  Fat,  in  887,  the  power  of  the 
Italian  nobles  gradually  increased  until  they  became  independent. 
A  wild  conflict  of  Italian  parties  ensued,  in  which  the  paj^acy  was  in- 
volved. The  bark  of  St.  Peter,  as  Komanist  writers  have  expressed 
it,  was  tossed  on  a  sea  of  fiercely  contending  factions.  For  many 
years  the  jDopes  were  the  jDaramours,  or  the  sons  and  grandsons,  of 
three  voluptuous  and  ambitious  Eoman  women.  John  XII.,  one  of 
the  vilest  of  all  these  pontiffs,  called  in  Otho  I.,  King  of  Germany,  to 
ggg  protect  him   against   Berengar  IT.   of  Italy.      He   soon 

after  conspired  to  drive  out  the  Germans,  whom  he  had 
so  recently  invited.  Otho  took  swift  vengence.  He  called  a  synod 
in  St.  Peter's  Church,  at  which  John  was  deposed  on  charges  of 
gQ2  murder,   blasphemy,  and  gross  sensualit}'.     But  John, 

before  his  fall,  had  crowned  Otho  emperor,  an  act  of  no 
less  significance  than  the  like  proceeding  of  Leo  one  hundred  and 
sixty-two  years  before. 

The  Holy  Roman  empire,  which  now  came  into  being,  was  not  in 
reality  a  world-wide  empire  corresponding  to  a  world-wide  relig- 
ion.    Its  limits  were  narrower  than  those  of  the  Frank- 

Tlie  Holy  Ro- 
man empire,    igh  Romau  empire  of  Charlemagne.     But  its  theoretical 

relations  to  the  Church,  to  its  rights  and  obligations,  were  now  more 
clearly  comprehended.  As  there  was  but  one  true  Catholic  Church, 
so  there  was  but  one  Holy  Empii'e.  In  theory  there  could  be  no 
conflict  between  the  two  sovereignties.  God  had  set  the  pope  over 
the  spiritual  interests  of  the  world,  and  the  emperor  over  its  tem- 
poral affairs.  The  pope  was  so  to  guide  and  rule  men's  souls  that 
they  should  attain  to  eternal  life  ;  the  emperor  was  to  govern  their 
outward  i-elations  in  such  a  way  that  their  spiritual  life  would  be 
most  effectively  promoted.  It  was  the  theory  of  the  harmonious 
co-operation  of  the  two  great  world-rulers,  each  in  his  distinct 
sphere,  to  bring  in  the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth.  A  beautiful 
thought,  to  which  the  practices  of  both  emperors  and  popes  often 
presented  a  sad  contrast !  But  it  was  the  ideas  embodied  in  the 
fabric  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire,  which,  more  than  anything,  else 
except  the  missionary  labors  of  the  Church,  saved  the  papacy  from 


172  FROM  CHARLEMAGNE  TO  POPE  GREGORY  VH.     [Period  V. 

being  ruined  in  long  periods  of  corruption.  Otho's  career  as 
emperor  was  not  such  as  the  theory  would  have  called  for.  The 
imperial  crown  was  bestowed  on  him  by  the  pope  more  clearly 
than  the  crown  of  Charlemagne  was  granted  by  Leo  ;  but  Otho 
was  active  in  deposing  the  same  pope,  and  it  was  only  by  means  of 
Otho's  authority  that  Leo  "VXH.,  and  those  who  immediately  fol- 
lowed him  were  able  to  maintain  themselves  in  the  chair  of  St. 
Peter.  When  the  emperor  died  (973),  the  spirit  of  disorder  again 
broke  out  at  Rome. 

The  deposition  of  Arnulf,  Archbishop  of  Eheims,  by  a  synod,  in 
disregard  of  papal  authority,  led  to  a  conflict  between  the  inde- 
pendent party  in  the  French  Church,  which,  under  the 
^^^'  guidance  of  Gerbert,  a  man  of  learning  and  force  of 

chai'acter,  supported  the  synod  against  the  papacy.     The  result, 
however,  showed  that  the  papacy,  despite  its  many  years  of  almost 
fatal  corruption,  had  not  lost  its  power.     The  decrees  of  John  XV. 
deprived  Gerbert  of  his  moral  support,  even  if  they  failed  to  reduce 
him  and  his  king,  Hugh  Capet,  to  subjection.     Otho  III. 
had  in  the  meantime  established  his  imperial  authority 
in  Italy,  and  on  the  death  of  John  XV.  had  procured  the  consecra- 
tion of  his  cousin  as  Gregory  V.     Gregory  j)roceeded  to  the  stern- 
est measures,  threatening  to  put  the  French  Church  under  the  ban. 
Robert,  Hugh  Capet's  successor,  moved  by  personal  hopes,  and  by 
fears  of  Otho  HI.,   yielded,   and  Arnulf  was  restored. 

997 

Gerbert  lost  his  cause  and  the  see  of  Rheims,  but  only, 
strange  as  it  may  seem,  to  be  the  next  in  succession  to  the  see  of 
Rome.  His  striking  career  was  the  wonder  of  the  age,  and  the 
ignorant  long  believed  that  he  had  prospered  through  a  compact 
with  the  devil. 

Otho  in.  died  in  1002,  and  his  pope  died  soon  after.     The  Ger- 
man dominion  was  again  cast  off  and  a  new  era  of  papal  degradation 

followed.  A  boy  of  twelve,  precocious  in  crime,  ascended 
oTaJmy'"'^  the  papal  throne  as  Benedict  IX.  In  a  few  years  his 
^'^'  pleasui-es  wei-e  interrupted  by  the  pretensions  of  a  rival, 

and,  wearied  of  the  office,  he  sold  it  to  John  Gratian,  who  took  the 
name  of  Gregory  VI.     Gratian  desired  to  use  the  papal  power  as  a 

means  of  introducing  reforms.     Benedict  repented  of 

his  bargain.  At  this  juncture  Henry  HI.  came  down  to 
Italy,  summoned  the  synod  of  Sutri,  and  deposed  the  three  rival  pon- 
tiffs. A  decree  of  the  synod  gave  him,  as  the  champion  of  reform, 
the  right  of  choosing  succeeding  popes.  Henry,  now  crowned 
emperor  by  the  newly  elected  pontiff,  Clement  II.,  was  master  in 


800-1073.]  THE  POLITY   OP  THE  CHURCH.  173 

Chvircli  and  State  as  none  of  the  emperors  before  or  after  him  ever 
were.  Under  his  protection  the  party  anxious  to  put  an  end  to 
the  evils  that  afflicted  the  Church  grew  in  strength.  In  1048 
Bruno,  a  cousin  of  the  emperor,  having  been  made  pope 
at  the  Diet  oi  Worms,  Avas  persuaded  by  a  young  monk 
not  to  consider  himself  qualified  to  assume  the  office  until  he  should 
be  properly  elected  at  Rome,  and  to  travel  thither  in  the  garb  of  a 
pilgrim,  thus  practically  disowning  the  right  of  the  emperor  to  ap- 
point the  head  of  the  Church.  The  new  pope,  Leo  IX.,  took  the 
advice,  and  brought  the  sagacious  monk  with  him  as  a  subdeacon. 
This  zealous  ecclesiastic  was  Hildebrand,  a  carj)enter's  son  and  a 
Benedictine,  who,  with  Cardinal  Peter  Damiani,  Bishop  of  Ostia, 
became  the  great  promoter  of  all  subsequent  reforms.  The  pope, 
influenced  by  these  counsellors,  endeavored  to  put  an  end  to  si- 
mony and  to  the  immorality  of  the  clergy,  including  under  the  lat- 
ter head  the  marriage  of  priests,  which  was  contrary  to  the  canon 
law.  During  Leo's  i-eign,  Hildebrand  rapidly  gained  a  command- 
ing influence,  and  bent  all  his  energies  to  the  purification  of  the 
Church  and  the  advancement  of  the  papal  authority.  He 
selected,  as  successor  of  Leo,  Gebhardt,  Bishop  of  Eich- 
stadt,  an  eminent  German  prelate,  and  the  influential  counsellor  of 
Henry  III,  hoping  thus  to  win  over  to  the  interest  of  Eome  the 
most  powerful  member  of  the  party  dangerous  to  Roman  preten- 
sions. In  1056  Henry  III.  died,  leaving  the  empire  to  his  son,  who 
was  only  four  years  old.  This  gave  the  reformers  an  opportunity 
to  carry  out  the  second  portion  of  their  plan.  They  had  i)urified 
the  papacy  ;  they  now  resolved  to  shake  ofif  its  dependence  on  the 
emjDerors.  After  the  death  of  Stephen  IX.  they  succeeded  in  elect- 
ing a  man  devoted  to  their  policy,  Nicholas  H.,  and  in 
forcing  the  rival  pope,  Benedict,  who  had  been  elected 
by  the  opposing  party,  to  submit. 

By  the  decree  of  a  Roman  synod,  passed  in  the  same  year,  the 
election  of  the  i^ope  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  college  of  Car- 
Ruiesfor  the  '^^^^^l'^'  which  was  composed  of  the  jDi'iests  and  deacons 
choice  of  a  of  the  Romau  Church  and  seven  suburbicarian  bishops. 
The  cardinal-bishops  were  to  take  the  initiative  in  the 
election  ;  the  consent  of  the  cardinal-priests  and  deacons  was  then 
required  ;  then  assent  on  the  part  of  the  laity,  and  finally  a  like 
assent  of  the  emperor.  The  pope  was  to  be  taken  from  the  clergy 
of  Rome  if  possible,  and  there  the  election  was  to  be  held  unless 
disorders  made  this  impracticable.  A  great  revolution  was  begun. 
The  power  which  Henry  HI.  had  wielded  over  the  papacy  was  no 


174  FROM  CHARLEMAGNE  TO  POPE  GREGORY  VII.     [Period  V, 

more  acknowledged,  and  the  struggle  between  the  Emi^ire  and  the 
Alliance  of  Church  was  now  to  commence.  Rome  entered  into  an 
the  pope         alliance  with   Robert  Guiscard,   the  Norman   duke  of 

with  the  Nor- 
mans. Lower  Italy,  and  in  this  new  vassal  found  a  counter- 
poise to  the  empire.  The  party  of  Hildebrand  went  to  work  to 
arouse  the  anger  and  contempt  of  the  people  against  the  clergy 
who  had  got  their  offices  by  simony,  or  had  wives.  Great  disturb- 
ances occurred  in  Milan,  where  every  ecclesiastic,  from  the  bishop 
to  the  deacons,  had  paid  for  the  Church  office  he  held,  and  where 
there  were  also  many  married  clergy.  The  triumph  of  Rome  was 
for  a  time  complete,  when  the  guilty  priests  had  to  receive  abso- 
lution at  the  hands  of  the  papal  legate.  Cardinal  Damiani.  The 
death  of  Nicholas  gave  occasion  for  the  new  law  about  elections  to 
be  ti-ied  for  the  first  time.  The  cardinals  elected  Alex- 
■^  ^  ■  ander  11.  The  imperial  party,  at  a  council  held  in  Basle, 
chose  the  Bishop  of  Parma  under  the  name  of  Honorius  11. 
Through  the  machinations  of  powerful  German  prelates  and  nobles, 
who  were  anxious  to  weaken  the  imperial  power,  Alexander  was 
given  the  advantage  in  the  ensuing  struggle.  He  overcame  his 
rival  and  was  recognized  by  the  emperor.  Hildebrand 
ii.^and  ""^  became  archdeacon.  The  pope  withstood  the  purposes 
Henry  IV.  ^^^  actious  of  Henry  IV.  He  refused,  through  his 
legate,  to  countenance  Henry's  attempt  to  get  a  divorce,  and  upon 
the  complaint  of  the  disaffected  Saxons,  summoned  him  to  Rome 
to  answer  charges  of  simony  and  oppression.  But  Alex- 
ander suddenly  died,  leaving  this  trouble  to  be  settled 
by  his  successor. 

In  this  period  the  feudal  system  materially  affected  the  rela- 
tions of  the  clergy  to  the  state,  and  consequently  their 
Bystem  and  character,  and  the  manner  in  which  they  administered 
t  ecergy.       ^^^  rapidly  increasing  possessions  of  the  Church. 

Bishops  were  often  made  counts  or  dukes  of  their  dioceses,  en- 
joying the  same  privileges  and  performing  the  same  duties  as  sec- 
ular lords,  and,  like  them,  using  intrigue  and  violence  to  further 
their  ambitious  schemes.  As  noble  vassals  they  took  the  usual 
oath  of  allegiance  to  the  king  or  emperor,  and  were  invested  by 
him  with  the  ring  and  staff,  which,  though  they  were  symbols  of 
spiritual  functions,  were  in  this  feudal  relation  the  sign  of  admin- 
istrative authority  in  the  secular  province.  The  German  kings  gave 
many  important  fiefs  to  their  prelates,  hoping  to  find  in  them  a 
bulwark  against  the  encroachments  of  the  powerful  lay  nobles.    Al- 


800-1073.]        CHRISTIAN  LIFE,  WORSHIP,  AND  DOCTRINE.  175 

though  the  clergy  were  thus  brought  into  close  connection  with 
the  secular  power,  spiritual  offices,  up  to  the  time  of  Henry  IV., 
were  less  frequently  sold  in  Germany  than  elsewhere,  especially  in 
France  and  Italy.  The  bishops  and  abbots,  in  order  to  raise  the 
military  contingents  which  they  owed  their  suzei-ains,  were  some- 
times obliged  to  bestow  Church  property  in  fief,  thus  putting  it  in 
danger  of  misappropriation  or  of  complete  alienation.  Feudalism 
was  itself  modified  in  turn  by  influences  from  the  Church.  Its  dis- 
iutegTating  tendencies  were  met  by  the  idea  of  unity,  which  was 
characteristic  of  the  Church.  Some  of  the  evils,  like  the  right  of 
private  war,  which  had  sprung  up  as  a  part  of  the  feudal  system, 
were  checked  by  the  growing  power  of  Christian  principles. 

The  "  truce  of  God  " — from  sunset  of  Wednesday  until  Monday 
— sought  to  commemorate  the  days  of  Christ's  trial  and  victory  by  an 
The  truce  abstinence  from  all  violence.  The  internal  organization  of 
of  God.  ^i^g  Church  was  in  this  period  partially  demox'alized.    The 

bishops  in  becoming  great  nobles  lost  control  of  the  clergy  of  their 
dioceses.  The  canonical  form  of  living  degenerated  into  a  society 
for  advancing  individual  ambition.  The  monks  no  longer  set  an 
example  of  greater  purity  of  life.  Monasticism  had  everywhere 
fallen  into  decay ;  wealthy  foundations  became  a  prey  to  the  cupidity 
of  the  powerful,  who  used  the  position  of  abbot  as  a  means  of  per- 
sonal enrichment.  There  were  repeated  attempts  to  reform  the 
monastic  life,  and  out  of  these  grew  the  associations  of  monas- 
teries, the  most  noted  of  which  was  the  congregation  of  Clugny. 


CHAPTER  III. 

CHRISTIAN  LIFE   AND   WORSHIP:    CHRISTIAN   DOCTRINE. 

The  social,  political,  and  ecclesiastical  confusion,  the  decreasing 
use  of  Latin,  and  the  undeveloped  state  of  the  new  languages  ac- 
count for  the  ignorance  which  prevailed  in  the  tenth 
and  super-  contury.  The  power  of  Christianity  was  crippled  by 
superstition.  The  common  people  too  generally  made 
religion  to  consist  in  adoring  images,  gathering  relics,  hearing  and 
telling  legends  of  miracles,  and  in  going  on  pilgrimages.  The 
number  of  the  saints  rapidly  multiplied.  Hitherto  their  memory 
had  been  cherished  principally  in  those  churches  and  countries 
with  which  their  lives  had  been  associated  ;  but  now,  in  accordance 


176  FROM  CHARLEMAGNE  TO  POPE  GREGORY  VII.     [Peuiod  V. 

with  the  dominant  hierarchical  idea,  they  began  to  be  canonized  by 
the  popes  and  to  receive  the  homage  of  the  entire  Church 
collectively.  Ulrich  of  Augsburg  was  the  first  to  be 
raised  to  this  dignity  by  a  decree  of  John  XV.  In  some  churches 
Katherius,  ^^^  ideas  of  God  were  so  gross  that  when  Eatherius  of 
d.  974.  Verona  preached  the  truth  that  God  is  a  spirit,  certain 

of  his  clergy  protested,  saying,  "What  shall  we  do?  We  thought 
we  knew  something  about  God,  but  God  is  nothing  at  all  if  he  has 
not  a  head."  W^ith  ignorance  were  connected  immoraHty  and 
crime.  The  same  Eatherius  cried  out  in  despair  over  the  "stupidity 
and  licentiousness  of  the  clergy,  the  wickedness  of  the  people,  and 
the  negligence  of  the  bishops.  The  attempts  which  were  made  to 
enforce  the  rule  of  celibacy  had  a  baneful  effect  on  clerical  morals. 
Those  churches  where  the  clergy  were  allowed  to  mai-ry  were  in 
general  the  most  enlightened  and  the  best  managed.  Even  Dami- 
ani,  bitter  as  he  was  against  the  marriage  of  priests,  was  forced  to 
testify  to  the  honesty  and  intelligence  of  the  clei-gy  of  Lucca  and 
Turin,  where  it  was  countenanced. 

The  interdict  proved  to  be  a  powerful  weapon  against  lawless 
nobles  who  would  not  submit  to  the  ordinary  discipline  of  the 
Church.  Attempts  were  made  by  the  leading  men  and  by 
councils  to  urge  upon  the  bishops  and  other  clergy  the 
E£Eorts  of  duty  of  jDrcaching  the  gospel  and  the  necessity  of  properly 
good  men.  instructing  the  people  in  the  truths  of  Christianity.  In 
King  Alfred,  England,  King  Alfred  was  especially  successful  in  re- 
viving the  interest  in  learning.  Moved  by  the  same 
spirit,  Otfried,  an  Alsatian  monk,  in  the  ninth  century,  composed 
a  poetical  paraphrase  of  the  gospels  rfor  the  Franks.  Although 
the  records  of  this  age  abound  in  proofs  of  wide-spread  ignorance 
and  demoralization,  we  are  by  no  means  to  conclude  that  the  light 
did  not  shine  in  many  places.  There  were  not  only  faithful  eccle- 
siastics, but  also  Chi-istian  laymen,  whose  well-ox-dered  lives  pre- 
served the  genuine  spirit  of  piety,  even  if  these  exemplary  men 
have  no  place  on  the  pages  of  the  polemic  or  the  chronicler. 

The  rupture  between  the  Eastern  and  Western  Churches  was 
consummated  near  the  close  of  this  period.  In  the  great  contro- 
The  Greek  '^'^^'^y  respecting  the  use  of  images,  the  Western  Church 
and  Latia       had  not  taken  sides  with  iconoclasts,  but  had  been  luke- 

Churchea. 

warm  in  its  symi^athy  with  their  fanatical  opponents. 
The  victories  of  Islam,  by  which  Syria,  Persia,  Egypt  and  North 
Africa  were  subdued,  chiefly  affected  the  Eastern  Empire.     Under 


SOO-1073.]        CHRISTIAN  LIFE,  WORSHIP,  AND  DOCTRINE.  177 

the  rule  of  its  despotic  princes,  it  preserved  its  own  polity  inde- 
pendently of  the  West.  No  institution  analogous  to  the  papacy 
could  build  itself  up  in  the  East  ;  yet  the  rank  of  the  patriarchate 
of  Constantinople  was  a  barrier  in  the  way  of  the  extension  of  Koman 
ecclesiastical  sovereignty  in  that  region.  The  growth  of  the  papacy 
in  the  West  was  a  principal  obstacle  to  the  continuance  of  the  unity 
of  the  Greek  and  the  Latin  Churches.  An  outbreak  of  dissension 
occurred  in  the  ninth  century,  in  which  the  most  prominent  figure 
is  Photius,  a  learned  scholar  and  a  man  of  talents,  who,  from  being 
captain*  of  the  guard,  was  raised  to  the  office  of  patriarch  at  Con- 
stantinople. His  elevation  was  consequent  on  the  expulsion  of  Ig- 
natius from  this  station,  on  account  of  his  faithful  and  courageous 
conduct  in  a  conflict  with  Bardas,  the  iniquitous  uncle  of  the  young 
emperor,  Michael  III.  Photius  sought  the  countenance  of  Pope 
Nicholas  I,  whose  assertion  of  the  Pseudo-Isidorian  prerogative  and 
decision  adverse  to  the  wishes  of  the  usurping  patriarch,  excited 
his  fierce  indignation.  In  863,  Nicholas,  at  a  synod  at  Rome,  ex- 
communicated him.  Photius  in  his  turn  promulgated  an  ency- 
clical lettei',  in  which  he  charged  the  Latin  Church  with  heresy,  for 
its  rule  of  celibacy,  its  interpolation  of  the  Nicene  Creed,  and  for 
various  ritual  peculiarities.  The  next  year  Photius 
caused  the  pope  to  be  excommunicated  by  a  synod  at 
Constantinople,  After  various  turns  of  fortvine  in  the  contest  be- 
tween Photius  and  his  enemies,  and  restoration  of  amity 
with  Rome,  the  pope  renewed  the  ban  against  him,  which 
was  never  recalled.  The  Bulgarians  were  conquered  by  the  Em- 
peror Basil  in  1019,  and  their  Church  was  subject  to  Constantinople 
for  nearly  two  centuries  afterward.  The  Russians  and  other  Slavon- 
ian nations,  which  embraced  the  gospel,  enlarged  the  territory  of  the 
Eastern  Church.  In  the  middle  of  the  eleventh  centuiy,  the  contest 
with  Rome  was  renewed  by  Michael  Crerularius,  Patriarch  of  Con- 
stantinople, by  whose  agency  the  Latin  liturgy  was  abolished  in  cer- 
tain Bulgarian  churches  and  monasteries,  and  who  addressed  to  the 
Bishop  of  Trani,  in  Apulia,  a  letter  in  which  he  inveighed 
against  the  errors  of  the  Latins,  adding  to  the  customary 
list  the  use  of  unleavened  bread  in  the  sacrament.  The  papal  am- 
bassadors left  on  the  altar  of  the  church  of  St.  Sophia  a  bull  excom- 
municating the  patriarch.  This  called  out  from  him  a  like  anathema, 
an  act  in  which  he  was  supported  by  the  other  patriarchs  of  the 
East.  By  this  proceeding  the  Greek  and  Latin  Churches  were 
permanently  divided. 

We  have  already  had  occasion  to  advert  to  most  of  the  names 
12 


178  FRO:^[  CHARLEMAGNE  TO  POPE  GREGORY  VII.     [Period  V. 

prominent  in  this  period  in  connection  with  learning  and  theology. 
The  Anglo-Saxon  monk,  the  Venerable  Bade,  sent  forth 
^  ^'  '  '  "  from  the  cloister  of  Yai*row,  where  he  preferred  to  be  a 
laborious  student  instead  of  taking  on  him  the  responsibilities  of 
an  abbot,  works  which  evinced  a  mastery  of  all  the  science  of  the 
time,  and  made  him  an  author  revered  in  all  the  countries  of  the 
West.  His  distinctly  theological  treatises  are  of  small  value  in 
comparison  with  his  "  Ecclesiastical  History  of  the  English,"  which 
is  carried  down  to  731,  which  was  four  years  before  his  death.  The 
intellectual  revival  under  the  auspices  of  Charlemagne  had  the  effect 
to  bring  forward  a  considerable  number  of  meritorious  scholars 
^cuin,  ^^^  theologians.     It  was  in  782  that  Alcuin,  an  English- 

c.  735-804.  man,  who  received  his  education  at  York,  and  met 
Charlemagne  for  the  first  time  in  Italy,  became  the  head  of  the 
palatial  school  that  attended  the  emperor's  migratory  couri.  His 
most  interesting  productions  are  his  letters.  He  was  versed  in 
the  classical  poets  ;  his  own  style  is  superior  to  that  of  the  con- 
temporary writers,  and  his  influence  in  promoting  the  cause  of 
learning  was  greater  than  that  of  any  other  of  the  eminent  men 
of  the  time.  His  last  days  were  spent  as  abbot  of  the  monastery  of 
Claudius  of  ^^-  Martin  at  Tours.  Claudius  of  Tmin,  a  Spaniard  by 
Turin,  d.  &i9.  ijirth,  owcd  his  ecclesiastical  station  to  Charlemagne's 
son,  the  Emperor  Louis,  at  whose  court  in  Aquitania,  before  the 
death  of  Charlemagne,  he  had  resided  as  an  interpreter  of  Script- 
ure in  the  palatial  school.  In  his  episcopal  office  he  proved  him- 
self not  only  an  energetic  opponent  of  image- worship,  but,  also,  of 
so  many  other  abuses  in  doctrine  and  practice  that  he  deseiwes 
to  be  known  as  a  forerunner,  in  a  distant  age,  of  the  Protestant  re- 
formers. He  wrote  commentaries  on  almost  all  the  books  of  the 
Bible  ;  but  of  his  writings  unfortunately  only  fragments  remain. 

The  mental  activity  aroused  in  the  age  of  Charlemagne  mani- 
fested itself  in  several  controversies,  in  which  a  number  of  the  lead- 
, ,    ,.    .  ^     ing  theologians  were  concerned.     The  first  of  these  was 

Adoptianist  °  ^ 

cnnrroversy,  the  adoptian  Controversy  which  was  begun  in  Spain,  but 
spread  among  the  Franks.  Elipandus,  Archbishop  of 
Toledo,  was  the  author,  and  Felix,  Bishop  of  Urgel,  was  the  most 
active  defender,  of  an  opinion  which  resembled  that  of  Nestorius, 
and  may  have  been  due  in  part  to  Nestorian  influences.  They 
affirmed  that  Christ  as  divine  is  the  natural  son  of  God,  but,  as  hu- 
man, is  the  adopted^on  of  God.  Felix  twice  recanted  his  opin- 
ion ;  the  second  time,  in  799,  at  a  council  at  Aix-la-Chapelle,  after 
a  debate  with  Alcuin.     It  was  condemned  by  the  popes  and  synods. 


800-1073.]        CHRISTIAN  LIFE,  WORSHIP,  AND  DOCTRINE.  179 

Elipandus,  safe  iu  liis  own  diocese,  adhered  to  his  view  to  the 
end. 

A  second  controversy  of  a  more  serious  character,  and  the  events 
of  which  were  more  painful,  related  to  predestination.  Gottschalk, 
Controversy  ^  pious  and  learned  monk  of  Orbais,  in  the  province  of 
natfonf^^*^  Eheims,  became  an  earnest  advocate  of  the  Augustinian 
847-S68.  doctrine  on  this  subject.     In  his  language  he  went  some- 

what further  than  Augustine,  especially  in  asserting  a  "predesti- 
pation  "  of  the  wicked  to  perdition  as  the  penalty  of  their  sin,  and 
in  affirming  that  foreknowledge  and  predestination  are  insepar- 
able ;  although  there  is  no  proof  that  he  denied  to  Adam,  prior  to 
the  fall,  the  freedom  which  the  Latin  Father  had  ascribed  to  him. 
In  short,  his  doctrine  was  substantially  identical  with  that  of  Augus- 
tine, while  his  opponents  planted  themselves  on  Augustinism  as 
modified  by  the  mingling  of  Semi-Pelagian  elements  of  belief.  One 
of  these  adversaiies  was  Eabanus  Maurus,  abbot  of  the  monastery 
of  Fulda,  a  prominent  theologian,  sincere  in  his  opinions,  but  having 
a  private  grudge  against  Gottschalk.  He  refused  to  recant  at  the 
synod  of  Chiersy,  where  Hincmar,  the  overbearing  and  intolerant, 
but  powerful,  Archbishop  of  Eheims,  who  disliked  him,  was  the 
ruling  spirit.  Eefusing  to  abjure  his  convictions,  Gottschalk  was 
scourged  with  a  merciless  severity  that  nearly  killed  him,  and  was 
then  cast  into  prison,  where  he  remained,  unshaken  in  his  faith, 
until  his  death,  twenty  years  later.  He  was  no  doubt  a  godly  and 
persecuted  man. 

A  third  important  controversy  was  on  the  subject  of  the  eucha- 
rist.     Paschasius  Eadbertus,  one  of  the  ablest  and  best  educated 
men  of  the  ninth  century,  abbot  of  the  French  monas- 
tery at  Corbie,  published  a  work  in  which  the  doctrine  of 
transubstantiation  was  distinctly  advocated.     On  the   other  side, 
Eatramnus,  a  monk  at  Corbie,  defended  the  Augustinian  opinion  j 
that  the  Word,  or  Logos,  dwells  in  the  consecrated  bread  and  wine, ! 
as  once  the  Logos  dwelt  in  the  body  of  Christ,  while  they  still  con- ; 
tinue,  in  substance  as  well  as  attributes,  bread  and  wine.     This  po- ' 
sition  of  Eatramnus  was  maintained  by  leading  writers  and  schol- 
ars of  that  age,  among  whom  were  Christian  Druthmar  and  Floras 
Magister.     On  the  other  hand,  Eadbert's  opinion  was  espoused  by 
Hincmar,  Archbishop  of  Eheims,  and  other  prominent  ecclesiastics 
It  increased  in  popularity,  and  was  advocated,  in  the  tenth  century, 
by  such  leaders  in  the  Church  as  Eatherius,  Bishop  of  Verona,  and 
the  learned  Gerbert,  afterwards  Pope  Sylvester  II.     More  and  more 
it  came  to  be  considered  the  orthodox  opinion.     It  is  worthy  of 


180  FROM  CHARLEMAGNE  TO  POPE  GREGORY  YU.     [Period  V. 

mention,  as  characteristic  of  the  times,  that  in  the  discussion 
brought  on  by  Radbert  there  were  grave  and  heated  debates  on 
the  question  whether  the  whole  of  the  bread  and  wine  taken 
in  the  sacrament  are,  or  are  not,  assimilated  by  the  digestive 
organs. 

The  ablest  theologian  of  the  Carlovingian  age,  and  one  whose 
speculations  belong  rather  to  a  later  period  of  philosophical 
^  u   c   .       thought,  was  John  Scotus  Erigena — the  last  term  signi- 

John  Scotus.  D      '  o  o 

fying,  probably,  "  born  in  the  Isle  of  Saints."  It  implies 
that  his  birthplace  was  Ireland,  which  was  often  called  Greater 
Scotland  (Major  Scotia).  Shortly  before  the  middle  of  the  ninth 
century  he  took  up  his  residence  at  the  court  of  Charles  the  Bald. 
That  he  was  not  wanting  in  wit  is  evinced  by  his  repartee  on  being 
jocosely  asked  by  the  king,  who  sat  on  the  other  side  of  the  table, 
"  How  differs  " — or,  more  literally,  what  parts — "  Scot  from  sot  ?  " 
"Table  "  (mensa),  was  the  response  of  Scotus  to  this  metaphysical 
query.  He  translated,  at  the  request  of  Charles,  the  writings  of 
Pseudo-Dionysius,  which  is  one  of  the  proofs  of  his  knowledge  of 
Greek.  Thus  he  did  much  to  introduce  a  vein  of  mystical  New 
Platonism  into  the  theology  of  the  media?val  period.  His  principal 
original  work  is  entitled,  "Concerning  the  Division  of  Nature." 
He  distinguishes  between  the  faith,  which  rests  on  authority,  and 
marks  the  earlier  stage  of  intellectual  life,  from  reason,  which  sees 
things  in  their  necessary  grounds  and  relations.  The  universe 
is  unfolded  from  God,  the  uncreated,  absolute  being,  respecting 
whom  all  our  affirmations  are  the  language  of  appearance.  From 
him  the  ideal  world  emanates,  which  is  realized  in  the  things  of 
time  and  sense.  In  the  last  movement  in  the  cycle,  all  things  re- 
vert back  to  God.  He  was  no  doubt  a  devout  man  in  his  way,  but 
his  system  is  Pantheistic  in  its  real  character.  It  bears  a  strong  re- 
semblance to  the  speculative  systemsofSchelling  and  other  modern 
German  philosophers  of  the  Pantheistic  schools.  Its  true  charac- 
ter, however,  was  not  clearly  perceived,  especially  at  lirst,  by  his 
contemporaries.  But  when  he  took  up  the  defence  of  predestina- 
tion, in  support  of  Hincmar  against  Gottschalk,  and  rested  his  ar- 
gument on  the  denial  to  God  of  any  such  thing  as  foreknowledge 
or  predetermination,  the  orthodox  looked  on  this  ally  Avith  suspi- 
ggg  cion.    Finally,  his  views  on  this  subject  were  condemned 

ggg  by  the  Synod  of  Valence,  and  soon  after  hj  Pope  Nicho- 

las I.  He  died  in  England,  about  891.  Scotus  has  been 
erroneously  ranked  as  "  father  of  the  schoolmen."  His  idea  of  faith 
and  reason  was  more  like  that  of  the  early  Alexandrian  Fathers. 


800-1073.]        CHRISTIAN  LIFE,  WORSHIP,  AND  DOCTRINE.,  181 

His  pLace  is  on  the  roll  of  speculative  thinkers.     His  very  existence 
in  the  ninth  century  is  an  anachronism. 

Of  the  Greek  ecclesiastical  writers  in  this  period,  the  most  valu- 
able is  Photius,  the  celebrated  Archbishop  of  Constantinople  ;  and. 
of  his  writings  the  best  known  and  most  useful  is  the 

Greek  writers.       -ht      •    i  -i  t         »      -i  •    -i     ■ 

"  Myriobiblion,  which  is  made  up  of  excerpts,  with  sum- 
maries or  abridgments,  from  not  less  than  two  hundred  and  sev- 
enty-nine heathen  and  Christian  books,  many  of  which  have  since 
perished.  Photius  died  in  891.  The  list  of  Byzantine  historians, 
to  whose  industry  we  are  chiefly  indebted  for  our  knowledge  of 
Byzantine  history  after  the  fall  of  the  Western  empire,  begins  in 
the  reign  of  Justinian  and  extends  through  the  middle  ages.  In 
the  period  which  we  are  now  describing,  Simeon  Metaplu-astes 
b  1020  wrote  his  lives  of  the  saints  and  martyrs,  and  Michael 

Psellus,  a  prolific  author — not  to  speak  of  other  writings 
from  his  pen — was  one  of  the  first  of  a  series  of  commentators  on 
the  Bible  who  rendered  no  little  service  to  sacred  learning. 


PERIOD  VI. 
FROM  GREGOEY  YII.  TO  BONIFACE  VIII.  (1073-1294). 
THE  FULL  SWAY  OF  THE  PAPACY  IN  WESTEEN  EUKOPE. 


CHAPTER  I. 


THE  POLITY  AND  THE  SECULAR  RELATIONS  OF  THE  CHURCH, 
FROM  THE  ACCESSION  OF  HILDEBRAND  TO  THE  CONCORDAT 
OF  WORMS  (1073-1133). 

On  the  22d  of  April,  1073,  while  the  Ai'chdeacon  Hildebrand 

was  conducting  the  obsequies  of  Alexander,  he  was  suddenly  called, 

^  amid   the  acclamations   of  the   clergy   and   people,   to 

Character  and  tt  i 

aims  of  Greg-  asccnd  the  thronc  of  St.  Peter.  He  took  the  name  of 
Gregory  VII.  Although  he  accepted  the  responsibilities 
of  the  office  with  apparent  reluctance,  he  brought  to  the  adminis- 
tration of  it  an  unsurpassed  vigor  and  sagacity.  He  was  the  repre- 
sentative of  a  new  theory  of  Church  and  State,  which  is  clearly  set 
forth  in  the  bull  in  which,  for  the  second  time,  he  excommunicated 
Heniy  IV.  His  words  were :  "  Come  now,  I  pray  you,  O  most 
Holy  Father  and  Princes  (Peter  and  Paul),  that  all  the  world  may 
know  that  if  you  are  able  to  bind  and  loose  in  heaven  you  are  able 
on  earth  to  take  away,  or  to  give  to  each,  according  to  his  merits, 
empires,  kingdoms,  duchies,  marquisates,  counties,  and  the  posses- 
sions of  all  men."  The  interpretation  is  plain.  The  life  of  the 
soul  is  higher  than  that  of  the  body.  The  few  years  men  live  on 
earth  are  as  nothing  compared  with  a  never-ending  existence  in 
the  world  to  come.  He,  therefore,  who  controls  eternal  destinies 
must  of  necessity  be  supreme  here  below.  To  him  the  mightiest 
prince  and  the  meanest  peasant  must  bow  in  homage  and  obedience. 
Gregory  looked  upon  himself  as  raised  to  this  eminence.  He  be- 
j  lieved  that  to  him  had  been  committed  the  care  of  the  kingdom  of 
Christ,  and  that  to  defy  his  authority  was  to  resist  God.  From  the 
beginning  of  his  pontificate  he  asserted  claims  of  Rome,  of  one 


1073-1294.]  POLITY  AND  SECULAR  RELATIONS  OF  THE  CHURCH.  183 

kind  or  another,  over  most  of  the  countries  of  the  West.  His  aim, 
be  it  observed,  was  not  to  annihilate  secular  rule,  but  to  subordinate 
it  by  establishiug  a  higher  jurisdiction,  endowed  with  a  divine  pre- 
rogative to  interpose  for  the  correction  of  abuses.  In  the  affairs  of 
the  Church  he  claimed  absolute  power.  It  was  his  right  not  only 
to  depose  bishops,  but  even  to  do  it  without  a  hearing.  Although 
he  was  sincere  in  his  desire  to  pui'ify  the  Church  and  to  free  it  from 
a  corrupting  dependence  on  the  State,  he  was  not  very  scrupulous 
in  the  choice  of  means  by  which  he  might  carry  out  his  purposes. 
There  was  a  mixture  of  craft,  of  hardness,  and  of  pride  in  his  tern- ' 
per  and  actions.  The  papal  anathema,  as  wielded  by  him  in  that 
ignorant  and  superstitious  age,  became  a  terrible  weapon  of  injus- 
tice and  oppression.  His  best  energies  were  wasted  in  trying  to 
create  a  theocracy  on  earth,  an  attractive  ideal  which  was  mischiev-  - 
ous  mainly  because  it  was  impracticable. 

Gregory's  first  conflict  was  with  the  married  clergy.  At  his 
command  the  papal  legates  stirred  up  the  people  against  them  and 
Celibacy  and  thus  f  orced  upou  them  an  outward  compliance  with  the 
iavestiture.  ^.^^^  ^f  celibacy.  Then  came  the  great  struggle  of  his 
reign.  Simony,  and,  what  to  his  mind  was  its  chief  source,  the  right 
of  lay  investiture,  must  be  aboHshed.  But  the  real  cause  of  both 
was  the  wealth  of  the  Church.  As  long  as  the  possession  of  a  rich 
see  meant  a  life  of  ease  and  influence,  men  would  not  scruple  to 
purchase  ecclesiastical  preferment,  nor  would  needy  princes  be 
loth  to  replenish  their  treasuries  at  the  expense  of  such  aspirants 
for  power  and  affluence.  But  if  the  clergy  would  possess  domains 
and  privileges,  then  why  should  they  not,  like  other  vassals,  do 
homage  to  their  princes,  and  submit  to  be  invested  by  their  suze- 
rains with  the  insignia  of  office  ?  Gregory,  from  his  point  of  view, 
could  not  see  where  the  real  trouble  lay,  nor,  if  he  had  discovered 
the  root  of  the  evil,  would  he  have  applied  the  true  remedy.  He 
thought  to  put  an  end  to  corrupt  appointments  by  two  measures. ' 
He  would  depose  all  who  had  got  their  positions  by  simony.  He 
would  also  deprive  all  monarchs  of  the  right  of  investiture  by 
ring  and  staff,  on  the  ground  that  such  an  act  was  sacrilege,  and  " 
would  restore  the  freedom  of  Church  elections.  The  property  and 
privileges  connected  with  each  see  or  abbey  would,  in  virtue  of  this 
decree,  be  removed  from  the  feudal  supervision  of  the  prince,  and 
in  effect  transferred  to  that  of  the  pope,  since  the  pope  was  supreme 
in  ecclesiastical  affairs.  This  would  have  relieved  the  Church  of 
the  corrupting  influence,  of  the  State,  by  bringing  anarchy  into  the 
State  and  secularizing  the  Church.     The  higher  clergy  held  of  the 


184  FROM  GREGORY  VII,  TO  BONIFACE  VIII.        [Period  VI. 

empire  cities,  duchies,  and  smaller  territorial  divisions,  as  well  as 
rio-hts  connected  with  the  customs,  tolls,  the  coinage  of  money,  and 
the  raising  of  soldiers — in  fact,  half  of  all  property.  And  what  was 
true  of  the  empire  was  true  of  every  Western  kingdom.  To  allow 
such  vast  domains  and  prerogatives  to  pass  beyond  the  control  of 
,  the  monarch,  and  to  fall  under  the  supervision  of  the  pope,  would 
have  made  an  end  of  all  efficient  civil  government.  In  their  oppo- 
sition to  Gregory's  demands  and  encroachments  the  rulers  of  the 
West  were  not  moved  by  any  distinct  theory  of  rights,  so  much  as 
by  a  thirst  for  absolute  rule.  There  was  an  irreconcilable  oj)po- 
sition  between  their  ambition  and  the  designs  of  the  pope,  Greg- 
ory was  politic  enough  to  select  an  antagonist  against 
struggled  ^         ■,       1     ^  1  e  n     i\        t 

Gregory  and    whom  he  had  somc  chances  oi  success.     He  thereiore 

^'^^  '  avoided  a  quarrel  with  William  the  Conqueror,  although 
the  papal  emissaries  were  not  allowed  to  use  legatine  power  in 
England,  nor  even  to  land  without  the  king's  permission  ;  nor  could 
bishops  receive  letters  from  Eome  until  after  the  king  had  examined 
them.  Gregory  had  threatened  Philip  of  France,  but  now  he  passed 
him  by  also,  and  chose  to  fight  the  battle  with  Henry  IV.  The 
reasons  for  this  choice  are  apparent.  Henry  was  king  of  Germany 
and  thus  needed  only  the  papal  coronation  to  complete  his  title  to 
the  empire.  His  education  had  been  committed  to  designing  pre- 
lates, and  since  he  had  never  been  taught  to  govern  himself  he  was 
unfit  to  rule  over  others.  The  divisions  which  had  sprung  up  in 
Germany  during  the  long  regency  were  increased  by  his  licentious- 
ness and  oppression.  Many  of  his  subjects,  and  especially  the 
Saxons,  only  waited  for  an  opportunity  to  throw  off  thek  allegiance. 
Henry's  reckless  sale  of  Church  offices  justified  an  attack  which  his 
weakness  invited,  and  a  victory  over  him  as  the  heir  of  the  empire 
would  be  more  signal  than  over  any  other  ruler  of  the  West.  At 
^  the  Lent  synod  of  1075,  Gregory  prohibited  lay  investiture,  and  ex- 
communicated five  of  Henry's  counsellors  who  had  been  guilty  of 
^imony.  He  wrote  the  king  a  letter  urging  him  to  avoid  those 
under  spuitual  condemnation  and  to  obey  the  sacred  decrees.  This 
was  followed  by  a  summons  to  Kome,  on  jjain  of  excommunication, 
to  answer  for  his  crimes  before  an  ecclesiastical  tribunal  to  be 
'held  on  February  22,  1076.  These  acts  of  the  pope  threAv  Henry 
into  a  passion.  In  order  to  anticipate  the  papal  anathemas,  he 
caused  Gregory  to  be  deposed  by  the  subservient  imperial  pre- 
lates assembled  at  Worms.  He  then  sent  a  letter  to  "Hildebrand, 
no  longer  pope,  but  a  false  monk,"  denying  the  right  of  the  papacy 
to  judge  the  king,  except  for  apostacy,  asserting  that  Gregory  had 


1073-1294.]  POLITY  AND  SECULAR  RELATIONS  OP  THE  CHURCH.  185 

corruptly  obtained  the  j)ontificate,  and  closing  with  the  words : 
"  Let  another  ascend  the  chair  of  St.  Peter  who  will  not  cloak  vio- 
lence with  religion,  .  .  .  for  I,  Henry,  king  by  the  grace  of 
God,  with  all  my  bishops,  say  unto  you,  Get  down  !  get  down  !  " 

When  the  first  anniversary  of  this  council  at  Worms  came, 
Henry  was  at  Canossa.  The  next  day,  barefoot  and  in  the  garb 
Hem  at  Ca-  °^  ^  penitent,  he  stood  waiting  in  the  yard,  a  suppliant 
nossa  janu-  foi-  admissiou  to  tlic  castlc.  The  haughty  pope  w^aa 
within.  It  was  the  month  of  January,  and  yet  the 
royal  penitent  was  kept  standing  there  for  three  days  befox-e  he 
was  admitted  to  receive  absolution.  A  papal  decree  had  wrought 
this  change  in  the  fortunes  of  the  king.  Deposed,  anathematized, 
and  forsaken,  with  his  svibjects  absolved  from  their  allegiance  and 
in  open  revolt,  he  had  been  compelled  to  lay  aside  the  regal  au- 
thority until  the  pope  should  x^ronounce  judgment  at  Augsburg, 
early  in  the  coming  year.  With  his  wife  and  child  and  a  few  at- 
tendants he  had  crossed  the  Mount  Cenis  pass  to  Canossa,  to  seek 
reconciliation,  and  thus  to  avert  the  dreaded  sentence. 

But  Canossa  brought  humiliation  upon  Henry  and  disgrace 
upon  the  empire  ;  it  did  not  restore  to  him  the  lost  dominion.    He 
now  gathered  about  him  his  old  counsellors,  and  strove  to  win  by 
force  what  he  had  failed  to  gain  by  submission.     The  German 
princes  elected  another  king,  Eudolph  of  Suabia.     The' 
Henry  and       popc  summoucd  both  mouarchs  to  his  tribunal,  but  only 
"  °  ^  ■         succeeded  in  earning  the  reproaches  of  Eudolph  and  in  i 
confirming  the  hatred  of  Henry.     In  1080,  however,  believing  Eu- 
dolph to  be  finally  victorious,  Gregory  a  second  time  excommuni- ' 
cated  his  chief  antagonist.     But  this  act  proved  to  be  premature. 
Eudolph  was  slain  in  battle,   and   Henry  was  soon  triumphant. 
Gregory  was  compelled  to  see  the  antipope,   Clement  IH.,  estab- 
lished in  Eome,  and  the  excommunicated  king  crowned  emperor.' 
Gregory's   life  was  no  longer  safe  in  his  capital,  and  he  sought 
an  asylum  with  his  Norman  ally,  Eobert  Guiscard.     He  did  noti 
Death  of         long  survivc  the  victory  of  his  enemies.      On  May  25, 
Hiidebrand.     jqSS,  he  died  at  Salerno,  saying  :  "  I  have  loved  right- 
eousness  and  hated  iniquity,  therefore  I  die  in  exile."     The  papal 
Urban  II.  and  P^i'ty  sooH  fouud  in  Urban  II.  a  leader  scarcely  inferior  > 
the  crusades.   ^^  Gregory  himself.     By  adroit  political  intrigues  the 
imperial  power  in  Italy  was  reduced,  and  Henry's  son,  Conrad, 
urged  on  to  rebellion.     Urban  became  strong  enough  to  enter  into 
a  contest  with  Philip  of  France,  and  to  excommunicate  him  for.  hi3 
connection  with  Bertrade.     Conscious  of  his  position  as  the  right- 


186  FROM  GREGORY  VH.  TO  BONIFACE  VIIL        [Period  VI. 

ful  leader  of  Christendom,  he  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  a  move- 
ment which  soon  made  him  all-powerful  in  the  West.  The  pilgrims 
to  Jerusalem  were  maltreated  by  the  Turks.  Urban  sent  an  enthu- 
siast, Peter  the  Hermit,  through  North  Italy  and  France  to  preach 
a  crusade.  He  himself  urged  it  by  letter,  and  in  the  synods  of 
the  Church.  At  the  close  of  his  memorable  speech  at  Clermont, 
in  1095,  the  whole  assembly,  swej^t  away  as  one  man  by  a  tide 
of  emotion,  cried  out,  "God  wills  it."  The  religious  zeal  of 
the  West  was  enlisted  in  the  sacred  enterprise.  Christians  were 
eager  to  strike  down  the  infidel  who  was  desecrating  the  sepul- 
chre of  their  Lord.  The  pope  appealed  to  every  passion  of  the 
human  heart.  Those  who  went  in  penitence  were  to  receive  abso- 
lution for  all  sins,  and  to  those  who  fell  eternal  blessedness  was 
the  promised  reward.  The  institution  of  knighthood  gained  a  re- 
ligiovis  consecration  and  gave  rise  to  chivalry.  The  holy  cause  was 
hallowed,  as  men  believed,  by  miracle  and  prophecy.  Nor  was 
this  all.  The  moment  the  debtor  or  the  criminal  took  the  cross, 
he  avoided  the  clutch  of  the  law.  In  Palestine  the  adventurer 
might  seek  excitement  and  booty,  the  warrior  hoped  for  territory 
and  renown.  At  the  head  of  this  mighty  movement  stood  Urban, 
the  Koman  pontiff.  The  power  of  the  antipope  sunk  into  insig- 
nificance, and  he  became  merely  the  leader  of  a  Roman  faction. 
The  death  of  Urban  and  the  capture  of  Jerusalem  by  the  crusaders 
Death  of  Hen-  occurrcd  iu  the  summer  of  1099.  The  last  days  of 
ry  IV.,  1106.  jjenry  IV.  were  embittered  by  the  revolt  of  his  second 
son,  Henry,  whose  imnatural  treason  was  encouraged  by  the  bless- 
ing of  Paschal  H.,  Urban's  successor.  The  quarrel  about  investi- 
tures had  spread  to  England,  where  the  intrepid  Anselm 
conflicur  had  faced  William  Eufus  and  Henry  1,  in  behalf  of  the 
England.  ^..^j^^^  ^^  ^.j^^  Cliurch.  It  was  now  settled  in  1106  by  a 
compromise  much  resembling  the  subsequent  concordat  of  Worms. 
The  king,  iu  giving  up  a  form,  surrendered  no  real  power  which 
the  Conqueror  had  enjoyed. 

Henry  V.,  the  new  king  of  Germany,  rewarded  Paschal's  patron- 
age of  his  treason  by  the  most  despotic  use  of  his  ill-gained  power. 
Pasch.^1  II.  ^^  ^^6  time  the  pope  was  reduced  to  such  straits  that 
and  Henry  V.  j^g  (jj.e^  ^p  ^j^g  preUmiuaries  of  a  treaty,  according  to 
which  the  Church  was  to  surrender  all  its  temporal  possessions 
and  thenceforth  to  subsist  on  tithes  and  offerings.  In  return,  the 
king  was  to  give  up  the  no  longer  significant  right  of  investiture. 
To  wealthy  and  ambitious  prelates  and  to  the  Hildebrandians  this 
proceeding  seemed  an  act  of  supreme  folly,  whereby  God  was 


1073-1294.]  POLITY  AND  SECULAR  RELATIONS  OF  THE  CHURCH.  187 

robbed  and  his  Church  desolated.  Mutual  suspicious  brought 
these  negotiations  to  an  end,  but  the  threats  of  Henry  soon  wrung 
from  Paschal  the  imperial  crown  and  the  concession  of  the  right  of 
investiture.  This  yielding  of  the  pope  was  viewed  with  indignant 
scorn  by  the  papal  party,  and  he  was  driven,  despite  his  oath,  into 
an  open  war  with  the  emperor.  The  struggle  dragged  on  a  few 
years  longer.  The  sufferings  which  it  had  brought  in  its  ti-ain 
gradually  cooled  the  zeal  of  partisans.  Renewed  negotiations  be- 
concordat  of  tweeu  Henry  and  Calixtus  H.  led  to  the  Concordat  of 
Worms,  1122.  "\Yorms.  Investiture  by  ring  and  staff  was  given  up, ' 
and  in  its  place  was  substituted  the  touch  of  the  monarch's  seep-  • 
tre.  Bishops  and  abbots  were  to  be  chosen  in  the  presence  of  the . 
emperor,  but  without  his  interference.  Thus  the  spiritual  dignity 
of  the  Church  was  saved  without  trenching  on  the  sovereign  rights 
of  the  empire.  ^ 


CHAPTER  11. 


THE  POLITY  AND  SECULAR  RELATIONS  OF  THE  CHURCH  FROM 
THE  CONCORDAT  OF  WORMS  TO  THE  DEATH  OF  INNOCENT  III. 

(1122-1216). 

Upon  the  death  of  Henry  V.,  in  1125,  the  imperial  house  of 
Franconia  became  extinct,  and  Lothair,  the  Duke  of  Saxony,  a 
„        .      ,  leader  of  the  Church  party,  was  raised  to  the  throne. 

Reopening  of  j.         ./ ' 

the  investiture  But  the  sccmiug  triumph  of  the  papacy  was  short-lived. 

contest.  ox  j.     j.       ./ 

A  contest  between  rival  popes  gave  Lothair  an  opportu- 
1130.  j^jj^y  Iq  resume  those  rights  which  at  his  election  had 

been  conceded  to  the  Church.  He  insisted  that  as  prelates  were 
his  vassals  they  should  not  be  consecrated  until  after  they  had 
been  invested ;  for  if  he  was  obliged  to  invest  anyone  whom  the 
Church  chose  to  consecrate,  the  touch  of  the  royal  sceptre  would 
become  a  meaningless  form,  and  the  great  battle  which  the  two 
Henrys  had  fought  to  maintain  their  feudal  supremacy  would  have 
brought  no  gain.  Lothair  was  not  so  careful  to  vindicate  the  im- 
perial claim  in  another  matter.  At  his  coronation  he  con- 
sented to  receive  as  a  fief  of  the  Roman  see  the  lands  which 
Matilda,  Countess  of  Tuscany,  the  devoted  friend  of  Gregory  VH., 
had  bequeathed  to  the  Church,  and  which  had  been  a  bone  of  con- 
tention between  Henry  V.  and  Paschal.  The  death  of  Lothair  de- 
prived the  papacy  of  an  emperor  in  a  measure  favorable  to  its 
pretensions,  and  raised  to  the  imperial  dignity  a  family  destined  to 


188  PROM  GREGORY  VII.  TO  BONIFACE  VIII.         [Period  VI, 

wac'e  with  it  a  long  war.  Conrad,  the  Hohenstaufen,  the  heir, 
throuo-h  the  female  line,  of  the  Franconians,  was  chosen  king.  His 
Gueifs  and  cncmies  were  the  Welf s ;  and  now  the  war-cries  Welf 
Ghibeiiines.  q^^  Waiblings  (f  rom  Waiblingen,  the  birthplace  of  Con- 
rad's brother)  began  to  be  heard  in  Germany.  These  names  were 
corruj)ted  by  the  Italians  into  Guelf  and  GhibeUine,  and  applied 
later  to  denote  the  papal  and  imperial  factions. 

"While  the  empire  and  the  papacy  had  been  engaged  in  their 

great  controversy,  the  Lombard  cities  gradually  gained  a  tui'bulent 

self-ffovernment.     The  spirit  which  was  manifested  in 

Arnold  of  °  \ 

Brescia,  this  movement  menaced  the  authoi'ity  of  both  pope  and 

emperor.  Under  its  influence  Ai-nold  of  Brescia,  a  pupil 
of  Abelard,  a  priest  and  a  republican,  began  to  proclaim  that  the 
clergy  must  give  back  all  property  and  secular  dominion  to  the 
state,  and  return  to  the  simplicity  enjoined  in  the  gospel,  and  prac- 
tised by  its  first  ministers.  His  words  called  out  a  sympathetic 
response  in  the  hearts  of  the  people.  Nobles  and  prelates  became 
alarmed.  They  looked  about  for  charges  of  heresy  that  might  be 
brought  against  him.  But  he  was  orthodox  in  doctrine,  and  in 
life  was  an  ascetic.  So  much  St.  Bernard  bitterly  acknowledges  in 
the  words,  "he  neither  eats  nor  drinks,  but  with  the  devil  hungers 
and  thirsts  after  the  blood  of  souls."     Condemned  by 

1139 

the  Latei-an  Council,  and  driven  from  one  country  to 
another,  Arnold  suddenly  appeared  in  Rome  itself,  where,  in  11-43, 
the  secular  power  of  the  pope  had  been  for  a  time  desti'oyed  and 

a  republic  had  been  proclaimed.  Although  the  Eo- 
d.Ti45.   "      mans  at  first  made  overtui-es  to  Conrad,  they  soon  began 

to  dream  of  the  glories  of  the  ancient  republic.     Their 

Eugene  III.  °  •*■ 

Koes  to  devotion  to  Arnold  and  to  his  ideas  was  unbounded.     In 

the  contest  with  them  one  pope  was  slain.  Another 
was  obliged  to  seek  protection  of  France  and  of  the  all-powerful 
Abbot  of  Clairvaus. 

In  the  meantime,  the  fall  of  Edessa  had  revealed  the  danger 
which  threatened  the  Holy  Sepulchre.  The  fiery  eloquence  of 
The  second  Bernard  sent  the  kings  of  France  and  Germany  on  a  new 
crusade.  1147.  crusadc.  The  disasters  which  befell  this  expedition 
sorely  tested  the  faith  of  the  pious ;  but  they  consoled  themselves 
with  the  thought  of  the  multitudes  who,  by  laying  down  their  lives 
in  it,  secured  an  immediate  entrance  into  paradise. 

The  end  of  the  Roman  republic  was  rapidly  drawing  near.  Ha- 
drian rV.  (1154-11.59),  once  the  simple  English  monk,  Nicholas 
Breakspeare,  but  now  one  of  the  most  uncompromising  of  pontiffs, 


1078-1394.]  POLITY  AND  SECULAR  RELATIONS  OF  THE  CHURCH.  189 

laid  the  rebellious  city  of  Rome  under  tlie  interdict.  The  Ro- 
mans prized  their  religious  cei'emonies  more  than  their  liberties. 
Arnold  was  banished.  The  pope  had  scarcely  become  master  of 
his  capital  when  he  was  obliged  to  confront  once  more  the  old 
question  of  the  empire  and  the  papacy.  Frederick  I.,  whom  the 
„   ,   .,_     ItalianscalledBarbarossa,  or  the  Red-beard,  had  ascended 

I  retlenck  Bar-  '  ' 

barossa  in  the  German  throne,  and  was  marching  to  Italy  to  quell 
the  mutinous  Lombards,  and  to  receive  the  imperial 
crown.  The  jealousy  with  which  Milan  and  other  cities  of  the 
North  watched  any  encroachments  upon  their  highly  valued  and 
much-abused  liberties  was  to  prove  for  the  papacy  a  means  of  de- 
fence against  the  might  of  the  Hohenstaufens.  But  at  this  time 
they  prudently  avoided  a  conflict  with  Frederick,  who  was  in  the 
vigor  of  early  manhood,  and  had  not  only  astonished  the  world  by 
his  valiant  deeds,  but  was  supported  by  the  devotion  of  united 
Germany.  He  felt  himself  to  be  the  successor  of  Augustus  and 
Charlemagne.  All  his  great  abilities  were  exerted  in  building  up 
his  supremacy  throughout  the  empire. 

The  notions  of  Arnold  and  of  his  disciples  were  as  distasteful 
to  him  as  to  the  pope,  but  in  sacrificing  this  apostle  of  republican- 
ism, and  in  scorning  the  overtures  of  the  Romans,  he  relieved  the 
papacy  for  a  time  of  some  of  its  most  dangerous  enemies.  Hadrian 
Coronation  of  ^°^  crowncd  Frederick.  The  peace  between  these  rival 
Frederick,  potentates  could  only  be  of  short  duration.  When  the 
contest  with  pope  Sanctioned  by  the  grant  of  investiture  the  conquests 
of  William  of  Sicily,  the  emperor  took  revenge  for  this 
alleged  invasion  of  his  rights  by  cutting  off  all  communication  be- 
tween Germany  and  the  needy  treasury  of  St.  Peter.  This  act  of 
Frederick  called  forth  a  letter  of  remonstrance  from  Hadrian,  which, 
to  the  nobles  assembled  at  Besanyon  in  1157,  seemed  to  claim 
feudal  superiority.  Their  rage  knew  no  bounds  when  a  legate, 
Roland,  afterwards  Alexander  IH.,  exclaimed  :  "  From  whom,  then, 
does  he  hold  the  empire,  if  not  from  the  lord  pope  ?  "  It  was  with 
difficulty  that  the  emperor  saved  the  daring  prelate  from  being 
slain  on  the  spot.  The  German  bishops  supported  Frederick  in 
his  attitude  towards  the  Roman  see.  In  his  name  they  asserted 
that  he  owed  the  imperial  crown  to  divine  favor  alone.  Hadrian 
was  obliged  to  explain  away  the  offensive  words.  The  emjoeror's 
triumph  over  the  Lombard  cities,  his  famous  parliament  in  the 
Roncalian  fields,  where  the  masters  of  the  Roman  law, 
the  study  of  which  had  been  revived  in  the  North  of  It- 
aly, claimed  for  him  all  the  powers  which  had  belonged  to  the  Cse- 


190  FROM  GREGORY  VII.  TO  BONIFACE  vni.        [Period  VI. 

sars  of  old  Eome,  and  his  resumption  of  lands  which  had  fallen 
under  the  coutrol  of  the  Church,  again  provoked  the  opposition  of 
the  pope.  A  bitter  controversy  ensued.  The  pontiff  made  a  secret 
treaty  with  Milan  and  her  allies  ;  the  emperor  received  and  listened 
to  overtures  from  the  Roman  repubhc.  The  death  of  Hadrian 
saved  Frederick  from  excommunication  and  opened  the  way  for  a 
papal  schism,     Victor  IV.  was  elected  by  those  who  dreaded  the 

wrath  or  coveted  the  favor  of  the  emperor ;  Alexander 
ni.T  n59-  ni.  was  chosen  by  the  party  which  believed  in  the  Sicil- 
^^^^'  ian  alliance  and  who  were  for  vindicating  the  highest 

pretensions  of  the  papacy.  Political  influences  and  not  priestly 
anathemas  were  to  decide  who  was  the  lawful  successor  of  St.  Pe- 
ter. Alexander  was  soon  acknowledged  in  all  the  larger  countries 
of  the  West,  except  the  empire,  and  in  those  Lombard  cities  which 
were  struggling  against  Frederick's  authority.  But  the  year  1162 
saw  the  destruction  of  Milan  and  the  apparent  triumph  of  the  em- 
peror and  his  pope  in  Italy.  But  this  advantage  was  not  lasting. 
Two  years  later  Victor  died,  and  Paschal,  the  new  antipope,  failed 
to  win  even  the  little  homage  his  predecessor  had  enjoyed. 

The  attention  of  the  world  became  absorbed  by  another  strug- 
gle in  which  the  same  issue  was  involved,  and  whose  result  raised 
Alexander  still  higher  in  the  estimation  of  Europe.     In  1162,  one 

of  his  stanchest  supporters,  Henry  II.,  of  England,  had 

and  Thomas    caused  the  chaucellor,  Thomas  a  Becket,  to  be  appointed 

Becket.        ^^  ^-^^  ^^^  ^£  Canterbury.     The  archbishop,  formerly  the 

most  trusted  adviser  of  the  king,  as  an  ecclesiastic  withstood  every 

measure  of  reform  that  touched  the  interests  of  the  Church.     The 

estates  of  the  realm  adopted  the  Constitutions  of  Claren- 

1104 

don,  which  aimed  to  restore  to  the  monarch  the  authority 
in  ecclesiastical  matters  which  Henry  I.  had  possessed,  and  espe- 
cially to  bring  criminal  clergy  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  ordinary 
courts.  Becket  was  persuaded  by  his  brother  prelates  to  accept 
these  reforms,  but  he  soon  after  repented  and  sought  the  forgive- 
ness of  the  pope.  Thus  the  quarrel  began.  Becket  fled  to  France. 
Alexander  had  a  difl&cult  position  to  hold.  He  could  not  afford  to 
sacrifice  the  friendship  of  the  king  whose  money  kept  alive  the 
contest  with  the  emperor  in  Italy,  nor  did  he  dare  to  give  away  the 
cause  of  the  archbishop.  The  news  of  Henry's  negotiations  with 
Frederick  filled  his  mind  with  foreboding,  which  only  the  enthusi- 
asm of  the  Romans  at  his  return  to  the  capital,  and  a  close  alliance 
with  the  anti-imperialist  cities  in  Lombardy  could  allay.  But  the 
time  had  not  yet  come  for  supporting  the  exiled  prelate.     Freder- 


1073-1294.]  POLITY  AND  SECULAR  RELATIONS  OF  THE  CHURCH.  191 

ick  began  to  collect  a  mighty  army  for  the  invasion  of  Italy.  Alex- 
ander hastily  disavowed  all  Becket's  acts.  The  emperor 
came,  enjoyed  a  brief  triumph,  and  then  saw  his  nobles 
and  bishops  smitten-  by  a  deadly  pestilence,  his  army  melt  away 
like  Sennacherib's  host,  and  his  enemies  united  in  the  great  Lom- 
bard league.  The  pope's  cause  was  strengthened  by  this  rebellion 
of  the  cities.  Now  he  did  not  so  much  need  the  help  of  England, 
and  he  began  boldly  to  support  Becket.  The  king  and  his  prelate 
were  apparently  reconciled.  But  the  restored  archbishop  did  not 
forsake  his  former  violent  courses.  The  king,  in  a  fit  of  anger,  cried 
out :  "  Have  I  no  one  who  will  relieve  me  from  the  insults  of  this 
turbulent  priest?"  Before  he  could  recall  these  fatal  words  four 
December  29,  knights  hastened  to  Canterbury,  broke  into  the  cathedral, 
^'^'^^-  and  murdered  Becket  as  he  stood  near  the  steps  leading 

to  the  high  altar.  The  king,  troubled  by  the  sacrilegious  crime  of 
his  nobles,  sought  absolution  from  the  pope,  even  at  the  price  of 
the  Constitutions  of  Clarendon. 

Hardly  had  this  conflict  ended  when  Frederick  advanced  into 
Italy  to  break  the  power  of  the  Lombards.  But  in  1176,  after  a  two- 
Frederick  years'  struggle,  he  was  beaten  at  the  battle  of  Legnano. 
Alexander  ^6  bore  his  misfortunes  with  dignity,  recognized  Alex- 
in., 1177.  ander  as  pope,  and  concluded  a  truce  with  the  Lombards. 
The  scene  at  Venice,  when  Frederick  fell  at  the  feet  of  Alexander 
and  was  raised  up  by  him  to  receive  the  kiss  of  peace,  was  hardly 
less  striking  than  the  meeting  of  Henry  TV.  and  Hildebrand  one 
hundred  years  before  at  Canossa.  Its  real  significance  as  betoken- 
ing the  strength  of  the  papacy  was  far  greater. 

A  double  papal  election  had  been  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able features  of  the  conflict  now  brought  to  a  peaceful  conclusion. 
Another  schism  might  prove  disastrous  to  the  papacy.  To  avoid 
such  a  calamity,  a  decree  was  passed  which  provided  that  the  votes 
of  two-thirds  of  the  cardinals  should  be  sufficient  to  elect  a  can- 
didate for  the  papal  office. 

A  few  years  passed  away  and  it  seemed  as  if  the  empire  and  the 
papacy  were  on  the  verge  of  another  struggle.  Frederick's  power 
Death  of  liad  become  supreme.  The  Lombard  cities  were  luke- 
Frederick.  -^arm  in  the  support  of  the  pope.  But  suddenly  news 
came  that  Jerusalem,  in  1187,  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  Saladin. 
Frederick  hastened  to  the  East,  with  Philip  of  France  and  Kichard 
of  England.  The  great  adversary  of  papal  absolutism 
was  accidently  drowned  in  a  small  river  in  Pisidia.  The 
crusade  proved  a  failure.     The  succeeding  years  were  a  time  of 


192  FROM  GREGORY  VII.  TO  BONIFACE  Vni.        [Period  VI. 

liumiliation  for  the  papacy.  The  Emperor  Henry  VI.  had  much  of 
his  father's  vigor  and  Httle  of  his  magnanimity.  He  sought  to 
make  the  emjiire  all-powerful,  and  against  him  the  anathemas  of 
the  aged  pontiif  were  of  no  avail.  But  his  death  left  the  empii-e 
divided  between  the  claims  of  rival  aspirants  and  of  his  infant 
son,  and  the  papal  throne  about  to  be  occupied  by,  perhaps,  the 
greatest  in  the  long  line  of  the  j)opes,  Innocent  HI. 

Innocent  was  in  the  full  vigor  of  manhood.  His  mind  was  filled 
with  the  most  exalted  ideas  of  papal  prerogative.  He  believed  that 
Innocent  HI.,  Christ  had  given  to  the  successors  of  Peter  authority 
1198-1216.  '  jjq|.  Qj^jy  Q^,gj.  ^jjg  Church,  but  over  the  world.  The 
crowns  of  kings  and  the  destinies  of  nations  were  lodged  by  a  di- 
vine decree  in  their  hands.  They  were  set  to  pluck  up  and  to  de- 
stroy, to  build  and  to  plant.  Before  their  tribunals  princes  and 
states  were  commanded  to  bring  their  controversies  for  judgment. 
He  who  refused  to  hearken  was  to  be  cut  off  from  the  communion 
of  the  faithful.  The  theories  which  the  masters  of  Roman  law 
opposed  to  these  pretensions  had  little  currency  except  where  they 
were  reinforced  by  the  arms  of  a  Barbarossa.  Ever  since  the  time  of 
Gregoi-y  VK,  men  had  been  familiar  with  these  unbounded  claims  of 
Eome,  and  had  gradually  come  to  beheve  them.  Thej'  had  listened 
to  the  tale  of  Frederick's  submission  at  Venice,  and  of  Henry's  hu- 
miliation at  Cauossa.  The  transient  victories  which  the  emperors 
had  gained  over  the  popes  had  seemed  to  most  of  the  world  like  vio- 
lence done  to  God's  righteous  servants.  One  autipope  after  another 
had  fallen  before  the  spiritual  majesty  of  the  true  successors  of  St. 
Peter.  The  crusades  had  thrown  into  their  hands  vast  and  indefi- 
nite prerogatives,  which  they  used  to  beat  down  their  enemies, 
who  were  likewise  considered  to  be  God's  enemies,  whether  they 
were  infidel  Turks  or  baptized  emperors.  And  now,  at  the  acces- 
sion of  Innocent,  the  affairs  of  states  were  in  such  confusion  that 
he  was  able  to  carry  out  more  completely  than  any  one  who  went 
before  or  came  after  him  the  cherished  theory  of  a  papal  theocracy. 

Henry  VI.,  by  his  marriage  with  Constautia,  daughter  of  Eoger, 
King  of  Sicily,  had  been  able  to  secui*e  the  union  of  Sicily  and  the 
Innocent  III.  states  in  the  South  of  Italy  to  the  empire.  It  was  Inno- 
power  ilf  ^'^  cent's  first  concern  to  break  up  this  union,  in  order  that 
^'^'J-  the  papal  domains  might  not  be  surrounded  by  the  ter- 

ritories of  the  emperor.  The  times  were  propitious.  In  the  em- 
pire, Henry's  brother,  Phihp,  and  Otho,  the  Saxon  duke,  were  con- 
tending with  one  another  for  the  crown.  The  claims  of  the  young 
child,  Frederick,  were  passed  over.     Constantia's  anxiety  to  ob- 


1073-1294.]  POLITY  AND  SECULAR  RELATIONS  OF  THE  CHURCH.  193 

tain  for  him  the  Sicilian  kingdom  enabled  the  pojDG,  in  1198,  to  re- 
duce it  to  the  rank  of  a  fief  of  the  Roman  see  under  the  rule  of  an 
independent  monarch.  Emboldened  by  the  freedom  of  Italy  from 
imperial  restraint,  he  drove  out  the  Tuscan  nobles  from  the  territo- 
ries of  the  Church,  and  established  his  authority  in  the  city  of  Eome 
itself.  He  formed  the  Tuscan  league,  which  became  much  more 
devoted  to  the  intei-ests  of  the  papacy  than  the  Lombard  league  had 

,     _,  been.     The  conflict  which  was  going  on  in  Germany  fur- 

interference  o       o  ^         . 

of  Innocent     nishcd  an  inviting  occasion  for  papal  interference.     De- 
spite the  protests  of  Philip's  party,  Innocent  employed, 
in  1201,  all  his  spiritual  authority  and  worldly  power  in  assisting 
the  cause  of  Otho,  who  was  a  Guelf  and  who  had  promised  to  satisfy 
the   claims  of  the   papacy.     But  no  sooner  was  Otho 
crowned  than  he  began  to  assert  his  imperial  preroga- 
tives.    The  pope  did  not  hesitate  to  plunge  the  empire  again  into 
civil  war.     Young  Fi'ederick's  claims  were  now  revived.     The  Lom- 
bard cities  changed  sides.     The  Guelfs  fought  for  the  emperor  be- 
cause he  Avas  a  Guelf ;  the  Ghibellines  fought  against  him  for  the 
same  reason,  even  though   it  brought  them  into  the  company  of 
the  pope  and  his  Tuscan  allies.     Frederick  was  victorious,  and  at 
the  Diet  of  Frankfort,  in  the  year  1212,  he  was  chosen  emperor. 

Innocent's  interference  was  not  confined  to  the  empire.     He 
obliged  Philip  Augustus  of  France  to  put  away  his  beloved  Agnes 
Innocent  III    ^^  Merau,  and  to  acknowledge  as  his  wife  the  hated  In- 
and  Philip       geburga,  from  whom  the  French  prelates  had  granted 
him  a  divorce.     Of  course  weaker  monarchs  could  not 
look  for  milder  treatment.    In  1208,  John  of  England,  who  refused 
to  recognize  as  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  Cardinal  Stephen  Lang- 
ton,  who  had  been  appointed  by  Innocent,  was  deposed,  and  his 
kingdom  handed  over  to  France.     Alarmed  at  the  strength  of  his 
enemies  he  submitted  abjectly,  and  received  back  his 
kingdom  as  a  fief  of  the  Roman  see.    But  when  the  pope 
hurled  his  anathemas  at  the  barons  of  England  because  they  would 
not  give  up  the  Great  Charter  which  they  had  wrested  from  their 
humiliated  monarch,  his  words  aroused  indignation,  and  his  inter- 
dict was  treated  by  them  with  contempt. 

Another  prosperous  people  did  not  hesitate  to  subordinate  their 
revei'ence  for  the  pope  to  the  intei^est  of  their  state.  The  Venetians, 
Innocent  III.  in  1202,  skilfully  turned  aside  the  crusading  army,  which 
and  Venice.  ^^  j^^^j  bccu  the  great  aim  of  Innocent's  reign  to  collect, 
to  the  conquest  of  Zara,  a  town  which  had  been  taken  from  them 
by  the  King  of  Hungary.  The  soldiers  of  the  cross,  despite  the 
13 


194  FROM  GREGORY  VII.  TO  BONIFACE  Vin.         [Period  VI. 

threats  of  the  indignant  pope,  not  only  advanced  to  the  capture  of 
a  Christian  city,  but  in  the  cause  of  the  deposed  emperor  of  the 
East  sailed  to  Constantinople,  and  restored  Isaac  Angelus  to  his 
lost  throne.  Discontented  with  his  treatment  of  them, 
they  stormed  the  city,  and  set  up  an  emperor  of  their 
own.  Innocent  condemned  the  diversion  of  the  crusade  from  its 
holy  object,  but  consoled  himself  by  subjecting  the  Patriarch  of 
Constantinople  to  Kome,  and  thus  taking  what  he  regarded  as  the 
The  Aibigen-  first  stcp  towards  healing  the  schism.  In  another  crusade 
sian  crusa  e.  j^^QQgj^i;  -^^as  more  successful,  but  his  success  has  left 
upon  him  and  upon  those  whom  he  employed,  an  indelible  stain. 
Certain  sects  arose  in  the  South  of  France,  which,  with  a  zeal  for 
purity  of  life  and  an  opposition  to  the  claims  of  the  priesthood,  as 
well  as  to  ecclesiastical  abuses  in  general,  combined  peculiar  doc- 
trinal beliefs  which  were  somewhat  akin  to  the  dualistic  ideas 
prevalent  in  the  East.  They  Avere  called  Catharists,  and,  because 
they  were  numerous  in  and  near  the  city  of  Albi,  were  named  Albi- 
genses.  Their  tenets  threatened  the  very  foundations  of  the  hie- 
rarchical system.  Persecution  was  found  of  no  avail.  All  Langue- 
doc  was  filled  with  heresy.  The  violence  of  the  papal  legate,  Peter 
of  Castelnau,  was  avenged  by  his  murder.     Innocent  at 

1208.  . 

once  proclaimed  a  crusade,  offering  the  sunny  lands  of 
the  South,  and  heaven  hereafter,  to  all  who  would  engage  in  the  holy 
war.  The  crusaders,  led  by  Arnold,  Abbot  of  Citeaux,  and  Simon  de 
Montfort,  fulfilled  their  commission  with  inhuman  cruelty.  Their 
thirst  for  blood  and  their  unbounded  rapacity  continued  to  rage 
in  spite  of  the  feeble  attempts  of  the  pope  to  check  them.  Her- 
esy', however,  was  not  uprooted  by  all  this  brutality.  Inquisito- 
Thc  inqiiisi-  ^al  powcrs,  had  been  given  to  the  papal  legates.  Bish- 
*^'"""  ops   were   especially   charged   by  the   Fourth   Lateran 

Council,  in  1216,  through  themselves,  or  by  agents  appointed  by 
them  for  the  pui-pose,  to  ferret  out  and  punish  heretics.  In  1229 
the  Council  of  Toulouse  organized  more  strictly  this  episcopal  in- 
quisition. In  1232  and  1233  the  work  was  entrusted  to  monks  of 
the  Dominican  order.  They  were  to  stand  in  a  direct  relation  to 
the  pope,  since  bishops  and  local  synods  could  not  be  trusted  to 
exercise  the  desired  rigor.  Thus  arose  the  Inquisition,  which  exer- 
cised its  powers  with  somewhat  varying  rules  in  different  countries, 
but  was  one  of  the  most  terrible  engines  of  intolerance  and  tyranny 
which  human  ingenuity  has  ever  devised. 


107y-1294.]     THE  POLITICAL  RELATIONS  OP  THE  CHURCH.  195 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  POLITY  AND  THE  POLITICAL  RELATIONS  OF  THE  CHURCH, 
FROM  THE  DEATH  OF  INNOCENT  III.  TO  THE  ACCESSION  OF 
BONIFACE  VIIL   (1216-1294). 

A  few  days  before  Innocent's  death,  which  occurred  on  July  16, 
121G,  Frederick  II.  promised  that,  when  he  should  receive  the  im- 
Frederick  II.  P^^'ial  crowu,  he  would  give  to  his  son,  Henry,  Naples 
and  Hono-  and  Sicily,  which  were  fiefs  of  the  Roman  see,  and  which 
it  was  the  policy  of  the  pope  to  keep  from  being  again 
united  to  the  empire.  Innocent's  successor,  Honorius  HI.  was  at 
Honorius,  heart  a  crusader  and  not  a  statesman.  He  exacted  from 
ijit>-ij27.  Frederick,  as  the  price  of  the  crown,  the  promise  that 
he  would  lead  the  Christian  armies  to  the  recovery  of  Jeru- 
salem, but  he  made  only  a  feeble  attempt  to  keep  the  emperor 
from  establishing  his  authority  in  the  Sicilian  kingdom.  It  was 
not  long  before  the  papal  lands  were  encompassed  by  the  im- 
perial territories,  as  they  had  been  under  Henry  VI.  Each  suc- 
ceeding year  added  to  the  power  of  the  emperor.  Germany  was 
united.  The  prince  who  was  to  have  reigned  over  the  Two  Sicilies 
was,  in  1222,  elected  king  of  the  Romans,  and  thus  made  heir  of 
the  empire.  The  disorders  which  had  arisen  in  the  Sicilian  king- 
dom under  Innocent's  protectorate  were  repressed.  In  Lombardy 
alone  imperial  authority  was  resisted.  There,  in  1226,  a  new  league 
was  formed  whose  cause  was  openly  es^DOused  by  the  jjope.  Fred- 
erick pleaded  the  necessities  of  his  vast  realm  as  an  excuse  for  put- 
ting off  the  crusade  from  year  to  year,  and  yet  he  bound  himself 
under  more  and  more  solemn  engagements  to  undertake  the  expe- 
dition.  During  the  reign  of  Honorius  the  constitution 
of  the  two  great  mendicant  orders,  the  Dominicans  and 
Fi-anciscans,  was  completed.  These  preaching  friars 
faithfully  supported  the  papacy  against  priests  and  princes  alike, 
and  did  for  it  the  work  of  a  standing  army  in  the  ensuing  struggle 
with  the  last  of  the  Hohenstaufens. 

The  death  of  Honorius  put  an  end  to  the  peaceful  relations  of 

uhe  papacy  and  the  empire,     Frederick  could  not  hope  for  mild 

treatment  at  the  hands  of  the  next  pontiff.    Gregory  IX. 

and  Gregory"    (1227-1241)  posscssed  an  inflexible  will,  and  an  energy 

apparently  undiminished  even  at  his  advanced  age.     He 

added  to  a  profound  knowledge  of  the  canon  law  a  practical  ex- 


196  FROM  GREGORY  VII.  TO  BONIFACE  VHI.       [Period  VI. 

perience  in  the  affairs  of  the  papacy,  acquired  in  the  service  of 
Innocent  and  Honorius.  The  time  appointed  for  the  emperor's 
departure  arrived.  There  were  new  delays,  and  then  sickness  in 
the  camp.  Finally  the  fleet  set  sail,  but  soon  the  emperor  returned, 
pleading  that  he  was  ill,  and  promising  to  go  as  soon  as  he  should 
regain  his  health.  But  Gregory  would  listen  to  no  excuses.  Amid 
circumstances  which  added  peculiar  terror  to  the  occasion,  he  pro- 
nounced the  sentence  of  excommunication.  "All  the  bells  joined 
their  dissonant  peals ;  the  clergy,  each  with  his  torch,  stood  around 
the  altar.  Gregory  implored  the  eternal  malediction  of  God  against 
the  emperor.  The  clergy  dashed  down  their  torches ;  there  was 
utter  darkness."  The  sentence  of  the  pope  was  proclaimed  by 
every  zealous  churchman  and  wandering  friar  in  the  lands  of  the 
West.  The  emperor  might  hold  up  to  the  gaze  of  the  world  the 
ruinous  ambition  and  venality  of  the  Eoman  court  ;  but  the  words 
of  one  who  was  cut  off  from  the  communion  of  believers,  one  at 
whose  approach  the  ministrations  of  religion  must  cease,  could 
have  but  little  weight  against  the  curse  launched  at  him  by  the 
vicar  of  Christ,  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy 
Ghost.  Yet  the  j)apal  decrees  did  not  seriously  weaken  Frederick's 
Fifth  crusade,  imperial  authority,  nor  did  they  move  him  to  alter 
a2-,>s-i229.  j^-g  plans.  He  made  preparations  to  start  on  the  long- 
deferred  crusade. 

Gregory  was  horror-stricken  at  the  thought  of  an  excommuni- 
cated prince  assuming  to  lead  the  Christian  armies.  Far  better 
would  it  be  to  leave  the  sepulchre  of  the  Lord  in  the  hands  of  the 
infidel.  He  interdicted  the  payment  of  the  taxes  which  had  been 
levied  for  the  expenses  of  the  crusade,  he  foi'bade  the  emperor 
to  go,  and  when  his  commands  and  his  threats  were  alike  disre- 
garded, he  sent  two  Franciscan  friars  in  a  fast  ship  to  outsail  the 
imperial  fleet,  and  to  proclaim  that  Frederick  was  under  the  ban  of 
the  Church,  and  therefore  incapable  of  conducting  the  holy  enter- 
prise. But  news  came  that  in  spite  of  the  paj^al  anathemas,  the 
jealousy  of  the  Knights  Templars  and  Hospitallers,  and  the  hatred 
of  the  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem,  the  emperor  had  concluded,  in  1229, 
an  advantageous  peace  with  the  Saracens,  and  in  the  church  of 
the  Holy  Sepulchre  had  placed  the  royal  crown  upon  his  head. 
Gregory  now  preached  a  crusade  against  Frederick.  The  German 
princes  were  vu'ged  to  revolt.  Legates  were  sent  throughout  the 
West  to  collect  money.  They  began  those  exactions  under  which 
England  groaned  during  the  larger  part  of  this  century.  The 
papal  troops  attacked  the  emperor's  territories  in  Southern  Italy. 


1073-1294.]     THE  POLITICAL  RELATIONS  OF  THE  CHURCH.  197 

But  since  the  successful  termination  of  Frederick's  expedition  to 
Palestine,  public  opinion  had  gradually  come  over  to  his  side.  The 
extortions  of  the  Roman  emissaries  and  the  interfei-ence  of  the 
mendicant  friars  made  the  clergy  lukewarm  in  the  contest.  The 
emperor  on  his  return  quickly  put  to  flight  the  troops  which  had 
invaded  his  territories.  Gregory'  could  no  longer  refuse  to  nego- 
Aupiistss,  tiate.  The  treaty  of  San  Gerinano  saved  the  dignity  of 
^*^"-  the  papacy  and  cost  Frederick  only  a  few  unimportant  / 

concessions.  During  the  years  of  peace  which  followed,  the  j^opo 
seemed  to  be  absorbed  in  perfecting  the  system  of  canon  law, 
asserting  for  it  an  eternal  validity  ;  while  the  emjieror  was  estab- 
lishing in  Sicily  a  brilliant  kingdom  in  which  the  monarch  was 
held  lip  as  the  fountain  of  justice.  Irreconcilable  as  the  aims  of 
these  opponents  were,  their  measures  led  to  no  open  rupture. 
The  pope  did  not  hesitate  to  set  the  condemnation  of  the  Church 
upon  the  unholy  ambition  of  Fredei'ick's  rebellious  sou  ;  and  yet  he 
could  not  look  on  with  unconcern  when  the  emperor  advanced  at 
the  head  of  a  victorious  army,  ostensibly  to  suppress  the  heresies 
which  infected  the  Guelfic  cities,  but  really  to  punish  them  for 
their  part  in  the  revolt  of  King  Henry,  and  to  fortify  the  imijerial 
authority  over  them  more  completely.  At  the  battle  of 
Corte  Nuova,  the  Lombards  were  routed  with  great  loss. 
Gregory  was  alarmed.  If  the  fx-ee  cities  in  the  North  Avere  con- 
quered, there  would  be  no  force  capable  of  resisting  the  emperor, 
from  Sicily  to  the  shores  of  the  Baltic.  Not  only  the  supremacy  of 
the  papacy,  but  even  its  independence,  appeared  to  be  in  jeopardy. 
The  aged  pontiff  did  not  shrink  from  the  unequal  strugg'a.  His 
maxim  was  that  the  little  bark  of  St.  Peter  might  be  tossed  on  the 
waves,  but  could  never  be  submerged.    He  again  excom- 

Renewed  qx- 

commiinica-  muuicated  and  deposed  the  empei'or.  When  Frederick 
erick-,  March,  accuscd  him  of  protecting  the  Lombard  heretics,  and 
of  selling  justice  for  gold,  he  began  his  answer  with  a 
vision  borrowed  from  the  Apocalypse:  "A  beast  has  arisen  out  of 
the  sea,  whose  mouth  has  opened  to  blaspheme  the  name  of  God." 
"  This  pestilent  king,"  he  said,  "  has  affirmed  that  the  world  has 
been  deceived  by  three  impostors — Christ  Jesus,  Moses,  and  Moham- 
med." Frederick  could  also  quote  Scripture.  He  declared  the 
pope  to  be  that  great  dragon  who  had  seduced  the  whole  world. 
He  defended  himself  from  the  charge  of  infidelity,  calling  upon  God 
to  judge  between  him  and  his  enemy  who  had  so  basely  defamed 
him. 

Frederick  possessed  an  acute  understanding,  which  was  quick- 


198  FROM  GREGORY  VIL  TO  BONIFACE  VIII.       [Period  VI. 

ened  in  its  activity  by  an  indignant  sense  of  the  wrongs  wliich 
were  done  him  in  the  name  of  religion.  His  mind  was  broadened 
by  familiar  intercourse  with  cultivated  Saracens  who  frequented 
his  Sicilian  court.  It  is,  however,  improbable  that  he  uttered  the 
remark  about  the  three  impostors.  He  was  not  the  first  nor  the 
last  one  to  whom  this  offensive  saying  was  attributed.  He  may 
have  had  little  faith  in  sacerdotal  religion.  It  is  certain  that  he 
caught  no  glimpses  of  the  truths  of  the  gospel  that  deeply  affected 
his  moral  conduct.  It  was  not  his  own  words  or  virtues  which 
saved  him  from  being  overwhelmed  as  an  outcast.  Matthew  of 
Pai-is  wrote:  "Had  it  not  been  for  the  avarice  of  Eome,  which  de- 
stroyed the  devotion  of  the  people  for  the  lord  pojpe,  the  whole 
world  would  have  risen  up  against  the  emperor  as  the  enemy  of 
the  Chiu-ch  and  of  Christ."  The  attempts  of  Gregoi-y  to  raise  up  a 
pretender  to  the  throne  were  pact  with  scorn.  Eberhard,  Arch- 
bishop of  Salzburg,  cried  out:  "Unless  we  are  blind,  we  behold 
under  the  title  of  Pontifex  Maximus,  under  the  cloak  of  a  shep- 
herd, a  most  ravenous  wolf."  The  pope  called  a  council,  but  the 
bishops  and  abbots  who  obeyed  the  summons  were  capt- 
ured by  the  emperor's  fleet  and  kept  in  prison  in  Na- 
ples. Already  Frederick's  troops  were  beneath  the  walls  of  Rome. 
Death  interposed  to  save  Gregory  from  fui-ther  humiliation.  He 
expired  on  August  21,  1241. 

There  was  a  long  delay  before  the  election  of  his  successor,  and 
then  came  fruitless  negotiations  between  Innocent  IV.  and  Fred- 
erick. Innocent  fled  to  Lyons.  The  kings  of  England, 
(1-243-1254)  *  Fi-ance,  and  Aragon  would  not  receive  so  costly  a  guest, 
re  enc  .  j^  j^^^  auger  the  pope  exclaimed  :  "  After  the  dragon  is 
trodden  under  foot,  quickly  the  little  serpents  will  be  crushed." 
He  called  together  a  general  council  at  Lyons  in  1245.  Thad- 
deus  of  Suessa  appeared  before  it  to  defend  the  emperor.  His 
words  could  have  no  effect  on  the  mind  of  a  pontiff  blinded  by  ani- 
mosity and  intoxicated  with  a  sense  of  his  power.  Innocent  did 
not  deign  to  submit  the  question  to  the  votes  of  the  assembled 
prelates.  He  pronounced  the  sentence  of  excommunication  and 
deposition  upon  Frederick.  At  the  news  of  this  act  the  emperor 
gathered  his  energies  for  a  mortal  struggle.  He  did  not,  as  be- 
fore, separate  the  cause  of  the  pope  from  that  of  the  other  clergy. 
He  struck  a  blow  at  the  whole  hierarchical  system.  He  declared 
it  to  be  his  purpose  to  bring  back  the  priesthood  to  the  position 
they  occupied  in  the  early  Church,  that  they  might,  with  projier 
humility,  live  after  the  manner  of  the  apostles.     In  the  eyes  of  the 


1073-1294.]     THE  POLITICAL  RELATIONS  OF  THE  CHURCH.  199 

world  Frederick  thus  convicted  himself  of  a  most  dangerous  her- 
esy, and  he  alienated  many  who  had  hitherto  believed  in  him.  He 
had  made  the  fatal  mistake  of  being  in  advance  of  his  age — a 
position  impossible  to  sustain,  even  if  his  personal  character  had 
commanded  the  respect  of  religious  men.  Innocent  now  de- 
clared eternal  war  against  him  and  against  his  family.  The  rev- 
enues of  the  churches  of  England  and  France  were  exhausted 
to  pay  the  expenses  of  the  crusade  and  to  buy  adherents  for 
rival  emperors.  For  a  time  all  went  well  with  Frederick.  His 
arms  were  victorious  over  his  enemies.  But  suddenly  the  shad- 
ows of  the  impending  doom  of  his  house  seemed  to  settle  about 

him.  In  1248  he  suffered  a  terrible  reverse  before  the 
^/Frederick,    rebellious  city  of  Parma.      His   counsellor,  Thaddeus, 

was  captured  and  slain.  Soon  after,  Enzio,  his  favorite 
son,  was  languishing  in  the  dungeons  of  Bologna,  and  his  friend 
and  chancellor,  Peter  de  Vinea,  was  proved  to  be  a  traitor.  Fred- 
erick's mind  seemed  to  break  under  his  misfortunes.  Another 
year,  and  the  monarch  who  had  been  esteemed  the  "wonder  of  the 
world  "  was  dead.     His  death  occurred  on  December  13,  1250. 

But  Innocent  was  not  content  with  this  accomplishment  of  his 
hopes  :  he  would  destroy  the  whole  viper  brood.      He  carried  on 

an  implacable  warfare  with  Conrad,  promising  all  who 
Hohenstau-     would  joiu  in  the  holy  cause,  with  their  arms  or  their 

money,  remission  of  sins.  After  Conrad's  death,  Inno- 
cent's successors  strove  to  drive  Manfred,  natural  son  of  Frederick 
II.,  out  of  the  Sicilies.  The  crown  had  been  sold  by  the  pope  to 
Prince  Edmund  of  England  ;  but  now  that  his  father,  Henry  HI, 
could  pay  no  more  in  the  effort  to  seize  on  the  prize,  it  was  offered 
to  Charles  of  Anjou,  brother  of  Louis  IX.,  the  French  king.  In 
1266  Charles  conquered  Manfred  and  took  the  kingdom.  Young 
Conradin,  the  last  of  the  Hohenstaufens,  came  from  his  ancestral 
home  in  Germany  to  win  back  his  father's  Sicilian  realm,  but  fell 
into  the  hands  of  his  relentless  foes,  and,  on  October  29,  1268, 
died  on  the  scaffold. 

The  triumph  of  the  papacy  seemed  to  be  complete  when  Ku- 
dolph  of  Hapsburg,  in  1273,  was  chosen  emperor.  He  relinquished 
Condition  of  all  the  imperial  claims  over  those  territories  in  Central  and 
the  papacy.  Northern  Italy  which  the  popes  declared  to  be  subject  to 
the  Roman  see,  and  pledged  himself  not  to  disturb  Charles  of  An- 
jou, the  papal  vassal,  in  the  possession  of  the  SiciHan  kingdom.  In 
Lombardy  his  authority  was  not  great  enough  to  threaten  Rome, 
and  yet  it  acted  as  a  check  upon  the  schemes  of  Charles  to  unite 


\    4 


200  FROM  GREGORY  VU.  TO  BONIFACE  VIII.       [Period  VI. 

the  whole  peninsula  under  his  rule.  The  popes,  by  destroying  the 
Hohenstaufens,  had  reduced  the  dominions  of  the  Holy  Roman  em- 
pire until  they  were  hardly  more  extensive  than  the  German  king- 
dom. They  had  fatally  weakened  on  its  temporal  side  the  mediaeval 
theory  of  the  government  of  the  world.  This  result  could  not 
fail  in  time  to  react  unfavorably  on  their  own  position,  especially  as 
out  of  some  of  the  fragments  of  the  empire  they  had  constructed 
a  principality  for  themselves.  They  were  in  danger  of  becoming 
mere  Italian  princes,  and  of  losing  their  lofty  rank  as  the  spiritual 
lords  of  the  world.  But  this  was  not  the  whole  dangei'.  The  suc- 
cessors of  Innocent,  in  order  to  drive  Fredei'ick's  heirs  out  of  the 
Sicilies,  had  got  for  themselves  an  ally  who  was  soon  to  become  a 
master.  A  few  of  them,  like  Gregory  X.  (1271-1276),  condemned 
Charles  for  the  oppression  by  which  he  was  exhausting  Sicily.  But 
Martin  IV.,  a  Frenchman,  gave  himself  entirely  to  the  furtherance 
The  Sicilian  of  the  king's  wishcs.  In  Sicily  the  tyranny  became  so 
Vespers.  intolerable  that  at  the  hour  of  vespers  on  Easter-Monday, 
1282,  a  rising  took  place  and  all  the  French  on  the  island  were  mas- 
sacred. The  power  of  the  pope  in  Sicily  was  destroyed.  Peter  IH., 
of  Aragon,  who  had  maxTied  the  daughter  of  Manfred,  became  King 
of  Sicily,  and  Charles  of  Anjou  was  restricted  to  Naples. 

In  the  struggles  which  ensued,  papal  authority  was  steadily  re- 
sisted. Anathemas  appeared  to  have  lost  much  of  their  former 
teiTor,  and  to  fall  with  little  effect.  The  kings  of  the  West  began 
to  declare  war  and  make  peace,  regardless  of  the  prayers  and  threats 
of  the  Roman  pontiff.  A  partisan  spirit  prevailed  among  the  car- 
dinals. At  one  time  (1268-1271)  the  papal  chair  was  vacant  for 
nearly  three  years.  Gregory  X.,  the  newly  elected  pope,  proclaimed 
a  law  by  which  the  cardinals  in  conclave  should  be  starved  into 
unanimity  unless  they  effected  an  election  within  a  reasonable  time. 
But  this  rule  was  more  often  suspended  or  defied  than  complied 
with.  At  the  close  of  this  period  the  cardinals,  weary  of  their 
chronic  wrangling,  at  length  chose  the  pious  hermit,  Peter  of  IMur- 
Ceiestinev  ^'ouc,  who  assumed  the  name  of  Celestine  V.  They 
•'"'y-i "^94-06-  were  soon  aware  of  their  mistake.     It  was  difficult  to 

cember,  1294. 

say  whether  Celestine  feU  more  completely  under  the 
control  of  the  King  of  Naples  or  of  the  ambitious  Cardinal  Cajetan. 
The  hermit  pope  was  more  at  home  in  the  solitude  of  the  moun- 
tains, which  he  remembered  as  the  place  where  he  had  enjoyed 
" tranquillity "  and  "a  stainless  conscience,"  than  in  the  midst  of 
the  intrigues  which  surroimded  him  in  his  exalted  station.  After 
a  reign  of  two  years  he  was  easily  persuaded  by  Cajetan  to  lay  down 


1073-1294.]    THE  POLITICAL  RELATIONS  OP  THE  CHURCH.  201 

his  burdensome  office.  But  not  even  then  was  he  to  find  the  rest 
that  he  coveted.  The  fears  and  jealousies  of  the  cardinal,  to  vi'hom 
his  retirement  had  offered  the  opiDortunity  of  making  himself  pope, 
did  not  cease  to  pursue  him  until  he  died,  a  prisoner  in  the  castle  of 
Fumone,  on  May  19,  1296. 

"While  these  momentous  events  had  been  taking  place  in  the 
West,  the  Latin  empire  at  Constantinople  had  fallen,  and  the  Greek 
Fall  of  the  Patriarch  had  again  asserted  his  independence  of  the  Ro- 
iiftheXst"^^  man  see.  In  Palestine  the  Christians  had  steadily  lost 
1261.  '  gi-ound.  Louis  IX.,  the  noble  and  pious  king  of  France, 
End  of  the  made  a  vain  effort  to  stem  the  tide,  but  his  first  expedi- 
tion ended  in  his  being  captured  and  obliged  to  pay  a 
heavy  ransom.  In  1270,  he  made  an  attack  on  Tunis. 
There  he  and  a  large  part  of  his  army  were  destroyed  by  a  pesti- 
lence. The  year  1291  saw  Acre,  the  last  town  held  by  tlie  Chris- 
tians, taken  by  the  Egyptian  Mamelukes.  The  crusades  were  at 
an  end.  The  fervor  of  Europe  had  cooled.  The  charm  of  novelty 
which  had  once  belonged  to  the  expeditions  to  the  East  was  gone. 
The  popes  had  abused  their  right  of  proclaiming  crusades  to  extort 
money  or  to  raise  troops  to  fight  the  emperors.  The  minds  of  men 
had  become  absorbed  in  affairs  nearer  home,  and  they  were  no 
longer  willing  to  waste  their  energies  in  useless  warfare  with  a  dis- 
tant foe. 

The  struggle  which  the  popes  maintained  with  several  monarchs 
to  free  the  Church  from  secular  control  was  not  limited  to  the  sub- 
Reiations  of  J®^^  ^^  ^^^  relation  of  the  spiritual  vassal  to  his  temporal 
the  clergy  to    lord.     It  extended  itself  to  matters  of  taxation  and  iudi- 

civil  courts.  AT 

cial  proceedings.  According  to  a  decree  of  Alexander 
in.,  in  1179,  not  only  must  the  object  of  an  impost  receive  the  ap- 
proval of  the  clergy,  but  their  consent  must  be  obtained  before  it 
could  be  levied  upon  them.  Innocent  III.  was  not  sat- 
isfied with  even  this  condition  ;  he  would  have  the  Roman 
pontiff  consulted,  since  it  was  his  business  to  provide  for  the  com- 
mon necessities. 

Exemption  from  accountableness  in  the  secular  courts  in  both 
civil  and  criminal  cases  was  claimed  in  1096  by  Urban  11.  But  rul- 
ers were  not  ready  to  allow  a  vast  body  of  men,  some  of  the  mem- 
bers of  which  were  often  accused  of  the  worst  crimes,  to  pass  com- 
pletely under  an  independent  jurisdiction,  and  to  become  answerable 
only  to  those  who  might  naturally  be  induced  by  sympathy  and 


202  FROM  GREGORY  VII.  TO  BONIFACE  VIIL        [Pekiod  VI. 

interest  to  favor  their  own  order.  It  was  this  conviction  that  urged 
Henry  II.,  in  1164,  to  those  reforms  which  brought  him  into  con- 
flict with  his  archbishop,  Thomas  a  Becket.  A  decree  of  Celestine 
ILL,  in  1192,  provided  that  the  Church  should  first  depose  the 
criminal  clerk ;  if  he  were  incorrigible,  excommunicate  him  ;  if 
he  were  still  contumacious,  anathematize  him,  and  after  that 
the  state  could  do  with  him  as  it  saw  fit.  The  clergy,  how- 
ever, often  sought  to  protect  the  deposed  priest  from  the  secu- 
lar power.  To  do  away  with  this  evil,  Philip  Augustus  of  France 
made  a  law  that  a  clergyman  guilty  of  a  crime,  and  hjiv- 
ing  been  deposed  by  the  Chui'ch,  should  then  be  subject 
to  capture  by  the  king's  officers  without  any  interference  on  the 
part  of  ecclesiastical  authorities.  The  zeal  of  kings  to  dispense 
an  equal  justice  to  all  their  subjects  impressed  the  better-disposed 
prelates  with  the  necessity  of  attempting  to  remove  the  scandals 
which  loose  discipline  had  made  possible.  Severe  penalties  were 
decreed,  and  criminal  clerks  were  sent  to  episcopal  prisons  to  weep 
over  the  sins  they  had  committed,  and  to  be  kept  from  committing 
any  more.  The  Church  influenced  the  State  beneficially  by  the 
condemnation  not  only  of  piracy,  but  even  of  tournaments — cus- 
toms which  had  been  fostered  by  feudalism  and  political  disorgani- 
„     ,  zation.    The  power  of  the  bishops  was  circumscribed,  on 

Papal  usurpa-  ^  ^ 

tions  and  the  ouc  hand,  by  the  cathedral  chapters,  the  clergy  of 
which  were  often  men  of  noble  birth  who  had  sought 
their  position  as  a  means  of  living  in  ease  and  luxury,  and  on  the 
other  by  the  legates,  who  went  everywhere  enforcing  the  papal  claims 
of  supremacy.  England  especially  was  groaning  under  the  burden 
of  heavy  taxation,  and  English  benefices  were  usurped  by  Italian 
favorites  of  Rome.  One  voice  had,  however,  been  raised  against 
the  despotism  of  the  pope.  It  was  that  of  Robert  Grosteste, 
Bishop  of  Lincoln,  who  prevented  Innocent  TV.  from  making  a  boy 
of  twelve  a  canon  in  his  diocese.  But  Henry  HI.  was  subservient 
to  the  demands  of  the  papacy,  and  his  bishops  therefore  could  make 
little  head  against  them.  It  was  at  this  time,  in  1269,  that  Louis 
IX.,  of  France,  is  said  to  have  issued  his  famous  edict  called  the 
Pragmatic  Sanction.  It  protected  the  freedom  of  Church  elections 
and  the  rights  of  patrons  from  the  interference  of  the  i)ope,  and 
forbade  papal  taxation  without  the  consent  of  the  monarch.  The 
authenticity  of  this  document,  which  was  long  esteemed  the  great 
charter  of  Galhcan  liberties,  has  been  discredited,  although  it  is 
still  defended  by  some  as  genuine. 

The  great  prelates,  being  vassals  and  possessing  certain  temporal 


1073-1294.]  MONASTICISM  IN  THIS  PERIOD.  203 

privileges  and  a  certain  jurisdiction,  were  often  so  immersed  in 
business  cares  as  to  have  little  time  for  the  performance  of  their 
spiritual  functions.  After  the  fall  of  the  kingdom  of  Jerusalem 
they  began  to  associate  with  themselves,  as  assistant  or  suffragan 
bishops,  those  who  had  by  that  event  been  dispossessed  of  their 
sees  in  the  East.  When  these  suffragans  died,  others  were  chosen 
in  their  places  by  the  pope,  and  the  succession  of  bishops  inpartibus 
infidelium  was  kept  up. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

MONASTICISM  IN  THIS  PERIOD. 

During  this  period  the  monastic  spirit  revived,  was  active  enough 
to  I'eform  old  organizations  and  create  new  ones,  and  then  suc- 
cumbed to  the  seductions  of  Avorldliness  and  luxury 
which  had  corrupted  it  so  many  times  before.  Some 
strove  to  subject  themselves  to  a  sterner  asceticism.  Others  sought 
to  care  for  the  sick  and  to  redeem  the  captives  who  had  fallen  into 
jhe  hands  of  the  infidel.  Among  them  were  the  Carthusians,  Car- 
melites, Premonstrants,  the  order  of  St.  Anthony,  and  the  Brethren 
of  the  Hospital.  The  older  Benedictine  monasteries,  and  esi^ecially 
that  at  Clugny,  had  enjoyed  the  favor  of  the  popes  and  had  become 
wealthy  and  ambitious.  The  discipline  required  by  the  monastic 
rule  was  relaxed.  Just  at  the  close  of  the  eleventh  century  a  small 
party  of  monks,  zealous  for  a  stricter  form  of  the  ascetic  life,  laid 
the  foundations  of  the  monastery  of  Citeaux  (Cistercium). 

For  a  time  the  Cistercians  did  not  prosper,  but  in  the  year  1113 
there  appeared  before  the  monastery,  with  thirty  companions,  a 
St.  Bernard  jo^ng  man  by  whose  influence  the  order  was  to  become 
in*d  th^cis-  great  in  numbers  and  power.  It  was  Bernard,  who  was 
tercians.  j^q^.^^  ^q^^.  Djjon,  of  a  noble  family  in  which  knightly 

bravery  was  tempered  with  justice  and  kindness  to  the  poor. 
Among  those  whom  his  fervent  enthusiasm  and  wonderful  per- 
sonal influence  had  won  for  secular  life  were  his  four  brothers. 
"The  effect  of  his  preaching  was,  that  mothers  hid  their  sons, 
wives  their  husbands,  companions  their  friends,  lest  they  should 
be  led  away  captive  by  that  persuasive  eloquence."  The  prosperity 
of  Citeaux  was  now  assured  ;  colonies  of  monks  were  sent  out  to 
found  other  monasteries,  and  soon  the  abbot  Stephen  was  at  the 


204  FROM  GREGORY  VII.  TO  BONIFACE  Vni.        [Period  VI. 

head  of  a  great  organization  which  had  representatives  in  all  parts 
of  the  world.  The  Charter  of  Charity,  as  the  fundamental  law  of 
the  Cistercians  was  called,  provided  for  the  proper  subordination 
of  all  abbots  to  the  Abbot  of  Citeaux,  for  the  strict  supervision  of 
his  acts  by  a  select  number  of  them,  and  for  the  assembling  of  all, 
from  time  to  time,  at  Citeaux,  to  deliberate  on  the  affairs  of  the 
order.  Li  1115  Bernard  went  out  at  the  head  of  one  of  the  ear- 
liest colonies.  In  a  wild,  secluded  valley  he  founded  the  monastery 
of  Clairvaus.  His  discipline  was  rigorous.  The  silence  of  the 
valley  was  broken  only  by  the  chanting  of  the  monks  and  the  sounds 
of  their  labor.  "  To  judge  from  iheir  outward  appearance,  their 
tools,  their  bad  and  disordered  clothes,"  wrote  Peter  de  Eoya, 
"  they  appear  a  race  of  fools  without  speech  or  sense."  And  yet 
so  great  was  the  power  of  Bernard  and  the  attraction  of  the  life  at 
Clairvaux  that,  when  Henry,  son  of  Louis  VI.,  visited  the  monastery, 
soon  after  arriving  he  declared  his  intention  to  become  a  monk. 
Andrew  of  Paris,  enraged  at  his  folly,  left  Clairvaux  with  curses  on 
his  lips  ;  but  before  dawn  the  next  day  he  hastened  back,  repent- 
ant, and  anxious  to  follow  his  master's  example. 

Bernard's  dominion  over  the  minds  of  men  was  so  complete  that 
he  could  perform  wonders  which  to  his  eyes  and  those  of  his  fol- 
lowers seemed  miraculous.  He  prayed  with  the  sick,  and  they  were 
healed.  At  his  burning  words  of  rebuke  an  excommunicated 
count  fell  senseless  to  the  ground.  Clairvaux  soon  became  might- 
ier than  Rome  itself.  Bernard  was  the  great  leader  of  the  Church 
in  the  West,  It  was  he  who  put  down  heresies  and  healed  the 
schism  in  the  papacy.  It  was  he  who  sent  the  warriors  of  France 
and  Germany  on  the  second  crusade.  But  his  greatness  did  not 
ruin  him  :  his  modesty  and  humility  remained  the  same. 

Thus  far  it  had  been  the  aim  of  monastic  piety  to  withdraw 
from  the  world  and  to  surround  itself  with  such  conditions  as  would 
The  mendi-  l>6  favorablc  to  the  highest  development  of  its  peculiar 
the  Domini-'  ^^rm  of  dcvotion.  The  contrast  which  it  presented  to 
cans.  Q^Q  violence  and  sensuality  of  the  age  was  often  indirectly 

beneficial,  but  the  time  had  come  when  a  more  active  benevolence 
was  needed.  The  wants  of  the  people  must  be  met,  not  merely  by 
an  elaborate  ritual,  but  by  careful  instruction  and  earnest  j^reach- 
ing.  Neglected  by  a  worldly-minded  and  ignorant  clergy,  they 
were  gladly  listening  to  the  Albigensian  preachers  and  to  the  Poor 
Waldo  c  1170  ^^^^  °^  Lyons,  as  the  followers  of  Peter  Waldo  were 
called.  The  Waldenses  were  not,  like  the  Albigensians, 
tainted  with  Manichean  doctrine,  but  were  particularly  noted  for 


1073-1294.]  MONASTICISM.  205 

their  attachment  to  the  Scriptures.  Both  sects  were  zealous  for 
purity  of  life  and  opposed  to  clerical  usurpation  and  profligacy. 
_    .  .  Into  the  midst  of  the  ferment  caused  by  the  Albigensians 

Dominic,  *'  *=• 

1170-1221.  in  Southern  France,  came  a  Spaniard,  Bishop  of  Osma, 
1205.  and  with  him  one  Dominic,  a  canon  of  his  chapter,  whose 

monkish  severity  was  mingled  with  sympathy  for  the  poor.  These 
earnest  men  met  the  papal  legates,  Arnold  of  Citeaux,  Raoul,  and 
Peter  of  Castelnau,  whose  episcopal  pomp  had  failed  to  overawe  the 
i-ising  heresy.  Dominic  bade  them  not  hope  to  succeed  by  such 
display,  but  to  take  knowledge  of  the  heretical  leaders  and  labor 
unselfishly  for  the  instruction  of  the  people.  He  now  conceived 
the  idea  of  uniting  others  with  himself  in  a  society  for  the  suppres- 
sion of  heresy.  They  were  to  take  the  monastic  vows  and  yet  were 
not  to  dwell  in  ascetic  seclusion,  but  were  to  go  everywhere  preach- 
ing and  teaching  the  doctrine  of  the  Church.  His  plan  was  coun- 
tenanced by  Innocent  HI.,  and  the  order  was  formally 
constituted  by  Honorius.  Four  years  later  Dominic's 
friars  had  already  established  themselves  in  Italy,  Spain,  Provence, 
France,  Germany,  and  Poland.  They  braved  hardship  and  shared 
the  privations  of  the  poor.  Their  self-denial  won  for  them  popu- 
larity and  influence.  They  upheld  an  uncompromising  orthodoxy, 
and  zealously  promoted  the  papal  power.  Gradually  they  forced 
their  way  into  the  universities  of  Bologna,  Paris,  and  Oxford.  Em- 
inent schoolmen,  Albert  the  Great  and  Thomas  Aquinas,  were 
members  of  the  order. 

In  1233  Gregory  IX.  committed  to  the  Dominicans  the  task  of  root- 
ing out  heresy  in  France.  Then,  as  we  have  already  learned,  the  powers 
which  had  previously  belonged  to  the  bishops  were  transferred  to 
them,  and  thus  the  Inquisition  took  form  as  a  distinct  tribunal. 

Side  by  side  with  the  Dominicans  there  grew  up  another  ordei*, 
the  Franciscans,  who  owed  their  existence  to  Francis  of  Assisi. 
The  Francis-  The  son  of  a  I'ich  merchant,  he  was  a  light-hearted  youth, 
Franci^*^'  ^^^  ^^^  head  of  a  club  of  gay  companions.  An  experi- 
1182-12.26.  gjjce  of  severe  illness  brought  with  it  a  great  transfor- 
mation of  character.  He  devoted  himself  to  the  care  of  the  sick, 
choosing  those  whose  diseases  were  especially  repulsive.  Directed, 
as  he  supposed,  by  a  voice  from  heaven,  he  set  to  work  to  repair  a 
decayed  church  in  Assisi.  Then  he  became  a  preacher,  and  drew 
about  him  a  band  of  devoted  followers,  who  were  in  full  sympathy 
with  him.  These  he  sent  but,  two  by  two,  as  helpers  in  his  work  of 
preaching  repentance.  He  wore  a  coarse,  gray  tunic,  and  literally 
followed  the  command  to  provide  neither  scrip  for  his  journey, 


206  FROM  GREGORY  VII.  TO  BONIFACE  VIII.        [Period  VI. 

neither  two  coats,  neither  shoes,  nor  yet  staves.  To  reproduce  the 
life  of  him  who  had  not  where  to  lay  his  head  was  the  most  ardent 
wish  of  his  heart.  Nothing  but  the  coarsest  fare,  and  the  meanest 
lodgings,  with  a  log  for  a  pillow,  would  content  him.  He  wept 
daily,  so  that  his  eyesight  was  nearly  destroyed.  In  all  this  there 
was  no  insincerity.  His  disposition  was  most  kind  and  gentle. 
Even  the  lower  animals  were  drawn  to  him,  and  the  stories  of  the 
attention  given  to  his  discourses  by  the  birds  and  the  fishes,  were 
spun  out  of  the  familiar  fact  of  his  remarkable  sympathy  with  the 
brute  creation.  lu  1209  he  obtained  the  sanction  of  Innocent  HI. 
for  the  founding  of  an  order.  Francis  gave  his  followers  the  name 
"  Fratres  Minores,"  to  denote  the  humility  which  belonged  to  them. 
The  monastic  vows  of  poverty,  chastity,  and  obedience  were  to  be 
most  rigidly  enforced,  but  the  friars  were  not  to  shun  the  world : 
they  were  to  conquer  it.  He  commanded  them  to  preach  the  cross 
of  Christ,  avoiding  ceremonious  pomp,  and  the  display  of  learning. 
He  sent  his  disciples  to  different  countries,  and  ti'avelled  himself 
as  far  as  Egypt,  where  he  preached  to  the  Sultan.  As  early  as 
1219,  not  less  than  five  thousand  members  assembled  at  a  general 
meeting  of  the  order.  The  Franciscans  caught  the  mystic  enthu- 
siasm of  their  leader,  in  whom  they  saw  the  life  of  Jesus  again 
brought  near  to  men.  Their  devout  eyes  beheld  upon  his  hands 
and  his  feet  the  marks  of  the  nails,  and  in  his  side  the  print  of 
the  spear.  The  stigmata  of  St.  Francis,  it  was  related,  were  in- 
flicted upon  him  by  the  Lord  himself,  in  a  vision.  There  is  no 
room  for  the  suspicion  of  deceit.  The  idea  of  a  strange  physical 
effect  of  an  abnormal  mental  state  is  more  plausible.  As  time  went 
on,  the  members  of  the  order  showed  themselves  more  ready  to 
worship  the  founder  than  to  obey  his  precepts.  They  became  both 
learned  and  wealthy.  If  the  Dominicans  were  proud  of  such  names 
as  Albert  and  Thomas,  the  Franciscans  could  boast  of  Bonaventura, 
Duns  Scotus,  and  William  of  Occam.  Like  the  Dominicans  they 
became  possessed  of  rich  churches  and  monasteries.  The  wealth 
and  popularity  of  both  mendicant  orders  helped  to  excite  against 
them  the  hatred  of  the  secular  clergy.  Connected  with  the  Domini- 
cans and  Franciscans  were  female  orders  under  a  similar  rule.  The 
order  of  St.  Clara,  or  the  Clarisses,  was  established  under  the  direc- 
of  St.  Francis  himself,  by  a  young  woman  of  Assisi,  who  belonged 
to  a  distinguished  family,  but  lefi  her  home  to  lead  a  life  of  asceti- 
cism and  charity.  Connected  with  the  mendicant  orders  there 
were  likewise  societies  of  laymen  called  Tertiaries,  who  consecrated 
themselves  to  lives  of  devotion  without  taking  the  monastic  vows. 


1073-1294.]  MONASTICISM.  207 

A  controversy  arose  among  the  Franciscans  about  their  right  to 
hold  property.  The  party  which  believed  in  the  rigid  observance 
of  the  rule  of  poverty  finally  separated  from  the  rest.  The  seced- 
ers  were  called  Spirituals.  In  their  zealous  rebukes  of  ecclesias- 
tical corruption  they  did  not  spare  the  Koman  Church.  Early  in 
the  nest  century,  they,  especially  the  Fratricelli,  the  lay  brethren 
amongst  them,  were  delivered  over  to  the  Inquisition. 

At  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century  there  were  formed,  in  the 
Netherlands,  societies  of  praying  women,  calling  themselves  Be- 
Bfiguinesand  guii^GS,  and  afterward  similar  societies  of  men,  called 
Begharda.  Bcghards.  Many  of  them,  to  secure  protection,  con- 
nected themselves  with  the  Tertiaries.  Many,  following  the  rule  of 
poverty,  became  mendicants  along  the  Rhine,  and,  adopting  hereti- 
cal opinions,  made  the  names  of  Beguine  and  Beghard,  elsewhere 
than  in  the  Netherlands,  synonymous  with  heretic. 

The  Church  gave  its  sanction  to  chivalry,  another  great  insti- 
tution of  the  middle  ages.  Tlie  gei-ms  of  knightly  service  are  to 
be  found  in  the  customs  of  the  Teutons,  as  described  by 
Tacitus.  At  the  time  of  Charlemagne  it  reached  the 
first  stage  of  its  development  and  was  connected  with  the  feudal 
holding  of  land.  Later,  the  younger  sous  of  noblemen  began  to 
attach  themselves  to  rich  and  powerful  lords,  and  sought  from 
them  the  dignity  of  knighthood  as  a  I'eward  of  valor.  Chivalry 
became  a  distinct  form  of  military  service.  This  separation  was 
confirmed  by  the  crusades.  Since  vassals  were  not  required  by 
feudal  law  to  attend  their  suzerains  to  Palestine,  the  nobles  were 
obliged  to  fill  their  retinues  with  knights,  bound  to  them  by  no 
other  tie  than  that  of  "commendation."  In  the  ci'usades  chivalry 
reached  its  full  development.  The  duty  of  waging  war  with  the 
infidel,  and  of  fighting  for  the  recovery  of  the  Holy  Land,  gave  it  a 
religious  significance.  The  investiture  of  the  knight  was  hardly 
less  solemn  than  that  of  the  priest.  With  this  religious  element 
was  combined^  loyalty,  including  fidelity  to  all  pledges  ;  gallantry, 
inspiring  devotion  to  the  ladies  ;  courage,  that  delighted  in  daring 
exploits ;  and  courtesy,  evinced  even  to  a  foe.  The  ideal  of  chivalry 
was  honor  rather  than  benevolence.  It  had  a  refining  influence  on 
manners,  but  was  attended  with  much  cruelty  and  profligacy.  It 
belonged  to  a  martial  age,  and  tended  to  promote  conflict  and  blood- 
shed. After  the  conquest  of  Jerusalem  there  grew  up  in  the  Holy 
The  military  Land  two  great  orders  of  ecclesiastical  warriors.  That 
orders.  ^f  ^^q  Templars,  so  called  because  they  dwelt  near  the 

site  of  the  Temple,  was  founded  in  1119,  by  nine  French  knights. 


308  FROM  GREGORY  VII.  TO  BONIFACE  VHI        [Period  VL 

A  similar  order,  that  of  the  Hospitallers,  grew  out  of  the  society 
of  the  Brethren  of  the  Hospital  of  St.  John,  -who,  since  1099,  had 
cared  for  the  sick  at  Jerusalem.  The  Templars  and  Hospitallers 
bound  themselves  by  monastic  vows,  but  manifested  their  holy 
zeal  not  in  the  convent  but  on  the  battle-field.  They  were  looked 
upon  as  a  permanent  crusading  army,  and  were  given  important 
privileges  and  exemptions.  They  grew  in  numbers,  wealth,  and 
power.  They  became  independent  bodies,  able  to  set  at  defiance 
the  authority  of  princes  and  prelates.  Their  aim  ceased  to  be  the 
maintenance  of  the  cause  of  Christendom  against  the  Saracens,  and 
centred  in  their  own  aggrandisement.  The  fall  of  the  kingdom 
of  Jerusalem  did  not  ruin  them,  for  they  had  vast  possessions  in 
the  West.  The  Hospitallers  took  up  their  residence  in  Rhodes, 
where  they  opposed  the  further  advance  of  the  Saracens.  The 
Templars  first  settled  in  Cyprus,  and  afterward  removed  to  France. 


CHAPTER  Y. 

THE   HISTORY   OF   DOCTRINE. 

In  this  period  belong  the  distinct  rise  and  full  development 
of  the  scholastic  theology,  the  characteristic  type  of  theological 
Whatisscho-  ^^^  philosophical  thought  in  the  middle  ages.  The 
lastioism?  term  "  scholastic,"  or  "  schoolman,"  was  the  title  given 
to  teachers  in  the  schools  founded  by  Charlemagne.  It  came  to  be 
applied  to  the  doctors  who  taught  logic,  and  mingled  philosojDhy  in 
the  discussion  of  religious  questions.  Taking  the  term  in  this  ac- 
cepted meaning,  we  may  place  the  beginning  of  scholasticism  in 
the  middle  of  the  eleventh  century,  and  regard  the  mediaeval  think- 
ers who  preceded  that  date  as  its  forerunners.  If  we  go  back  to 
the  most  remote  som-ce,  it  was  Aristotle  who  may  be  said  to  have 
The  tenth  Originated  scholasticism.  The  tenth  century  was  a  period 
nnrt  eleventh    of  barbarism  in  the  West  of  Europe.     That  century  de- 

centunes.  ^  ^  ^  '' 

serves  to  be  called  a  "dark"  age,  however  unjust  it  may 
be  to  apply  this  epithet  to  the  entire  mediaeval  era.  This  condi- 
tion, we  have  had  occasion  to  explain,  was  owing  chiefly  to  the  po- 
litical chaos  that  ensued  upon  the  breaking  up  of  Charlemagne's 
empire,  and  to  the  disuse  of  Latin  as  a  spoken  language,  while  the 
modern  languages,  formed  on  the  basis  of  it,  were  not  yet  reduced 
to  writing.  In  the  eleventh  century  the  circumstances  were  more 
favorable.     There  was  renewed  intercourse  with  the  Greek  empire, 


1073-1394.]  THE  HISTORY  OP  DOCTRINE.  209 

where  the  light  of  learning  had  never  been  extinguished.  There  was 
an  influence,  too,  flowing  from  the  Arabic  schools  in  Spain,  where 
mathematics,  astronomy,  and  medicine  were  cultivated,  and  where 
Greek  authors,  especially  Aristotle,  were  studied  through  the  me- 
dium of  translations.  The  study  of  Roman  law  and  the  restoration 
of  Church  discipline  by  means  of  the  Hildebrandian  movement,  were 
not  without  a  wholesome  effect  in  promoting  intellectual  activity. 
Be  -nnin  of  ^^^  1054  Laufrauc,  abbot  of  the  cloister  of  Bee,  in  Nor- 
schoiasti-        mandy,  and  Berengarius,  who  was  at  the  head  of  the  school 

Cism.  rn  1 

at  Tours,  engaged  in  a  controversy  on  the  Lord's  Supper, 
in  which  they  made  use  of  the  Aristotelian  logic.  This  debate 
may  stand  as  a  landmark  to  define  the  beginning  of  scholasticism. 

Scholasticism  was  an  application  of  reason  to  theology,  not  to 
correct  or  enlarge  the  accepted  ci-eed,  but  to  systematize  and  vindi- 
The  maxim  catcit,  "  Faith  Seeking  for  knowledge  "  was  its  motto. 
of  schoiasti-  The  truth,  it  was  held,  is  verified  by  the  authority  of  the 
Church,  and  needs  no  other  voucher.  It  may  be  the  ob- 
ject, moreover,  of  an  immediate  spiritual  experience  :  it  shines  in 
its  own  light.  Philosophy  is  the  "hand-maid"  of  religion.  Its 
oflice,  a  subordinate  one,  is  to  demonstrate  the  reasonableness  of 
convictions  otherwise  derived.  Although  the  intellect  was  confined 
by  self-imposed  limits  of  this  sort,  and  did  not  question — nay, 
bowed  in  unquestioning  reverence  before — the  reigning  Church 
and  its  dicta,  the  schoolmen  were  intensely  active  in  reflection  and 
debate,  and  they  added  not  a  little  to  the  stock  of  human  thought 
in  the  province  to  which  they  were  devoted.  Among  them  were 
men  who,  notwithstanding  their  lack  of  learning  when  compared 
with  intellectual  leaders  in  ancient  or  modern  times,  have  never 
been  surpassed  in  acuteness  and  dialectic  skiU. 

The  spread  of  the  scholastic  theology  was  largely  due  to  the 
universities.  Institutions  of  this  character  had  existed  in  ancient 
„  ^  ,  ,.         times.     At  Athens  and  at  Alexandria,  at  Rome  and  at 

Scholasti- 
cism and  the    Constantinople,  and  in  other  cities  less  distinguished, 

universities.  n  ^  c  i  •  n 

there  were  flourishmg  seats  of  learnmg,  generally  organ- 
ized and  sustained  by  public  authority.  These  passed  away  with 
the  decay  of  the  ancient  civilization.  The  schools  that  followed, 
such  as  they  were,  arose  under  the  auspices  of  the  Church,  and 
were  fostered  by  Christian  princes  like  Charlemagne,  who  knew 
how  to  value  learning.  The  most  famous  of  the  mediaeval  univer- 
sities, properly  so  called,  the  University  of  Paris,  grew  up  in  the 
course  of  the  twelfth  century.  The  teachers  of  the  new  species  of 
theology,  who  had  begun  to  iustinict  pupils  on  their  own  responsi- 
14 


210  FROM  GREGORY  VII  TO  BONIFACE  Vin.        [Period  VI. 

bility  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  cloister  schools,  united  with  one 
another  and  with  these  schools — that  is,  with  the  schools  of  the 
"  liberal  arts,"  where  the  seven  sciences  were  taught.  Gradually 
chairs  for  medicine  and  for  canon  law  were  established.  All  these 
departments,  being  connected  together  under  fixed  regulations, 
formed  the  university,  in  which  the  students  were  classified  by  the 
nations  from  which  they  came.  On  them  degrees,  first  that  of 
bachelor,  and  then  the  degree  of  master  or  that  of  doctor,  were 
conferred.  Thus  there  was  formed  in  the  middle  ages  a  guild  of 
scholars.  Oxford  originated  not  long  after.  Other  universities 
sprung  up  in  different  parts  of  Europe.  At  Salerno,  as  early  as  the 
beginning  of  the  twelfth  century,  there  was  a  school  of  medicine. 
At  Bologna  the  study  of  Roman  law  was  prosecuted  with  great  zeal. 
Paris  was  the  most  renowned  seat  of  theology.  The  "University  of 
Paris  was  called  "  the  mother  of  universities,"  from  the  number  of 
these  establishments  which  were  formed  on  the  model  furnished  by 
it.  To  the  universities  young  men  of  inquisitive  minds  flocked 
from  all  the  countries  of  Western  Europe.  The  story  that  as  many 
as  thirty  thousand  studied  at  one  time  at  Oxford  is  an  instance  of 
gross  exaggeration.  Yet  there  is  no  doubt  that  in  the  leading  uni- 
versities the  doctors  of  the  scholastic  divinity  lectured  to  great 
throngs  of  eager  listeners.  The  ablest  of  the  schoolmen  belonged  to 
one  or  the  other  of  the  two  mendicant  orders,  the  Dominicans  and 
Franciscans,  each  of  which  early  secured  a  chair  of  theology  at 
Paris.  The  orders  were  regarded  with  jealousy  by  the  members 
of  the  university  not  connected  with  them.  Stormy  conflicts  arose, 
but  in  the  end  the  schoolmen,  and  the  monastic  fraternities  with 
which  they  were  connected,  won  the  day. 

The  emj)ire  in  philosophy  was  divided  between  Plato  and  Aris- 
totle. The  influence  of  Plato  was  principally  through  Augustine, 
Plato  and  ^^^  affected  the  contents  of  theology.  Aristotle  exerted 
Aristotle.  ^ig  powcr  tlirougli  his  own  wi'itings,  which  were  held  in 
unbounded  esteem.  One  philosophical  question  was  uppermost  in 
NominaiiBm  ^^®  scholastic  age.  It  was  the  question  of  Nominalism 
and  Realism,  or  Realism.  Do  the  words  which  denote  genera  and 
species — as,  for  example,  man — designate  realities,  entities  ;  or  are 
they  nothing  but  the  names  of  the  individuals  composing  the 
class  ?  The  former  of  the  two  opinions,  which,  however,  assumed 
numerous  distinct  types,  was  called  Realism.  It  had  been  the  doc- 
trine, in  an  extreme  form,  of  Plato  ;  in  a  form  more  moderate,  of 
Aristotle.  The  latter  of  the  two  opinions  was  called  Nominalism. 
It  had  been  held  by  the  ancient  Stoics.     The  subject  had  an  im- 


1073-1294.]  THE  HISTORY  OF  DOCTRINE.  211 

portant  bearing  on  theological  doctrines,  such  as  original  sin  and 
the  Trinity.  It  even  had  a  close  relation  to  the  foundations  of 
human  knowledge  and  the  reality  of  its  objects. 

The  instrument  of  scholastic  discussion  was  the  syllogism. 
The  ordinary  method  was  to  propound  questions  or  propositions, 
to  bring  forward  an  array,  first,  of  affirmative,  and  then  of  negative 
Theschoias-  arguments,  and,  finally,  to  resolve  the  question  in  a 
tic  method.  "  couclusion."  After  this  method  the  most  famous 
scholastic  treatises  are  constructed. 

The  scholastic  era  falls  naturally  into  three  sections.  Of  these 
the  middle  section  embraces  the  thirteenth  century,  the  flourishing 
Divisions  of  P^^'iocl  of  scholasticism,  when  the  most  eminent  of  the 
the  schoias-  schoolmeu  Icctured  and  wrote,  when  realism  was  in  the 
ascendant,  when  not  only  the  logic  of  Aristotle,  but  his 
other  writings  were  in  use,  and  helped  to  mould  the  scholastic 
doctrines.  In  the  first  section,  when  only  the  logic  of  the  Greek 
philosopher  was  known,  nominalism  prevailed.  In  the  last  stage 
of  the  scholastic  movement,  embracing  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth 
centuries,  nominalism  regained  the  hold  which  it  had  lost  in  the 
middle  period.  It  was  the  age  of  the  decHne  and  fall  of  scholas- 
ticism. 

Lanfranc,  whose  controversy  with  Berengar  ushers  in  the  scho- 
lastic era,  was  not  a  prolific  writer.  He  was  an  Italian,  of  noble 
birth,  and  a  jurist  by  profession,  but  in  middle  life 
he  emigrated  to  Normandy,  and  set  up  a  school  at 
Avrauches.  A  few  years  later,  in  1042,  he  became  a  monk  at  Bee,  to 
which  his  fame  as  a  teacher  drew  a  great  number  of  scholars.  He 
became  prior  of  the  cloister,  and  subsequently  became  abbot  at 
Caen.  He  lent  a  strong  support  to  Duke  William  in  his  plans  for 
the  conquest  of  England,  and  was  constrained,  in  1070,  to  become 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  Anselm,  a  younger  man, 
and  one  of  his  pupils,  deserves  more  than  any  other  the 
title  of  "father  of  the  schoolmen."  He,  too,  was  a  Lombard,  born  in 
or  near  Aosta,  in  1033.  His  mother,  Ermenberga,  was  a  model  of 
piety  and  virtue,  but  the  harshness  of  his  father  drove  him  when 
a  youth  from  his  home.  He  became  a  monk  at  Bee,  where  his 
countryman,  Lanfranc,  was  prior,  took  his  place  in  this  office,  and 
in  1093,  with  reluctance,  succeeded  him  likewise  as  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury.  In  his  dealings  with  the  imperious  Norman  kings, 
WilHam  Eufus  and  Henry  I,  he  exhibited  that  mixture  of  mildness 
and  meekness  with  immovable  fidelity  to  conscience,  which  were 
distinguishing  traits  of  his  character.    The  labors  and  conflicts  that 


212  FROM  GREGORY  VIL  TO  BONIFACE  VIII.         [Period  VI. 

were  forced  on  him  by  his  station,  and  which  obHged  him  to  be 
absent  for  a  number  of  years  from  England,  did  not  divert  his 
mind  from  the  profound  and  devout  meditations  in  which  he  took 
dehght.  In  him  the  two  elements — the  speculative  and  logical  ten- 
dency on  the  one  hand,  and  the  devout  and  contemplative  on  the 
other — are  so  evenly  balanced  and  so  thoroughly  commingled  that 
he  fulfils  the  ideal  of  the  scholastic  theologian.  His  writings  on 
original  sin  and  on  the  Trinity  are  of  remarkable  merit  ;  but  the 
most  celebrated  of  his  works  are  the  two  short  treatises  unfolding 
his  demonstration  of  the  being  of  God,  the  "  Monologium  "  and  the 
"  Proslogium,"  and  the  little  work  on  the  atonement  entitled 
"Cur  Deus  Homo,"  "why  did  God  become  man?"  Eoscellin,  a 
canon  at  Compiegne,  applied  nominalism  to  the  concep- 
osce  inws.  ^.^^  ^^  ^^^  Trinity  in  such  a  way  that  tritheism  was  held 
to  be  the  unavoidable  inference.  Confuted  by  Anselm,  he  re- 
tracted his  statements  at  the  Synod  of  Soissons,  in  1092.  From 
that  time,  for  a  long  jjeriod,  the  stigma  of  heresy  was  fastened  on 
the  nominalistic  opinion.  Through  the  thirteenth  century,  realism, 
commonly  in  the  Aristotehan  form — the  doctrine,  namely,  that  cor- 
responding to  the  name  of  a  species  there  exists  a  reality  which 
inheres  in  each  individual — continued  to  be  dominant. 

The  most  -brilliant  of  the  theological  teachers  of  the  twelfth 
century  was  Peter  Abelard.  His  career  was  not  without  features 
of  romantic  interest.  He  was  born  in  1079.  He  was 
first  a  pupil  of  Eoscellin,  and  then  of  William  of  Cham- 
peaux,  who  presided  over  the  cathedral  school  at  Paris.  William 
was  an  extreme  reahst.  Abelard  disputed  his  master's  opinion, 
and  eclipsed  him  in  debate.  He  himself  rapidly  acquired  fame  as 
a  teachex',  especially  after  his  establishment  at  Paris,  about  the 
year  1115.  His  lectures  were  heard  with  unbounded  enthusiasm 
by  thousands  of  young  men.  His  career  was  interrupted  by  his 
relations  to  Heloise,  a  young  girl  for  whom  he  had  a  passionate  at- 
tachment, which  she  repaid  with  the  most  devoted  affection.  The 
result  was  an  unlawful  connection,  followed,  at  his  urgent  request, 
by  a  secret  marriage  ;  for  she  was  unwilling  to  place  any  bar  in  the 
way  of  his  ecclesiastical  advancement.  Her  uncle  and  some  others 
made  an  attack  upon  him  by  night,  and  effected  a  brutal  mutilation 
of  his  person.  He  retired  to  the  monastery  of  St.  Denis,  near 
Paris.  There  he  offended  the  less  intelligent  monks  by  denying, 
with  characteristic  boldness,  that  the  St.  Dionysius  whom  they  re- 
vered as  their  patron  was  Dionysius  the  Areopagite,  the  Athenian 
convert  of  Paul.     He  now  betook  himself  to  a  desert  place  near 


1073-1294.]  THE  HISTORY  OF  DOCTRINE.  213 

Nogent,  where  he  built  himself  a  cabin  ;  but  a  host  of  pupils 
flocked  after  him,  who  found  shelter  in  tents  and  huts  erected  by 
themselves.  They  built  for  him  an  oratory,  a  stone  structure, 
called  the  Paraclete.  Threatened  with  new  troubles  from  the 
many  who  were  hostile  to  his  innovations  in  theology,  he  turned 
the  Paraclete  into  a  convent,  and  put  it  under  the  charge  of  Helo- 
ise,  who  had  long  before  taken  the  veil.  Ten  years  he  spent 
in  Brittany  as  abbot  of  a  monastery  whose  rough  inmates  more 
than  once  attempted  to  destroy  him.  We  hear  of  him  as  lecturing 
again  in  Paris,  in  1136.  The  tone  of  his  theological  utterances 
had  raised  up  against  him  numerous  opponents,  by  whom  he 
was  charged  with  heresy.  He  was  called  to  answer  this  charge 
at  a  council  at  Sens,  in  1140,  where  St.  Bernard  was  the  chief 
accuser.  Abelard  appealed  to  the  pope,  by  whom,  however,  the 
adverse  decision  of  the  council  was  confirmed.  He  was  received 
by  Peter  the  Venerable,  Abbot  of  Clugny,  within  the  walls  of 
that  monastei'y,  where  he  passed  the  remnant  of  his  life.  He 
died  in  1142.  The  bones  of  Abelard  and  Heloise,  after  being 
more  than  once  removed,  rest  in  a  common  tomb  in  the  cemetery 
of  Pere  la  Chaise  in  Paris.  Abelard  had  no  intention  to  rebel 
against  the  accepted  creed.  But  he  exalts  reason,  and  holds  that 
faith  which  has  not  attained  to  a  rational  basis  may  be  easily  shak- 
en. He  was  a  restless  and  adventurous  thinker,  and  thought  that 
reverence  for  authority  was  carried  to  a  superstitious  degree.  No 
problem  was  so  difficult  that  he  despaired  of  solving  it ;  no  mys- 
tery, in  his  esteem,  was  too  sacred  to  be  probed.  In  a  little  work 
called  "  Yes  and  No  "  he  brought  into  juxtaposition  contradictory 
opinions  of  the  Fathers  on  one  hundred  and  fifty-seven  points  of 
theology.  It  was  his  purpose  to  stimulate  inquiry  by  showing  that 
there  was  no  uniform  patristic  teaching  to  rest  upon. 

St.  Bernard — Bernard  of  Clairvaux — who  led  in  the  final  suc- 
cessful assault  upon  Abelard,  was  a  theologian  of  a  directly  oppo- 
site temper.  We  have  already  adverted  to  some  of  the 
St.  Bernard.  pg^j,|.j(.^j^j.g  pf  j^^g  biography.  It  was  in  spite  of  the  op- 
position of  his  relatives  that  he  entered  the  monastery  of  Citeaux, 
where  he  was  distinguished  both  for  the  depth  and  sincerity  of 
his  piety,  and  for  the  austerities  which  accompanied  it.  The 
leader  of  a  colony  of  monks,  as  we  have  seen,  he  built  in  the  rug- 
ged and  desolate  gorge  of  Clairvaux  a  monastery  which  became 
very  prosperous.  His  wisdom  as  a  counselloi-,  and  his  surpassing 
power  as  a  preacher,  won  for  him  an  influence  superior  to  that  of 
any  of  his  contemporaries.     He  did  more  than  any  other  to  estab- 


214  FROM  GREGORY  VII.  TO  BONIFACE  Vin.       [Period  VI. 

lisli  Innocent  II.  on  the  papal  throne  in  opposition  to  his  rival, 
Anacletus  L  His  overpowering  eloquence  it  was  that  roused  the 
people  of  France  and  Germany  to  embark  in  the  second 
crusade.  He  blended  a  fearless  spirit  with  unaffected 
humility,  meekness,  and  kindness.  He  complained  that  through 
Abelard's  influence  it  had  come  to  pass  in  France  that  the  Trinity 
was  almost  a  theme  of  disputation  for  boys  in  the  street,  and  that 
the  sacred  and  mysterious  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  instead  of  being 
regarded  with  awe,  were  turned  into  a  mere  gymnastic  for  the  un- 
derstanding. Divine  truth,  he  taught,  must  be  apprehended  here 
by  faith  ;  for  a  full  rational  insight  we  must  wait  for  the  future  life. 
Meantime,  more  is  to  be  learned  by  visions  of  the  uplifted  soul,  in 
moments  of  ecstasy,  than  by  subtle  reasoning  and  prying  curiosity. 
The  faithfulness  of  St.  Bernard  is  seen  in  the  work — "  De  Cousidera- 
tioue  " — which  he  addressed  to  Pope  Eugene  HI.,  who  had  been  one 
of  his  pupils,  and  whom  he  warned  against  the  dangers  to  the  pa- 
pacy itself  from  misconduct  on  the  part  of  incumbents  of  the  office. 

Gilbert,  Bishop  of  Poictiei-s,  was  akin  to  Abelard  in  his  intellect- 
ual bent.  He  gave  offence  by  a  peculiar  theory  respecting  the 
Gilbert,  Trinity,  but  his  friends  and  supporters  were  so  numer- 

d.  1154.  Q^g  ^]^j^^  g^gjj  Bernard  was  not  able  to  procui-e  a  con- 

demnation of  his  opinions  from  a  great  council  at  Eheims,  in  114:8. 

In  the  school  of  St.  Victor,  near  Paris,  were  eminent  theologians 
who  struck  a  middle  path  between  the  speculative  daring  of  Abelard 
and  the  extreme  conservatism  of  the  party  that  stood  in  dread  of  all 
Hugo.  earnest  intellectual  inquiry.     To  this  moderate  school  be- 

d.  1141.^"'  long  William  of  Champeaux,  a  fi-iend,  and,  in  some  sense, 
Richard,  ^  guide  of  St.  Bernard,  Hugo  of  St.  Victoi',  the  ablest  rep- 
d.  1173.  resentative  of  their  number,  and  Richard  of  St.  Victor,  a 

native  of  Scotland,  of  the  particulars  of  whose  hfe  not  much  is  known. 

To  emulate  the  audacity  of  Abelard  and  of  Gilbert  was  felt  to 
be  unwise  and  unsafe.  The  effect  of  the  conflict  between  the  dia- 
lectic and  the  mystical  school  was  to  inspire  caution.  The  school- 
men were  careful  to  steer  clear  of  the  rocks  and  shoals  of  hetero- 
doxy. This  was  obvious  in  the  course  taken  by  the  authors  of 
Books  of  books  of  "Sentences."  The  most  renowned  of  these 
Sentences.  ^^^  Peter  Lombard,  who  was  born  at  Novara,  in  Italy, 
taught  theology  at  Paris,  and  was  made  bishop  there.  In  his  man- 
ual of  theology,  bearing  the  title  "  Four  Books  of  Sentences,"  he 
sets  forth  and  expounds  the  doctrines  of  the  Creed  in  their  pi'oper 
order,  but  everywhere  fortifies  his  opinions  by  citations  from  the 
Fathers,  especially  from  Augustine.    He  received  the  honorary  title 


1073-1294.]  THE  HISTORY  OP  DOCTRINE.  215 

of  "Master  of  Sentences."  His  work  was  the  foundation  of  aca- 
demic lectures  for  centuries.  Numberless  commentaries  were 
written  upon  it.      "  The  Lombard  "  died  in  1160. 

Individuals  there  were  whose  devotional  tendency  was  offended, 
and  whose  aversion  to  rationalism  was  excited,  even  by  the  Lom- 
bard and  the  more  moderate  dialecticians.  One  of  these  mystics 
Joachim,  "^^^  Joachim,  Abbot  of  Floris,  a  great  student  of  apoca- 
c,  1145-1202.  ijptic  prophecy.  Their  efforts  to  check  the  reigning 
tendency  were  abortive.  Of  more  interest  to  us  at  the  present  day 
John  of  is  a  character  like  John  of  Salisbury' — so  styled  from  the 

sausbury.  ^i^^q  ^f  j^^g  ]^^j.Q^  ^^  Wiltshire— who  studied  at  Paris 
and  other  places  on  the  continent,  was  secretary  of  Theobald  and 
then  of  Thomas  a  Becket,  Archbishops  of  Canterbury,  and  in  his 
closing  yeai's  was  Bishop  of  Chartres.  He  was  a  diligent  and  ap- 
preciative student  of  the  Latin  writers,  in  particular  of  Cicero. 
He  represents  the  humanist  or  literary  spirit,  so  different  from  the 
subtle  inquiries  and  logical  refinements  of  the  schoolmen  of  his 
time.  Besides  other  writings  from  his  pen  which  are  specially  in- 
structive respecting  scholastic  education,  his  letters  are  valuable 
documents  for  the  contemporary  history. 

In  the  second  section  of  the  scholastic  era,  when  the  physics 

and  metaphysics  of  Aristotle  were  in  the  hands  of  the  schoolmen, 

„  the  esteem  for  the  ancient  master  in  philosophy  was  car- 

Homage  to  ^  r  1.    J 

Aristotle.  ried  to  the  highest  pitch.  He  was  deemed  to  have  ex- 
hausted the  resources  of  the  human  mind,  when  it  is  not  aided  by 
supernatural  light,  in  the  ascertainment  of  ethical  and  religious 
truth.  Not  unfrequently,  the  Bible  and  the  Fathers  were  neglected, 
and  passages  were  cited  from  Aristotle  in  support  of  dogmas,  as  if 
he  were  an  infallible  oracle.  Yet  his  influence  on  doctrine  was 
mainly  in  directions  in  which  current  opinion,  independently  of  his 
teaching,  strongly  tended. 

Alexander  of  Hales,  who  was  brought  up  in  the  cloister  of  Hales, 

in  Gloucestershire,  and  studied  both  at  Oxford  and  Paris,  was  one 

,  of  the  first  to  draw  materials  from  the  writings  of  Aris- 

Alexander  of  .  ,  ,        .^t  n  • 

Hales,  d.  totle,  to  which  we  have  just  referred.  He  was  denomi- 
nated the  "Irrefragable  Doctor"  and  "Fountain  of  Life." 
He  was  a  celebrated  teacher  at  Paris.  His  "  Sum  of  Theology,"  hia 
principal  work,  was  founded  on  the  "  Sentences  "of  Peter  Lombard. 
Bonaventura,  Alexander  was  a  Franciscan,  as  was  his  famous  pupil 
1221-1274.  Bonaventura,  who  became  general  of  the  order.  The  lat- 
ter was  a  logician,  yet  set  a  higher  value  on  spiritual  illumination 
than  on  intellectual  exertion  as  a  source  of  religious  knowledge. 


216  FROM  GREGORY  VII.  TO  BONIFACE  VIII.       [Period  VI. 

"Seraphic  Doctor"  was  the  not  inappropriate  title  attached  to  him 
by  his  admiring  disciples. 

No  theologian  of  German  birth  in  the  middle  ages  was  the  equal 
of  Albert  the  Great,  teacher  at  Cologne  and  General  of  the  Domin- 
ican Order  in  Germany.     From  the  variety  of  his  acqui- 
Qreat,  sitions  hc  was  called  the  "Universal Doctor."     From  hia 

1193-1280. 

acquaintance  with  natural  science  he  was  suspected  by 
the  vulgar  of  being  a  sorcerer.  But  Albert,  although  justly  revered, 
was  outstripped  in  talents  and  fame  by  his  pupil,  the  most  profound 
Thomas  and  the  most  acute  of  aU  the  schoolmen,  the  "Angelic 
laas'oriaai,  Doctor,"  Thomas  Aquinas.  He  was  a  native  of  Aquino, 
^'  ^^^'^  a  town  not  far  from  Naples.     His  parents  were  persons 

of  rank :  on  his  mother's  side  he  was  descended  from  the  Norman 
dukes  of  Lower  Italy.  A  taciturn  youth,  he  was  nicknamed  by  his 
fellow-students  at  Cologne  the  hos  mutus — "  the  silent  ox."  "This 
ox,"  said  Albert,  after  hearing  one  of  his  exercises,  "  will  one  day 
fill  the  world  with  his  lowing."  He  grew  up  to  be  the  great  light 
of  the  Dominican  order,  into  which  at  an  early  age,  despite  the 
earnest  resistance  of  his  relatives,  he  had  been  drawn.  He  taught 
at  Paris  and  Cologne,  at  Kome  and  Bologna,  and  spent  his  last 
years  at  Naples.  His  gTeat  work  is  the  "  Sum  of  Theology,"  which 
has  deservedly  maintained  the  highest  reputation  in  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  down  to  the  present  day.  Thomas  began  his  lect- 
ures and  his  writings  with  prayer.  Daily  he  caused  a  devotional 
work  to  be  read  to  him  aloud.  When,  in  his  studies,  he  fell  into 
perplexity  on  some  difficult  point,  he  was  accustomed  to  fall  on  his 
knees  and  to  supplicate  God  for  light. 

Associated  often  with  the  name  of  Aquinas,  is  that  of  the  re- 
nowned Franciscan  theologian,  John  Duns  Scotus,  who  taught  at 

^   ,       Oxford,  Paris,  and  Cologne.     Whether  he  was  bom  in 

Duns  Scotus,  j  "»  a 

b.  1265  or  Scotland,  in  Ireland,  or  in  the  North  of  England,  is  un- 
certain. He  was  rightly  named  the  "  Subtle  Doctor." 
In  the  nicety  of  his  distinctions  he  goes  beyond  all  the  other  school- 
men except  WUliam  of  Occam.  To  express  these  fine-spun  dis- 
tinctions, Scotus  was  obliged  to  invent  many  new  Latin  words, 
thus  giving  to  his  style  a  barbarous  character.  He  lacks  the  spir- 
itual depth  of  Aquinas,  and  marks  the  separation  of  the  religious 
and  the  logical  interest,  and  the  ascendency  of  the  latter.  Scotus 
differed  from  Aquinas  on  numerous  topics.  Hence  there  arose  the 
two  noted  parties  of  Thomists  and  Scotists,  whose  debates  contin- 
ued until  the  end  of  the  scholastic  period.  The  chief  point  of  dif- 
ference was  on  the  question  of  the  relation  of  grace  to  the  human 


1073-1294.]  THE  HISTORY  OP  DOCTRINE.  217 

will.  Thomas  followed  for  the  most  part  Augustine  ;  Scotus  was 
inclined  to  Semi-Pelagianism.  It  may  be  added  that  Thomas  was 
an  Aristotelian  Kealist ;  Scotus  was  a  Eealist  of  the  more  extreme 
Platonic  type. 

One  of  the  noblest  as  well  as  ablest  men  of  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury was  Roger  Bacon.  At  a  time  when  the  drift  of  studies  was 
Ro  er  Bacon  ^^^^o^^  wholly  in  the  direction  of  logic  and  metaphysical 
b- 1214,  d.  c.  theology,  and  away  from  literature,  he  turned,  with  an 
unquenchable  thirst  for  knowledge,  to  the  languages, 
to  mathematics,  and  the  natural  and  physical  sciences.  He  sought 
for  copies  of  the  Latin  authors  with  an  avidity  that  surmounted  all 
obstacles.  While  other  teachers  at  Oxford  were  disputing  on  the 
nature  of  genera  and  species,  he  was  prosecuting  with  ardor  re- 
searches in  optics.  He  joined  the  Franciscans,  but  the  result  was 
that  hinderances  were  put  in  the  way  of  the  publication  of  his  writ- 
ings by  his  less  enlightened  superiors.  Finally  a  j)ope,  Clement 
IV.,  gave  him  countenance,  and  in  eighteen  months  he  wrote  three 
large  treatises,  "The  Greater  Work,"  "The  Minor  Work,"  and 
"  The,Thi^^<i  Work."  A  pope  of  a  different  character,  Nicholas  IV., 
gave  the  rein  to  his  persecutors,  and  Bacon  was  long  confined  in 
prison.  He  understood  the  method  of  experimental  science,  and 
excelled  his  renowned  namesake  of  a  later  age  in  the  ability  to  carry 
out  that  method  in  practical  investigation.  He  well  understood  the 
value  of  mathematical  science  as  a  key  to  physical  knowledge.  At 
the  same  time  he  was  a  proficient,  for  that  day,  in  distinctively  lit- 
erary pursuits.  He  was  versatile  without  being  shallow.  He  de- 
served to  wear  the  title  of  "  Wonderful  Doctor  " — Doctor  Mirabilis. 

Another  writer,  whose  name  is  less  familiar  than  that  of  Roger 

Bacon,  one  who  was  interested,  also,  in  scientific  study,  but  was,  at 

the  same  time,  an  earnest  theologian,  is  Raymond  Lull, 

Lull,  to  whose  life  reference  has  already  been  made.     He  was 

c.  1335-1315.     ,  ,,.,-,       p  T.;r  •  ^  ,.  1  •  .      .      , 

born  on  the  island  of  Majorca.     One  of  his  principal 

aims  was  to  check  the  progress  of  the  Pantheistic  infidelity  which 
had  come  forth  from  the  Arabian  schools  in  Spain.  He  entered 
with  unwearied  zeal  into  the  work  of  converting  the  Saracens  and 
the  heathen.  To  this  end  he  caused  chairs  of  Oriental  languages 
to  be  established  at  Paris,  Oxford,  and  Salamanca.  He  wrote  a 
work  on  universal  science,  designed  to  provide  an  invincible  method 
of  argumentation  against  Mohammedans  and  infidels.  Twice  he  went 
to  Tunis  and  Algiers  to  dispute  with  the  Arabic  philosophers,  and  es- 
caped in  safety.  On  a  third  visit  he  fell  a  victim  to  a  fanatical  mob. 
When  we  pass  the  limit  of  the  thirteenth  century  we  enter  the 


218  FROM  GREGORY  VII.  TO  BONIFACE  VIEL        [Period  VI. 

period  of  the  decadence  of  scholasticism.  A  few  noted  names  meet 
Decline  of  "^^i  ^^'^^  ^^  Durandus,  Bradwardine,  Occam ;  but  they 
scholasticism,  j-gprescnt  a  spirit  and  method  in  theology  which  are 
passinf  into  the  stage  of  obsolescence.  Nominalism  revived  and 
reioned  anew,  and  its  reign  "  was  the  tomb  of  scholasticism." 

The  great  schoolmen  of  the  thirteenth  century  were  called  upon 
to  contend  against  a  subtle  and  formidable  Pantheism,  which  was 
due  ultimately  to  the  influence  of  New  Platonism,  reach- 
ing speculative  minds  through  various  channels.  Amal- 
ric  of  Beua,  and  David  of  Dinanto,  teachers  at  Paris,  were  of  this 
way  of  thinking,  and  had,  each  of  them,  his  band  of  followers.  It 
was  from  the  Arabic  writers  that  Pantheism  in  its  most  fascinat- 
ing shape  penetrated  into  the  Christian  schools.  In  the  Arabic 
philosophy,  New  Platonic  ideas  mingled  with  Ai'istotelian  doctrine. 
Among  the  representatives  of  that  philosophy,  the  ablest  was  Aver- 
roes,  who  died  in  1198.  His  writings  exerted  a  powerful  influence. 
According  to  him,  there  is  but  one  intelligence  in  all  men,  and  this 
one  intelligence  is  the  expression  or  emanation  of  Deity.  In  this 
conception,  personality  in  both  God  and  man,  and  with  it,  of 
course,  personal  immortality,  disappear.  In  connection  with  the 
Pantheistic  mode  of  thought  which  was  caught  up  from  the  school 
of  Averroes,  there  were  theologians  who  pronounced  the  doctrines 
of  Christianity  to  be  only  a  figurative  representation  of  profounder 
or  more  exact  truth.  There  were  not  wanting  those  who  professed 
to  receive  by  faith  what  they  admitted  and  affirmed  to  be  contra- 
dictory to  reason.  Against  this  implied,  if  not  conscious  and  ex- 
pressed, infidelity,  Raymond  Lull,  Albert  the  Great,  and  Aquinas 
asserted  with  clearness  and  cogency  the  principles  of  theism.  Span- 
ish Jews  were  stimulated  to  the  study  of  Aristotle  and  to  i^hilo- 
sophical  speculation  by  their  Ai'abic  neighbors.  They,  too,  exerted 
a  strong  influence,  sometimes  in  a  sceptical  direction,  upon  scho- 
lastic thinkers.  Moses  Maimonides  (1135-1204),  the  most  famous 
of  the  Jewish  writers  of  this  period,  in  "  The  Guide  of  the  Per- 
plexed," his  most  important  production,  held  fast  to  theism  and 
miracles,  yet  handled  the  Judaic  creed  in  a  rationalistic  tone  which 
caused  him  to  be  assailed  by  orthodox  Jews  as  a  heretic.  In  the 
Cabala,  that  vast  body  of  Jewish  religious  speculations,  the  influence 
of  New  Platonism,  flowing  from  different  sources,  is  obvious. 
In  the  philosophy  of  the  Cabala,  as  in  Gnosticism,  emanation  plays 
a  conspicuous  part,  and  mystic  intei-pretation  of  Scripture  abounds. 
With  the  Cabala,  Raymond  Lull  acquainted  himseK ;  but  its  influ- 
ence in  the  Church  was  not  much  felt  until  long  after  his  time. 


1073-1294.]  THE  HISTORY  OF  DOCTRINE.  219 

The  learniug  of  the  schoolmen  was  insufficient  to  enable  them 
to  present  effectively  the  historical  proof  of  the  miraculous  origin 
Evidences  of  of  Christianity.  They  showed  no  lack  of  ability  in  ex- 
reveiation.  hibiting  the  moral  evidence  and  the  more  abstract  con- 
siderations in  favor  of  the  supernatural  authorship  of  the  gospel. 
Their  definitions  were  often  concise  and  exact.  Thomas  Aquinas 
defines  a  miracle  to  be  an  event  transcending  the  order  of  nature  as 
a  whole  ;  that  is,  an  event  which  the  forces  of  nature  cannot  of 
themselves  produce.  The  priority  of  faith  to  religious  science 
Faith  and  ^^  at  the  basis  of  the  scholastic  philosophy  of  religion. 
reason.  n.  J  j^elieve  in  order  that  I  may  understand,"  is  adopted 

as  a  ruling  maxim  by  Anselm.  "  He  who  has  not  believed,"  he  tells 
us,  "  has  not  experienced,  and  he  who  has  not  experienced  will  not 
understand."  The  heart  anticipates  the  analytic  work  of  the  under- 
standing. There  is  an  inward  certitude,  founded  on  love  to  the 
contents  of  the  gospel,  and  this  love  is  the  light  of  the  soul.  "  The 
merit  of  faith,"  says  Hugo  of  St.  Victor,  "  consists  in  the  fact  that 
our  conviction  is  determined  by  the  afiections,  when  no  adequate 
knowledge  is  yet  present.  By  faith  we  render  ourselves  worthy 
of  knowledge,  as  perfect  knowledge  is  the  final  reward  of  faith  in 
the  life  eternal."  As  to  the  capacity  of  reason.  Duns  Scotus  dis- 
tinguishes between  its  power  to  discover  truth  for  itself,  and 
its  power  to  recognize  and  accept  truth  when  it  is  communi- 
cated. Aquinas  divides  rehgious  truths  into  two  classes  :  Such 
as  are  above  reason,  like  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  and  such 
as  are  accessible  to  reason,  like  the  doctrine  of  the  being  of  one 
God.  But  he  teaches  that  even  with  regard  to  this  last  class  of 
truths,  there  is,  for  various  reasons,  a  high  advantage  in  having  them 
verified  to  us  by  the  authority  of  revelation.  There  was  generally 
a  disposition  to  find  a  scriptural  foundation  for  everything  contained 
in  the  creed,  but  some  of  the  schoolmen  held  to  later  revelations, 
transmitted  by  tradition  alone.  The  reading  of  the  Bible  by  laymen 
was  subject  to  so  many  restraints,  especially  after  the  rise  of  the 
Waldenses,  that,  if  not  absolutely  foi-bidden,  it  was  regarded  with 
grave  suspicion. 

Among  the  arguments  for  the  existence  of  God  the  demon- 
strative proof  proposed  by  Anselm  deserves  particular  notice.  It 
The  being  of  secks  to  infer  the  existence  of  Deity  from  what  is  neces- 
Sim's^rgu-  sarily  implied  in  reason  itself.  We  have  the  idea  of  a 
ment.  inost  perfect  being.     We  cannot  avoid  having  this  idea. 

Now,  if  the  object  of  the  idea  has  no  real  existence,  then  there  is  a 
lack  of  one  element  of  perfection,  namely,  existence,  and  our  idea 


220  FROM  GREGORY  VII.  TO  BONIFACE  VIII.        [Period  VL 

is  not  that  of  the  most  perfect.  The  validity  of  this  argument  was 
not  allowed  by  Aquinas.  His  objection,  in  substance,  was  what  has 
since  been  often  alleged,  that  it  infers  the  existence  of  a  being  from 
the  definition  of  a  word.  Generally  the  schoolmen  dwell  on  the 
cosmological  proof,  which  calls  for  a  self-existent,  unchangeable  be- 
ing to  account  for  the  world  of  dependent  existences,  and  on  the 
ar'^ument  from  design.  Animated  debates  were  held  on  the  question 
to  what  extent  the  divine  nature  is  comprehensible.  This  was  one 
of  the  topics  on  which  the  Thomists  and  the  Scotists  were  divided. 
Respecting  the  divine  attributes,  as  on  other  subjects,  definitions 
were  contributed  by  the  schoolmen  which  have  gained  a  perma- 
nent place  in  theology. 

The  doctrine  of  divine  providence  was  first  elaborately  handled 
by  Thomas  Aquinas.  He  held  that  the  system  of  things  which  God 
Pi^i^g  has  created  could  not  be  improved  by  any  change  within 

providence,  itsclf.  In  this  scnse  it  is  the  best  possible  system. 
Concerning  the  mode  in  which  events  are  brought  to  pass,  the  doc- 
trine of  Aquinas,  like  that  of  Albert,  is  that  of  determinism.  There 
are  second  causes,  but  the  prime  mover  is  God,  and  they  act  in 
virtue  of  this  indwelling  efiiciency.  The  human  will  is  held  to  be 
no  exception  to  this  rule.  The  will,  to  be  sure,  in  the  act  of  choos- 
ing, experiences  no  constraint.  Its  inclination  is  its  own  ;  yet  that 
very  inclination  is  imparted  by  God,  is  the  product  of  divine  agency. 
Nevertheless  Aquinas  denies  that  God  is  the  author  of  moral  evil. 
He  seeks  to  avoid  the  difiiculty  raised  by  his  theory,  through  the 
assumj^tion  that  sin  is  not  a  positive  existence,  but  is  something 
negative.     This  theory  of  determinism  is  opposed  by  Duns  Scotus. 

The  moral  excellence  of  the  first  man,  in  which  lay  the  simili- 
tude, as  distinguished  from  the  image,  of  God  in  him,  was  held  to 
The  nature  of  be  the  gift  of  diviuc  gracc — a  "  superadded,"  "supernat- 
wtgrnai'sin." '  ^^'^^  "  g^^ *»  ^^  it  was  termed.  By  Aquinas  this  gift  was 
declared  to  have  been  bestowed  on  man  simultaneously 
with  his  creation  ;  by  Scotus,  it  was  made  contingent  on  the  free 
exercise  of  Adam's  will  consenting  to  its  reception.  While  Scotus 
was  disposed  to  limit  the  effects  of  the  fall  to  negative  evils  entailed 
on  mankind — the  deprivation  of  original  righteousness,  which  left 
the  natural  powers  of  the  soul  intact — Aquinas  taught  that  certain 
"  wounds  "  were  also  inflicted  on  human  nature  itself,  including  the 
disorder  of  its  powers,  and  the  subjection  of  the  will  to  the  lower 
propensities.  Aquinas,  like  Anselm,  adhered  to  the  realistic  con- 
ception of  a  participation  of  the  race  in  the  sinful  act  of  their 
progenitor.     On  this  subject  of  original  sin,  and  the  character  of 


1073-1294.]  THE  HISTORY  OF  DOCTRINE.  221 

men  at  their  birth,  Abelard,  without  renouncing  the  orthodox 
view,  brings  forward  difficulties  and  objections  to  the  acceptance 
of  it. 

The  scholastic  disputes  about  the  Trinity  and  the  two  natures 
of  Christ  form  a  labyrinth  which  we  cannot  here  undertake  to 
The  atone-  thread.  On  these  particular  topics  comparatively  little 
ment.  y^^^  added  to  the  stock  of  theological  thought.     Such  is 

not  the  character  of  the  mediaeval  discussions  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
atonement.  The  essay  of  Anselm  on  this  subject  is  a  production 
of  great  interest  and  importance  in  the  history  of  theology.  He 
seeks  to  explain  the  necessity  of  the  incarnation.  It  was  required, 
in  order  that  an  atonement  might  be  made  for  sin.  Sin  is  disobe- 
dience, and  inflicts  a  dishonor  on  God  which  the  transgressor  can- 
not repair.  Were  he  to  become  perfectly  obedient,  he  could  not 
render  satisfaction  for  the  past — for  the  offence  of  having  robbed 
God  of  what  belonged  to  him.  He  owes  a  debt  which  he  cannot 
pay.  The  whole  world  would  not  suffice  as  a  compensation  ;  it 
would  not  balance  the  guilt  of  a  single  transgression.  Only  God 
can  provide  a  satisfaction  commensurate  with  the  offence  ;  yet  it 
is  man  who,  as  being  the  offender,  must  provide  it.  Hence  the  need 
of  the  God-man.  Christ,  to  be  sure,  owes  obedience  for  himself, 
but  since  he  is  spotless,  he  owes  not  submission  to  death,  the  gift  of 
his  life.  Yet  this  purely  supererogatory  gift,  he,  in  the  spirit  of  love 
and  loyalty,  makes  to  God.  It  more  than  counterbalances  the  dir- 
est sin  ;  for  rather  than  be  guilty  of  the  least  injury  to  Christ,  one 
would  prefer  to  commit  all  other  iniquities.  Christ  must  be  re- 
warded ;  yet  how  can  he  be  ?  Having  all  things,  Christ  can  be 
rewarded  only  by  blessings  bestowed  on  his  kindred,  the  race  of 
sinful  men,  to  whom  he  is  so  intimately  bound.  On  his  account 
forgiveness  is  granted  ;  and  forgiveness  is  possible  even  for  the  sin 
of  slaying  Jesus,  since  it  was  a  sin  of  ignoi'ance  :  of  his  slayers  it 
was  said,  "They  know  not  what  they  do."  The  reasoning  of  An- 
selm is  suggested  by  the  features,  not  of  the  Koman,  but  of  the  old 
Germanic  law.  It  is  more  akin  to  the  spirit  of  chivalry  than  to  the 
Justinian  codes.  He  does  not  dwell  on  the  extent  of  the  Saviour's 
sufferings,  or  on  his  death  as  a  substituted  penalty.  But  this  last 
conception  is  one  into  which  his  theory  easily  flows.  It  is  set  forth 
by  Aquinas  and  other  leading  schoolmen.  It  was  the  form  which 
the  orthodox  doctrine  of  the  satisfaction  of  Christ  assumed.  Yet, 
along  with  this  judicial  conception,  the  older  view  of  a  deliverance 
from  Satan  still  held  its  place  in  theology.  Abelard  alone  raises 
objections  to  the  idea  that  the  dominion  of  Satan  over  men  is  pro- 


222  FROM  GREGORY  VII.  TO  BONIFACE  VIII.        [Period  VI. 

tecterl  by  any  right.  He  advances  the  "moral  view  "  of  the  atone- 
ment, which  makes  it  to  consist,  not  in  an  expiatory  act,  but  in 
such  a  manifestation  of  God's  love  and  mercy,  in  the  self-sacrifice 
of  his  son,  as  melts  the  soul  in  penitence  and  kindles  love  in  re- 
turn. Bernard  agrees  that  Satan  has  no  rights  of  his  own  which 
z-equire  satisfaction  ;  but  he  is  the  executor  of  the  divine  justice. 
The  school  of  Anselm  and  Aquinas  looked  on  the  vicarious  work 
of  Christ  as  a  real  and  absolute  equivalent  for  that  which  the  trans- 
Theacceptiia-  gi'essor  owes  to  God  and  to  his  justice.  At  this  point 
tion  theory,  gcotus  takes  another  path.  He  does  not  allow  an  abso- 
lute objective  equivalence  of  the  payment  to  the  debt.  He  holds 
to  what  is  termed  the  theory  of  "  acceptilation."  The  Saviour's 
work  becomes  an  equivalent  simply  because  God  graciously  wills 
to  accept  it  as  such,  as  a  creditor  may  choose  to  discharge  a 
debtor  on  receiving,  not  the  precise  and  full  debt  that  is  owed, 
but  something  less  and  dififerent,  yet  so  valuable  and  welcome  as 
to  satisfy  his  wishes  and  make  him  content.  In  the  case  of  Christ, 
the  dignity  of  the  sufferer  and  the  circumstances  attending  his 
submission  to  death  are  taken  into  the  account. 

In  the  work  of  regeneration  and  sanctification  Aquinas  distin- 
guishes between  prevenient  grace,  which  first  acts  on  the  will  and 
disposes  it  aright,  and  the  cooperative  grace,  which 
sanctifica-  Completes  the  inward  renovation  thus  begun.  The  sin- 
ner, under  the  first  operation  of  grace,  is  put  in  a  con- 
dition to  merit  further  divine  help  and  cleansing.  Yet  Aquinas, 
like  Anselm,  regards  the  grace  of  the  Spirit  as  from  the  beginning 
the  sole  efficacious  agent  in  effecting  the  purification  of  the  heart. 
This  was  in  accordance  with  the  Augustinian  view  of  determinism. 
Scotus,  on  the  contrary,  makes  room  for  a  free  consent  of  the  will, 
where  there  might  be  a  refusal.  He  holds  that  man,  by  the  right 
use  of  his  own  natural  power,  can  merit  the  grace  which  renews  the 
heart.  The  merit  is  that  of  congruity — a  fitness  to  receive  gifts  of 
mercy — as  we  may  say  of  one  that  he  is  "  a  deserving  object  of 
charily."  It  is  not  the  merit  of  condignity  which  carries  in  it  a 
claim  in  justice.  This  belongs,  in  the  unqualified  sense,  to  Christ 
alone. 

In  the  scholastic  doctrine  of  justification  the  first  element  is 
made  to  be  the  infusion  of  personal  righteousness.  "  Justify  "  is 
,    .^    .       to  make  holy,  and  this  element  stands  first  in  the  order 

Jnstiflcation. 

of  nature.  Simultaneously  the  forgiveness  of  sin  is  be- 
stowed. The  conception  of  justification  was  strongly  affected  by 
the  theory  as  to  the  necessity  and  efficacy  of  the  sacrament  of  bap- 


1073-1294]  THE  HISTORY   OF  DOCTRINE.  223 

tism,  and  the  need  of  satisfaction  to  be  rendered  by  the  Christian 
for  sins  which  he  might  commit  after  receiving  that  rite. 

The  schoolmen  generally  inculcate  the  necessity  of  a  living 
faith,  involving  a  union  of  the  soul  to  God  and  to  Christ,  and  con- 
sider this  faith — distinguished  as  being  the  faith  that 
worketh  by  love,  from  mere  intellectual  credence — the 
fountain  of  good  works.     They  distinguish  between  explicit  faith, 
where  the  believer  is  intelligently  conscious  of  its  objects,  and  im- 
plicit faith,  which  is  a  readiness  to  believe  as  far  and  as  fast  as  the 
truth  is  made  known.     Implicit  faith  signifies  docility.     They  re- 
tain the  distinction  between  the  commands  and  the  counsels  of  the 
gospel,  the  counsels  having  reference  to  the  monastic  virtues  of 
poverty,  chastity,  and  obedience.     The  virtues  Aquinas 
separates  into  two  classes.     The  theological  virtues  ai-e 
faith,  hope,  and  charity.     They  are  the  distinctively  Christian  virt- 
ues, which  presuppose  the  grace  of  the  gospel.     They  are  a  cer- 
tain participation  in  divinity,  for  "  we  are  partakers  of  the  divine 
nature."     They  lead  to  a  higher  blessedness  than  can  grow  out  of 
the  natural  powers  of  the  soul,  even  when  they  are  rightly  exerted. 
These  give  rise  simply  to  the  natural  virtues — the  virtues  of  the 
second  class — which  are  prudence,  justice,  fortitude,  temperance. 

There  was  a  tendency  in  the  scholastic  theology  to  a  doctrine 
of  salvation  by  human  merit.  Faith  was  enumerated  among  the 
virtues,  and  the  virtuousness  of  faith  was  placed  in  the  love  that 
enters  into  it.  Faith  was  regarded  as  one  of  the  vii'tues,  side  by 
side  with  others  on  the  list.  The  value  of  meritorious  works  was 
exalted,  although  their  merit  was  declared  to  be  possible  only 
through  grace,  and  on  account  of  Christ.  The  belief  in  works  of 
supererogation  prevailed.  Implicit  faith  was  often  resolved  into  an 
unlimited  submission  of  the  mind  to  the  authority  of  the  Church. 
As  the  prerogatives  of  the  pope  were  increased,  the  doctrine  of 
papal  infallibility  began  to  take  root,  and  was  sanctioned  by 
Thomas  Aquinas. 

The  sacraments  held  an  exalted  place  in  the  mediaeval  religious 
system.  The  number  of  them  was  definitely  fixed  at  seven,  viz. : 
The  sacra-  baptism.  Confirmation,  unction  of  the  sick,  the  Lord's 
ments.  Supper,  penance,  marriage,  and  ordination.     Peter  Lom- 

bard adopted  this  as  the  correct  number.  It  was  formally  sanc- 
tioned by  the  Council  of  Florence  in  1439.  The  sacraments  were 
considered  to  be  signs  of  the  grace  connected  with  them,  symbols 
— that  is,  expressive  signs — of  that  grace,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
vehicles,  conveying  the  grace  which  they  image.     The  need  of 


224  FROM  GREGORY  VIL  TO  BONIFACE  VIIL        [Period  VI. 

sacraments  which  shall  thus  actually  bring  grace  to  the  soul  is 
founded  by  Aquinas  on  the  fact  that  we  are  in  the  flesh,  and  are 
surrounded  by  material  things,  and  on  the  fact  that  sin  has  ren- 
dered us  peculiarly  alive  to  the  impressions  of  sense.  The  divine 
being  condescends  to  our  necessity.  The  sacraments  meet  the 
child  of  the  Church  at  his  birth,  and  attend  him  to  the  portals  of 
the  other  world.  Each  of  them  fulfils  in  him  a  work  of  its  own. 
Baptism,  confirmation,  and  ordination  it  is  unlawful  to  repeat, 
since  they  imprint  on  the  soul  an  "  indelible  character,"  a  certain 
capacity  or  faculty  which  is  not  lost.  The  sacraments  produce  their 
legitimate  effect  ex  opere  operato — that  is,  by  an  intrinsic  efficiency. 
This  is  not  dependent  on  the  personal  character  of  the  officiating 
priest.  If  he  have  the  intention  to  administer  the  sacrament  ac- 
cording to  its  design,  that  alone  is  requisite.  Nor  is  the  effect  of 
the  sacrament  dependent  on  the  state  of  mind  of  the  recipient,  un- 
less he  wilfully  resist  its  influence,  or  is  in  a  state  of  mortal  sin, 
although  the  benefit  of  the  sacrament  is  increased  if  it  be  received 
with  a  pious  disposition.  The  virtue  of  infant  baptism  belongs  ex- 
clusively to  the  sacramental  act. 

Baptism  brings  with  it  regeneration  and  pardon.     The  guilt 
of  previous  sin,  original  and  actual,  is  effaced  ;   the  principle  of 

sin,  the  inordinate  desires,  are  weakened,  yet  not  fully 

subdued.  The  right  to  baptize  belonged  to  priests,  but 
lay  baptism,  when  there  was  no  other  to  be  had,  was  valid.     Con- 

fii-mation  imparted  a  power  of  growth  in  the  divine  life. 

Witnesses  were  required,  by  whom  the  candidate  was 
upheld,  or  "sustained,"  in  a  spiritual  sense.  A  certain  affinity  was 
established  between  the  baptized  person  and  the  sponsors,  and  be- 
tween the  candidate  for  confirmation  and  the  witnesses,  so  that  in 
neither  case  was  marriage  permitted  between  the  parties  standing 
in  these  relations. 

The  Lord's  Supper  brought  a  continued  spiritual  nourishment 
to  the  communicant.  In  the  twelfth  century  the  custom  of  admit- 
ting children  to  participation  in  the  Lord's  Supper  was 
abolished.  The  increasing  veneration  for  the  bread  and 
the  wine  of  the  sacrament  led  to  this  act.  There  was  a  fear  of 
dropping  the  bread  and  wine  in  the  distribution  of  them.  This  mo- 
tive probably  first  caused  the  withholding  of  the  cup  from  the  laity. 
This  custom  was  a  subject  of  debate  in  the  early  part  of  the  thir- 
teenth centvu'y,  but  became  established.  Aquinas  propounded  the 
doctrine  of  "  concomitance,"  which  was  that  the  bread,  although 
it  be  sacramentally  the  body  of  Christ,  contains,  by  a  uatui-al  or 


1073-1294.]  THE  HISTORY  OF  DOCTRmE.  225 

real  "  accompanying,"  blood  of  the  Saviour  also.  It  is  enough  that 
the  priest  receives  the  cup.  The  Dominicans  and  Franciscans 
espoused  Thomas's  view.  Stories  of  the  host  bleeding,  for  the 
rebuke  of  scepticism  and  on  other  occasions,  confirmed  the  belief. 

The  doctrine  defended  by  Lanfranc  was  that  of  transubstantia- 
tion,  or  the  literal  change  of  the  bread  and  wine  into  the  body  and 
Transubstan-  ^^^^^  ^f  Jcsus.  This  was  an  advancc  upon  the  Augus- 
tiation.  tinian  view,  which  had  prevailed  in  the  earlier  part  of 

the  middle  ages.  Pope  Innocent  III.,  in  1215,  first  gave  to  the 
doctrine  of  transubstantiation  a  general  ecclesiastical  sanction.  In 
the  celebration  of  the  mass,  the  tinkling  of  the  bell  was  the  signal 
informing  the  congregation  of  the  occurrence  of  the  miracle.  It 
was  held  that  the  mass  is  a  real  offering,  a  repetition  of  the  sacri- 
fice on  the  cross.  It  Avas  believed  that  the  mass  is  highly  effica- 
cious in  averting  evils  and  procuring  blessings.  Hence  the  practice 
of  private  masses,  when  only  the  officiating  priest  was  present, 
grew  to  be  common.  Innocent  HE.,  in  1215,  oixlained  that  laymen 
must  partake  of  the  communion  at  least  once  in  the  year. 

The  schoolmen  made  penance  to  consist  of  contrition  of  heart, 

confession,  and  satisfaction — the  last  to  be  discharged  by  the  offender 

^    himself,  in  accordance  with  the  rules  of  the  Church  and 

Penance  and  _       ' 

absolution.  the  judgment  of  the  priest.  Only  in  this  way  could  the 
eternal  penalty  due  to  mortal  sin  be  escaped.  At  length  the  priest, 
instead  of  offering  a  prayer  for  the  pardon  of  the  contrite  offender, 
performed  the  judicial  function  of  declaring  him  absolved.  The 
doctrine  of  indulgences,  or  of  the  authoritative  remission 
Indulgences.  ^^  penances  by  the  substitution  for  them  of  prayers,  be- 
nevolent gifts,  or  other  forms  of  devotion  and  self-sacrifice,  was  uni- 
versally accepted.  With  the  crusades  came  in  plenary  indulgences, 
the  complete  remission  of  penances,  on  account  of  some  signal  ser- 
vice to  the  Church,  or  remarkable  proof  of  religious  fidelity  and 
zeal.  Pilgrims  to  the  great  jubilees  at  Eome,  which  were  appointed 
by  the  popes,  were  rewarded  with  this  coveted  boon.  As  a  counter- 
part to  the  doctrine  of  indulgences,  Alexander  of  Hales  proposed 
the  doctrine  of  a  treasury  of  supererogatory  merits  of  saints,  which 
Treasury  of  ^ay  be  drawu  upon,  through  the  agency  of  the  pope,  for 
merits.  ^i^g  benefit  of  their  more  needy  brethren.    By  this  means 

even  the  pains  of  purgatory  might  be  shortened.  This  doctrine 
was  adopted  in  the  Church,  and  was  connected  by  Aquinas  with 
his  conception  of  the  mystical  union  of  Christ  and  his  followers,  in 
virtue  of  which  union,  benefits,  without  offence  to  reason,  may  be 
transferred  from  one  to  another. 
15 


226  FROM  GREGORY  VII.  TO  BONIFACE  Vm.        [Period  VI. 

The  sacrament  of  extreme  unction  was  thought  to  bring  advan- 
tages to  the  sick,  both  physical  and  spiritual.     In  case  of  physical 
amendment,  followed  by  a  relapse,  it  might  be  repeated. 
u^LT         It  belonged  to  the  bishop  to  ordain.     Ordination  by  he- 
retical bishops  was  declared  by  Thomas  Aquinas  to  be 
valid.     The  unmarried  state  was  assumed  to  be  higher 
Marriage.       ^^^^  ^^le  married.     Hence  the  sacrament  of  marriage  was 
said  to  have  a  negative  virtue  in  laying  bonds  on  sensual  passion. 
It  figured,  moreover,  the  union  of  Christ  to  the  Church  ;  for  the 
original  term  for  "mystery,"  in  Ephesians  v.   32,  was  rendered 
"  sacramentum  "  in  the  Vulgate. 

The  prevalent  custom  of  invoking  the  saints  and  of  asking  for 

their  intercession  was  sanctioned  by  the  Church.     More  and  more 

the  worship  of  Mary  formed  a  part  of  devotional  ser- 

Invocation  i.  ^  ± 

ofsainteand  yiccs,  public  and  private.  In  the  twelfth  century  the 
doctrine  of  the  Virgin's  immaculate  conception  was 
broached.  This  view  was  embraced  by  the  Franciscans,  who  were 
specially  zealous  in  rendering  honor  to  Mary.  It  was  rejected  by 
the  Dominicans,  and  formed  a  standing  subject  of  controversy  down 
to  a  recent  date. 

The  Church  doctrine  held  to  five  abodes  in  the  invisible  world. 
Souls  which  leave  the  earth  in  a  state  of  mortal  sin,  immediately 
_^   ,  enter  hell,  which  was  conceived  of  as  a  place  of  suffering 

The  doctrine  '  ••■  ° 

of  hell.  in  material  fire.     The  abode  of  unbaptized  infants — the 

Limbus  in-  Uvibus  infantum — was  a  place  where,  according  to  Peter 
an  um.  Lombard,  the  vision  of  God  is  denied  to  its  inmates,  but 

no  positive  punishments  are  inflicted.  Gregory  of  Eimiui,  who 
adopted  a  harsher  view,  received  the  name  of  "  torturer  of  infants  " 
— tortor  infantum.  The  abode  of  the  pious  dead  of  Old  Testa- 
Limbuspa-  ment  times — the  limbus  patrurn — where,  prior  to  the 
*^"^-  advent  of  Jesus,  the  blessed  vision  of  God  was  not  en- 

joyed, was  by  Christ  transformed  to  a  place  of  rest  and  felicity. 
Purgatory,  where  literal  fire  was  conceived  to  be  the  in- 

Purgatory.  o  j  ^ 

strument  of  punishment,  was  the  abode  of  souls  guilty 
of  no  mortal  sins,  but  burdened  with  imperfection  which  needed 
to  be  removed,  and  with  dues  of  "temporal  punishment,"  or  satis- 
Heaven  faction,  for  sius  from  the  guilt  of  which  they  have  been 

absolved.  Heaven  was  described  as  the  home  of  all 
souls  which  need  no  purification  from  sin  when  they  die,  or  have 
passed  through  the  cleansing  flames  of  purgatory. 


1073-1294.]    RELIGION  AND  WORSHIP  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES.         227 

CHAPTER  yi. 

SOME  ASPECTS  OF  RELIGION  AND  WORSHIP  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES. 

In  the  foregoing  chapters  an  opportunity  has  been  aflforded  in- 
cidentally to  touch  upon  many  of  the  peculiarities  of  mediaeval  re- 
ligion.     Some  general  remarks  on  this  subject  will  here 
the  middle      j^e  added.     One  is  struck  with  the  strong  contrasts  that 

ages. 

present  themselves  in  every  province  of  mediaeval  life, 
and  lend  to  it  a  picturesque  charactei*.  By  the  side  of  the  brilliant 
attire  of  the  prince  and  of  the  bishop,  we  see  the  coarse  frock  of  the 
monk  and  the  rags  of  the  peasant.  In  the  vicinity  of  the  mighty 
cathedral,  whose  spires  rise  above  the  tallest  trees  of  the  forest,  are 
the  mean  dwelling  of  the  mechanic  and  the  peasant's  miserable 
hovel.  Associated  with  mail-clad  knights,  whose  trade  is  war  and 
whose  delight  is  in  combat,  are  the  men  whose  sacred  vocation  for- 
bids the  use  of  force  altogether.  Through  lands  overspread  with 
deeds  of  violence,  the  lonely  wayfarer  with  the  staff  and  badge  of 
a  pilgrim  passes  unarmed  and  in  safety.  In  sight  of  castles,  about 
whose  walls  fierce  battles  rage,  are  the  church  and  the  monastery, 
within  the  precincts  of  which  quiet  reigns,  and  all  violence  is 
branded  as  sacrilege.  There  is  a  like  contrast  when  we  look  at  the 
inmost  spirit  and  temper  of  different  classes.  On  the  one  hand  there 
is  flagrant  wickedness,  the  very  thought  of  which  excites  horror. 
On  the  other  hand  we  meet  with  examples  of  sanctity  that  command, 
in  the  most  enlightened  days,  the  deepest  reverence  of  all  who 
value  Christian  excellence.  The  middle  ages  are  commonly  desig- 
nated the  "  ages  of  faith."  Doubt  as  to  the  reality  of  things  divine 
was  an  infrequent  intruder.  When  it  came,  it  was  repelled  as  a 
messenger  of  Satan.  A  sense  of  the  nearness  of  the  supernatural 
world,  and  of  the  beings,  good  and  evil,  that  belonged  to  it,  pos- 
sessed all  minds.  A  thin  veil  divided  the  realms  unseen  from  the 
visible  world,  and  that  veil  might  at  any  moment  part  for  the  free 
ingress  of  invisible  agents.     Every  thought  on  divine  things,  every 

aspiration,    every   fear,  was   bodied   forth   in   symbols. 

Defective  '-  "^  .  .  t  e       •      ■, 

yet  real  Prayer  and  praise,  religious  ceremonies,  sacred  festivals 

and  pageants,  formed  an  atmosphere  in  which  the  entire 
community  lived  and  breathed.  Unhappily  the  idea  of  merit  was 
closely  attached  to  external  observances.  They  were  too  much 
viewed  in  the  light  of  a  price  paid  for  the  mercy  of  heaven ;  for 


228  FROM  GREGORY  VH.  TO  BONIFACE  VIIT.        [Period  VI. 

frequently  they  stood  in  no  vital  relation  to  morality.  They  were 
practised  as  a  means  of  atonement  for  vice  and  cnielty,  a  bribe  to 
placate  an  avenger — a  substitute,  it  might  be,  instead  of  a  sign  and 
fruit,  of  reiDeutauce.  Yet  no  one  can  read  the  counsels  given  by 
such  men  as  Auselm  and  Bernard,  to  those  who  sought  direction, 
without  feeling  how  deeply  the  teachings  of  Christ  had  penetrated 
their  souls.  And  such  leaders  were  not  wanting  in  the  darkest 
ages.  Even  in  the  tenth  century,  writes  Trench,  "what  grander 
company  of  Christian  men  and  women,  and  these  occupying  the 
thrones  of  the  earth,  would  anywhere  greet  us  than  greet  us  here 
— Otto  the  Great,  and  Brun,  Archbishop  of  Cologne,  his  brother, 
these  two,  the  layman  and  the  priest,  working  so  zealously  together 
for  the  spread  of  Christian  missions  among  the  wild  heathen  races 
that  raged  and  stormed  around  the  fortress  of  German  Christianity  ; 
while  completing  this  royal  group  there  is  Matilda,  the  mother  of 
these ;  and  Otto's  queen,  well  worthy  to  share  his  toils  and  his 
throne,  our  English  Edith,  granddaughter  and  undegenerate  scion 
of  Alfred  the  Great."  In  865  Pope  Nicholas  I.  wrote  to  the  Bul- 
garians a  letter  which  was  accompanied  by  the  present  of  Bibles  and 
other  books.  He  urged  them  to  gentleness  in  the  treatment  of 
idolaters.  In  answer  to  questions  which  they  had  proposed,  he 
told  them  that  Christians  were  not,  like  the  ancient  Jews,  confined 
to  any  particular  place  of  prayer.  He  warned  them  that  they  ought 
not  to  rest  their  hopes  on  particular  times  and  seasons,  or  look  to 
them  for  help,  but  rather  look  to  the  living  God.  In  emergencies, 
when  men  were  called  to  prepare  for  war  in  defence  of  their  coun- 
try, they  ought  not  to  intermit  their  necessary  labors,  even  if  it  was 
a  time  of  fasting.  To  do  so  would  be  to  tempt  God.  He  incul- 
cated a  forgiving  disposition,  objected  to  the  frequency  of  capital 
punishment  among  them,  and  to  other  inhuman  practices.  What 
he  required  of  them  was  a  change  of  the  "  inward  man" — that  they 
should  put  on  Christ.  In  this  way  a  pope  could  write  in  the  ninth 
century.  Exhortations  equally  Christian  and  spiritual  in  their 
tenor  might  be  culled  from  the  writings  of  bishops  and  holy  monks 
in  every  century.  This  much  may  be  said,  that  the  Decalogue,  the 
Lord's  Prayer,  and  the  Apostles'  Creed  were  made  familiar  to  all. 
Life  of  con-  There  was  great  activity  of  conscience  in  the  middle  ages. 
science.  j^.  .^^as  the  effect  of  the  legal  spirit  that  was  infused  into 

the  popular  teaching  and  the  accepted  interpretation  of  Chris- 
tianity. This  life  of  conscience  was  evident  in  the  manifold  auster- 
ities to  which  it  gave  rise.  It  meets  us  with  impressive  power 
in  the  poem  of  Dante,  the  great  literary  production  of  the  middle 


1073-1294.]    RELIGION  AND  WORSHIP  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES.  229 

ages.  In  considering  the  religion  of  this  period,  we  must  remem- 
ber that  there  occurred  from  time  to  time  intellectual  and  spiritual 
revivals.  Such,  in  different  waj'S,  were  the  Hildebrandiau  reform, 
the  monastic  reform  under  the  auspices  of  St.  Bernard,  the  rise 
of  scholasticism,  the  outburst  of  enthusiasm  in  the  era  of  the  cru- 
sades, the  formation  of  the  mendicant  orders.  These  "  beneficent 
waves  of  high  spiritual  emotion,"  whatever  mixture  of  evil  belonged 
to  them,  lifted  multitudes  above  the  grovelling  thoughts  and  pur- 
suits to  which  they  had  been  accustomed. 

In  the  devotional  system  of  the  middle  ages  the  celestial  hier- 
archy of  angels  had  an  important  place.  Apparitions  of  angels 
Goodand  wcrc  bcHeved  to  be  not  infrequent.  They  were  protec- 
evii  spirits.  tors  agaiust  the  demoniacal  spirits  with  which  the  air 
was  peopled.  The  "swarming,  busy,  indefatigable,  malignant 
spirits "  claimed  the  world  of  man  as  their  own.  They  assumed 
grotesque  and  repulsive  forms.  Satan  was  figured  as  having  hoi-ns, 
a  tail,  and  the  cloven  foot.  Connected  with  this  ever-present  su- 
perstition, the  torment  of  the  young  and  the  old,  was  the  belief  in 
magic  spells  and  the  efficacy  of  talismans.  The  potent  reliance  of 
the  timid,  tempted,  persecuted  soul  was  in  the  help  and 
Baintsand  intcrccssion  of  the  saints.  These  multiplied  in  num- 
ber as  time  advanced.  Every  church,  every  village,  had 
its  tutelary  spirits.  The  miracles  which  they  were  believed  to  have 
wrought  were  numberless.  More  and  more  the  legends  of  the 
saints  were  read,  until  in  later  times  the  romances  of  love  and  chiv- 
alry divided  with  them  the  popular  regard.  Those  legends  fill 
the  sixty  ponderous  folios  of  the  yet  unfinished  collection  of  the 
Bollandists.  They  contain  valuable  historical  material,  to  be 
reached  by  sifting  out  the  fiction,  as  grains  of  gold  are  separated 
from  heaps  of  sand.  Yet  even  the  endless  tales  of  miracles  are  in- 
teresting, small  as  may  generally  be  their  title  to  credence,  since 
they  embody  in  a  mythical  form  the  ideas  and  beliefs  of  those  from 
whose  minds  they  sprang,  and  of  the  generations  who  listened  to 
them  or  hung  with  delight  over  their  marvellous  incidents.  Far 
above  all  the  saints  in  the  popular  veneration  was  the  Virgin  Mary. 
The  homage  paid  to  her  had  been  increasing  in  fervor  and  ap- 
proaching nearer  to  divine  honors  from  the  dawn  of  the  mediaeval 
period.  Chivalry  made  her  an  idol  of  the  imagination.  The  knight 
devoted  himself  to  her  service  and  invoked  her  aid  in  battle.  A 
Chapel  of  our  Lady  was  formed  in  every  cathedral  and  in  most 
churches  of  considerable  magnitude.  In  the  numerous  hymns  to 
Mary  she  was  described  in  the  most  glowing  terms  of  praise,  and 


230  FROM  GREGORY  VII.  TO  BONIFACE  VHL        [Period  VI. 

was  exalted  to  a  position  of  almost  controlling  influence  over  the 
divine  Sou.  With  the  growing  worship  of  martyrs  and  saints,  the 
interest  in  their  relics  increased.  They  were  required  in  every  new 
church  that  was  to  be  consecrated.  They  were  usually  placed  upon 
the  altar  or  beneath  it.  They  were  worn  upon  the  person.  The 
reliquary  in  which  were  the  bones  of  a  saint  or  shreds  of  his  ap- 
parel was  prized  above  all  other  treasures.  Of  their  efficacy  in 
working  miracles  there  was  no  doubt.  An  oath  taken  upon  the 
relics  of  a  saint  was  clothed  with  awful  sanctity.  Its  violation  was 
a  terrible  sin.  It  was  said  that  over  a  chest  which,  when  opened, 
was  found  to  contain  the  most  sacred  relics  of  Normandy,  Harold 
was  decoyed  by  William  the  Norman  into  taking  an  oath  which 
made  him  the  next  in  succession  to  the  English  crown.  "  No  won- 
der that  Avith  the  whole  Christian  world  deeming  it  holy  and  mer- 
itorious to  believe,  dangerous,  impious,  to  doubt,  there  should  be 
no  end  or  limit  to  belief  ;  that  the  wood  of  the  true  cross  should 
grow  into  a  forest ;  that  wild  fictions,  the  romance  of  the  Wise 
Men  of  the  East  transmuted  into  kings,  the  eleven  thousand  vir- 
gins, should  be  worshipped  in  the  rich  commercial  cities  of  the 
Khine."  For  the  disputed  possession  of  relics  there  were  fierce 
contests  between  rival  monasteries.  Relics  were  stolen,  and  a  theft, 
if  successful,  incurred  no  reproach.  The  motive  was  deemed  pious. 
The  body  of  St.  Benedict  was  carried  away  from  Italy  to  France. 
The  crusades  afforded  the  means  of  gratifying  the  desire  for  relics, 
which  became  proportionately  more  intense.  The  sale  of  them 
grew  to  be  a  lucrative  branch  of  trade.  Vast  sums  of  money,  such 
as  the  wealthy  now  pay  for  the  noblest  products  of  art,  were  ex- 
pended in  the  purchase  of  pieces  of  ajDpai-el  or  other  objects  be- 
lieved to  have  once  belonged  to  Christ  or  the  Virgin.  It  was  said 
that  the  house  in  which  Mary  had  lived  at  Nazareth  was,  in  1291, 
carried  by  angels  through  the  air  to  Tersato  in  Dalmatia.  In  1294 
the  angels  took  it  across  the  Adriatic  to  a  wood  near  Recanati, 
whence,  in  1295,  it  was  removed  to  the  hill  at  Loreto,  whei'e  it  now 
stands.  In  each  of  its  places  of  sojourn  wondrous  miracles  are  re- 
ported in  connection  with  it.  It  cannot  be  denied  that,  with  all 
the  care  of  theologians  to  distinguish  between  the  homage  to  be 
accorded  to  Mary  and  the  hosts  of  saints,  and  the  worship  due  to 
God  alone,  such  homage  in  the  minds  of  the  people  was  practically 
a  sort  of  polytheism.  The  government  of  the  world,  including  the 
disposal  of  the  lot  of  men  for  this  life  and  the  life  to  come,  was  rel- 
egated to  a  multitude  of  supernatural  beings  of  finite  powers,  but 
full  of  sympathy  with  human  distress  and  potent  to  relieve  it. 


1073-1294.]    RELIGION  AND  WORSHIP  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES.  231 

The  penitential  system  of  the  Church  was  not  without  a  whole- 
some effect  in  imposing  restraint  upon  rude  natures,  and  in  keeping 
The  peniten-  alivc  the  fecHngs  of  conscience.  Yet  it  was  prolific  of 
tiai  system,  abuscs.  It  was  hard  to  disconnect  a  false  idea  of  merit 
from  self-inflicted  mortifications.  Remorse  and  fear  drove  some  to 
dangerous  excesses  in  fasting  and  scourging.  Others  flew  to  the 
relief  afforded  by  indulgences,  and  willingly  submitted  to  a  pecuni- 
ary equivalent,  or  to  a  pilgrimage  to  Home  or  to  Jerusalem.  In 
some  cases  a  rich  noble  was  allowed  to  reduce  a  fast  of  years  to  a 
few  days  by  compelling  his  dejoendents  to  share  it  with  him.  The 
terrors  of  excommunication,  and  the  greater  terrors  of  the  anath- 
ema, which  cut  off  the  offender  from  intercourse  with  his  fellow- 
men,  were  weapons  liable  to  a  terrible  misuse,  as  was  the  inter- 
dict, which  deprived  a  whole  community  of  the  means  of  grace. 

What  was  the  attitude  of  the  Church  in  relation  to  the  great 
evils  that  afflicted  society  ?  In  general,  it  may  be  said  with  truth 
Influence  of  that  the  Church  cast  its  influence  on  the  side  of  peace, 
in^reiatiou'to  ^^  heal  strife  among  princes  and  nobles,  and  to  pre- 
war, ygj^^  bloodshed,  was  regarded  as  one  of  the  highest  du- 
ties which  the  chiefs  of  the  hierarchy  could  perform.  The  influ- 
ence of  religion  in  this  direction  was  j)owerful.  It  is  seen  in  such 
a  character  as  Louis  IX.  of  France,  in  connection  with  virtues 
that  entitle  him  to  the  reverence  in  which  he  was  held  by  his 
contemporaries,  and  to  the  eulogies  which  modern  writers,  includ- 
ing Voltaire,  have  united  in  bestowing  upon  him.  When,  of  his 
own  accord,  he  ceded  to  Henry  III.  of  England  Limousin  and 
other  conquests  made  by  French  kings  before  him,  he  was  moved 
to  this  act,  not  because  he  judged  that  they  did  not  rightfully  be- 
long to  him,  but  for  the  reason,  which  he  avowed,  that  he  desired 
peace  among  their  i-espective  children,  who  were  cousins-german. 
Yet  the  advocacy  of  peace  on  the  part  of  ecclesiastics  had  its  limita- 
tions. Against  heretics  and  infidels  it  was  an  obligation  and  a 
merit  to  wage  war.  It  was  hostility  to  the  Mohammedan  beliefs, 
and  zeal  for  the  recovery  of  the  holy  places  from  the  polluting 
tread  of  their  heretical  possessors,  more  than  any  broader  motive 
of  duty  or  of  policy,  which  inflamed  the  crusaders.  "  It  is  not  in- 
juries done  to  them,"  said  Thomas  Aquinas,  "  but  injuries  done  to 
God  that  the  knights  avenge."  The  former  impulse  would  have 
been  wrong,  but  not  the  latter.  St.  Bernard  said  that  the  knights 
could  safely  fight  the  infidels,  for  they  were  fighting  for  God. 
"  They  are  the  ministers  of  God  to  inflict  his  vengeance.  For  them 
to  give  or  receive  death  is  not  a  sin,  but  a  most  glorious  deed ; " 


233  FROM  GREGORY  VII.  TO  BONIFACE  VIII.        [Period  VI. 

"  the  Son  of  God  delights  to  receive  the  blood  of  liis  enemies ;  he 
is  glorified  in  the  death  of  pagans."  Yet  with  reference  to  war 
among  Christians,  St.  Bernard  would  have  spoken  in  a  righteous 
and  humane  spirit.  The  wars  fomented  by  the  popes  in  Germany 
during  their  contest  with  the  emperors,  and  the  iniquitous  Albi- 
gensian  crusade,  were  instigated  and  approved  by  those  who,  as  a 
rule,  preached  peace  to  contending  sovereigns.  The  sacred  cause, 
it  was  judged,  made  an  unrelenting  warfare  right  and  holy.  It  was 
thought  to  be  a  duty  to  exterminate  the  enemies  of  God. 

Care  is  requisite  in  order  to  understand  correctly  the  relation 

of  the  Church  to  slavery  and  to  serfdom,  into  which  slavery,  mainly 

by  the  operation  of  political   and  economical  causes, 

Belation  of*'  -,         i  ■  •■,  i     i 

the  Church  gradually  passed.  Augustine  attributed  slavery  to  man's 
fall,  as  he  ascribed  the  dominion  of  man  over  man  in 
general  to  the  incoming  of  sin.  Gregory  the  Great,  and  other  emi- 
nent ecclesiastics,  assert  that  the  original  state  of  man  was  a  state 
of  freedom,  and  on  this  ground  they  praise  those  who  emancipate 
bondmen.  Yet  it  would  be  an  error  to  conclude  that  even  these 
leaders  in  the  Church  were  desu'ous  of  subverting  slaveiy,  or  re- 
garded this  result  as  likely  to  occur  in  the  pre-millennial  period  of 
the  world's  history.  Augustine  speaks  of  the  relation  of  master  and 
slave  as  part  and  parcel  of  family  government.  Gregory  presented 
slaves  to  a  convent,  and  exerted  himself  to  recover  a  fugitive  slave 
of  his  brother.  Neither  pope  nor  council  pronounced  slavery  un- 
lawful. Churches  and  monasteries  possessed  bondmen,  often  in 
great  numbers.  When  Alcuin  took  charge  of  the  Abbey  of  Tours, 
it  possessed  twenty  thousand  serfs.  In  case  this  custom  was  not 
allowed  in  a  monastery,  it  was  not  on  account  of  any  moral  wrong 
attributed  to  slavery  or  serfdom,  but  because  it  was  considered 
more  proper  for  monks  to  do  their  own  work  or  to  abjure  certain 
practices  which  were  lawful  for  the  world  at  large.  The  emancipa- 
tion of  slaves  and  serfs  was  applauded,  like  any  other  act  of  benefi- 
cence. Even  among  the  ancient  Eomans  it  was  not  infrequent  for 
a  master  to  give  freedom  to  a  slave,  and  it  was  always  counted  a 
generous  deed.  The  mediaeval  Church  denounced  slavery  only 
when  it  was  the  servitude  of  a  Christian  in  bondage  to  a  Jew  or  an 
infidel.  This  was  always  regarded  as  something  grievous  and  de- 
serving prevention  by  law,  or  through  a  ransom  in  cases  beyond 
the  reach  of  law.  The  Church  from  ancient  times  insisted  that 
anxiety  about  one's  worldly  condition,  even  in  the  case  of  a  slave, 
was  undesirable,  and  that  the  freedom  of  the  child  of  God  and  the 
heavenly  inheritance  were  the  chief  good.   Yet  the  Church  promoted 


10T3-1294.]    RELIGION  AND  WORSHIP  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES.         233 

the  cause  of  freedom  by  its  proclamation  of  the  dignity  of  human 
nature,  of  man  as  made  in  the  image  of  God,  and  of  the  equahty  of 
all  in  his  presence.  "  All  men,"  wrote  Pope  Clement  IV., 
"  have  the  same  origin  ;  they  live  under  the  same  sky. 
.  .  .  The  immense  distance  between  the  Creator  and  the  creature 
efifaces  the  sHght  distinction  between  the  king  and  the  serf.  .  .  . 
The  distinction  of  birth  is  only  an  accident,  a  human  institution. 
.  .  ,  God  distributes  the  gifts  of  the  Spirit  without  regard  to  the 
division  of  classes.  In  his  eyes  there  are  neither  nobles  nor  villains." 
Moreover,  the  Church  made  its  highest  offices  accessible  to  the 
poor.  It  gave  them  a  practical  proof  of  the  reality  of  that  equality 
of  men  before  God  which  it  inculcated  in  its  teaching.  At  times  it 
•was  unfaithful :  it  allowed  nobles  to  appropriate  to  themselves  its 
dignities  and  revenues  ;  but  abuses  of  this  sort  called  out  voices 
of  protest  and  efforts  for  reform.  The  Church  also  preached  con- 
stantly the  duty  of  forbearance  and  kindness  toward  the  slave  and 
the  serf.  It  rebuked  harshness  and  cruelty.  In  these  ways,  indi- 
rectly, in  the  middle  ages,  an  anti-slavery  influence  went  forth  from 
the  teachings  of  the  clergy  ;  but  it  would  be  an  exaggeration  to  say 
more.  Serfdom  disappeared  not  by  any  religious  condemnation  of 
it,  but  as  a  consequence  of  the  growth  of  towns,  a  spirit  of  discon- 
tent and  resistance  among  the  peasants  themselves,  and  other  gen- 
eral causes. 

Ordeals  had  been  originally  opposed  by  the  Church.  Then  they 
were  adopted  and  practised  under  clerical  supervision,  although 
Ordeals  and  they  ucvcr  obtained  the  universal  sanction  of  the  clergy, 
torture.  jj^  |.jjg  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries,  as  a  substi- 

tute for  the  ordeal,  the  practice  of  using  torture  to  elicit  confes- 
sions from  accused  persons,  and  testimony  from  i-eluctaut  wit- 
nesses, came  into  vogue.  It  was  the  revival  of  an  ancient  and  bar- 
barous custom,  first  employed  by  the  Greeks  and  Eomans  at  the 
examination  of  slaves,  and  incorporated  in  the  provisions  of  the 
Roman  law.  Torture  was  considered  a  species  of  ordeal,  the  abil- 
ity to  sustain  suffering  being  held  to  be  a  test  of  innocence. 
Against  its  use  Pope  Nicholas  I.,  in  a  manly  and  rational  strain, 
protested  in  his  letter  to  the  Bulgarians  (865).  Pope  Gregory  I. 
agreed  in  the  opinion  that  confessions  extorted  by  torment  were 
worthless.  But  in  1252  Pope  Innocent  IV.  sanctioned  torture  in 
the  detection  of  heresy,  and  it  became  a  fearful  engine  of  cruelty 
in  the  hands  of  the  Inquisition. 

As  regards  charity  in  the  middle  ages,  it  is  clear  that  at  no 
period  in  the  past  have  there  been  larger  gifts  to  the  poor.     The 


234  FROM  GREGORY  VH.  TO  BONIFACE  Vin.        [Period  VI. 

spirit  of  Christian  liberality  was  reinforced  by  the  idea  that  alms- 
giving, and  benefactions  for  religious  purposes,  were  in  a  high  de- 
gree meritorious.  Wealth  was  poured  more  and  more. 
Charity.  without  stint,  into  the  lap  of  the  Church.  Christian 
lauds  were  dotted  with  monasteries,  from  whose  doors  the  poor,  the 
sick,  and  the  infirm  of  every  sort,  were  never  turned  away.  Hospi- 
tals, generally  connected  with  convents,  were  multiplied,  and  were 
enriched  by  the  bounties  of  the  faithful.  Another  fact  respecting 
mediseval  charity  is  that  it  was  very  often  injudicious.  In  the  first 
place,  there  was  little  or  no  thought  directed  to  the  removal  of 
the  causes  of  the  poverty  and  distress  to  which  relief  was  lavishly 
granted.  Giving  was  in  forms  adapted  to  promote  the  evil  to 
which  it  applied  a  partial  and  temporary  remedy.  Poverty  was 
considered  the  ideal  condition  of  a  Christian  disciple.  To  re- 
nounce all  property  was  the  proof  of  special  consecration  to  Christ ; 
it  was  deemed  an  exact  imitation  of  his  original  followers.  To 
minister  to  the  poor  was  so  needful  a  grace,  and  so  profitable  to 
him  who  gave,  that  the  existence  of  the  poor  seemed  to  be  an 
indispensable  blessing.  The  larger  their  number,  the  greater  was 
the  opportunity  of  serving  Christ  by  ministering  to  his  servants, 
and  of  thus  procuring  the  heavenly  reward.  In  the  second  place, 
there  was  a  lack  of  order  and  system  in  the  bestowal  of  charitable 
aid.  There  were  provisions  for  all  sorts  of  physical  infirmity  ;  but 
it  was  not  until  we  approach  the  age  of  the  Keformation,  when 
cities  began  to  take  into  their  hands  the  disbursing  of  bounties  to 
the  poor,  that  there  was  more  caution  and  judicious  management. 
In  this  particular,  guilds,  in  the  bestowal  of  help  to  the  needy,  acted 
more  wisely  than  the  ecclesiastical  bodies.  These  bodies  were  the 
almost  exclusive  almoners  of  charity  in  the  middle  ages.  Gifts  to 
the  needy  were  very  commonly  dispensed  on  church  festivals,  on  the 
occasion  of  the  burial  of  the  dead  who  were  the  donors,  or  on  the 
anniversaries  of  their  interment.  It  was  near  the  doors  of  churches 
that  beggars,  the  maimed,  and  the  infirm  asked  for  alms.  Moreover, 
the  prayers  which  were  sought  from  the  needy  in  return  for  what 
they  received,  and  the  lightening  of  the  pains  of  purgatory  for 
relatives  or  for  the  charitable  individual  himself,  were  no  small 
part  of  the  motive  of  benevolence.  Men  gave  to  others  to  benefit 
themselves.  It  is  important  to  notice  that  while  the  schoolmen 
asserted  the  right  of  property,  they  did  it  on  grounds  of  expe- 
diency, and  in  connection  with  the  doctrine  that  in  the  state  of 
nature  all  things  are  in  common.  Individual  possession,  although 
sanctioned  by  God,  is  really  traced  back  to  sin  and  imperfection 


1073-1294]    RELIGION  AND  WORSHIP  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES.         235 

as  its  occasion.  Avarice  is  made  by  Aquinas  a  greater  sin  than 
prodigality.  While  these  circumstances  qualify  the  admiration 
•which  the  vast  outflow  of  mediaeval  charity  would  naturally  kuidle, 
they  ought  not  to  blind  the  eye  to  what  was  truly  Christlike  in 
the  tempers  of  heart  out  of  which  it  sprung.  It  was  not  priests 
and  monks,  nobles  and  high-born  dames,  who  alone  signalized 
themselves  by  manifestations  of  self-denial.  Many  instances  are 
on  record  of  individuals  and  families  in  the  humbler  ranks  of  life 
who  devoted  their  earnings  to  the  help  of  the  suffering,  and  per- 
sonally interested  themselves,  with  extraordinary  self-sacrifice,  in 
doing  good. 

The  development  of  Christian  architecture  is  an  engaging  topic. 
Converted  to  Christian  uses,  the  ancient  basilica,  in  order  to  fur- 
Church  nish  ampler  space,  sent  out  an  arm  on  either  side,  thus, 

architecture,  -yyithout  any  deliberate  intention,  giving  to  the  sacred 
structure  the  form  of  a  cross.  The  free  use  of  the  arch,  by  which 
additional  height  as  well  as  beauty  was  secured,  was  a  leading 
feature  of  the  style  called  Romanesque.  This  continued  in  the 
East  until  the  age  of  Justinian.  Then  the  adoption  of  the  lofty 
cupola,  hung  over  the  space  at  the  intersection  of  the  nave  by  the 
transept,  gave  its  main  peculiarity  to  the  Byzantine  style,  which 
prevailed  east  of  the  Adriatic  and  in  Southern  Italy.  In  this  type 
of  building,  the  portion  of  the  structure  running  from  east  to  west 
was  divided  into  parts  equal  in  length,  thus  constituting  what  is 
called  the  Greek  cross,  as  distinguished  from  the  Latin  style,  in 
which  the  nave  was  unequally  divided,  the  chancel  and  choir  being 
at  the  eastern  end.  In  the  other  portions  of  Europe — in  Northern 
Italy,  Germany,  France,  Spain,  and  England — the  Romanesque  de- 
veloped itself,  largely  by  the  skilful  use  of  arches  for  ornamenta- 
tion as  well  as  strength,  into  an  almost  distinct  style,  of  which  the 
Norman  edifices — for  example,  the  noble  cathedral  of  Durham — 
are  fine  specimens. 

On  the  approach  of  the  year  1000  there  was  a  general  anxiety 
and  alarm  in  Europe,  from  the  expectation  that  the  end  of  the 
world  and  the  last  judgment  were  then  to  occur.  When  this  epoch 
passed  by,  and  the  excitement  connected  with  it  subsided,  there 
appears  to  have  been  a  new  and  wide-spread  interest  in  church. 
The  Gothic  building.  Toward  the  close  of  the  twelfth  century  the 
style.  Gothic,  or  the  pointed  style,  unfolded  itself,  which  in 

the  thirteenth  century  attained  to  the  fulness  of  its  majesty  and 
beauty.  In  Northern  France,  in  Great  Britain,  and  in  Germany, 
the  stupendous  Gothic  temples  were  reared  which  remain  as  worthy 


236  FROM  GREGORY  VII.  TO  BONIFACE  VIH.        [Period  VL 

monuments  of  a  glorious  past  that  embodied  its  thoughts  and  aspi- 
rations in  stone,  and  which  still  impress  all  who  gaze  upward  to  their 
spires,  or  walk  beneath  their  arches,  with  indescribable  sensationa 
of  humility  and  awe.  In  the  erection  of  these  sanctuaries  churches 
lavished  their  treasures,  and  nobles  offered  their  costly  gifts ;  and, 
what  is  better,  the  people  of  all  classes  combined  in  a  common  en- 
thusiasm of  sincere  devotion,  everyone  giving  or  doing  what  he 
could  to  carry  upward  the  walls  and  towers,  and  to  perfect  with 
elaborate  art  every  part  of  God's  earthly  dwelling.  The  cathedrals 
were  framed  and  adapted  for  the  ritual  that  was  celebrated  in  the 
vast  space  which  they  enclosed.  In  the  days  when  the  voice  of  the 
priest  was  the  voice  of  God,  how  was  the  heart  of  the  worshipper 
awed  and  melted  as  he  beheld  the  smoke  of  incense  in  the  dim 
distance  rising  from  the  altar,  heard  "the  pealing  organ,"  and  be- 
held the  stately  procession  of  the  clergy,  in  their  gorgeous  vest- 
ments, moving  up  and  down  the  "long-drawn  aisles !  "  It  was  not 
churches  alone  which  the  blended  artistic  and  religious  imjoulses 
called  into  being.  A  multitude  of  abbeys,  many  of  them  so  grand 
and  spacious  that  their  chapels  were  like  cathedrals,  often  with 
peculiar  charms  of  situation,  arose  in  every  part  of  Christendom. 
One  side  of  mediaeval  Catholicism,  its  poetic  and  pleasing  side,  is 
depicted  by  Cardinal  Newman.  He  is  speaking  in  particular  of 
England.  "  The  fair  form  of  Christianity  rose  up  and  grew  and 
expanded  like  a  beautiful  pageant,  from  north  to  south ;  it  was 
majestic,  it  was  solemn,  it  was  bright,  it  was  beautifvd  and  pleas- 
ant, it  was  soothing  to  the  griefs,  it  was  indulgent  to  the  hojDes  of 
man  ;  it  was  at  once  a  teaching  and  a  worship  ;  it  had  a  dogma,  a 
mystery,  a  ritual  of  its  own  ;  it  had  a  hierarchical  form.  A  broth- 
erhood of  holy  pastors,  with  mitre  and  crosier,  and  uplifted 
hand,  walked  forth  and  blessed  and  ruled  a  joyful  people.  The 
crucifix  headed  the  procession,  and  simple  monks  were  there  ^\dth 
hearts  in  prayer,  and  sweet  chants  resounded,  and  the  holy  Latin 
tongue  was  heard,  and  boys  came  forth  in  white,  swinging  censers, 
and  the  fragrant  cloud  arose,  and  mass  was  sung,  and  the  saints 
were  invoked  ;  and  day  after  day,  and  in  the  still  night,  and  over 
the  woody  hills  and  in  the  quiet  plains,  as  constantly  as  sun,  and 
moon  and  stars  go  forth  in  heaven,  so  regular  and  solemn  was 
the  stately  march  of  blessed  services  on  earth,  high  festival,  and 
gorgeous  procession,  and  soothing  dirge,  and  passing  bell,  and  the 
familiar  evening  call  to  prayer  ;  till  he  who  recollected  the  old  pa- 
gan time  would  think  it  all  unreal  that  he  beheld  and  heard,  and 
woxild  conclude  he  did  but  see  a  vision,  so  marvellously  was  heaven 


1073-1294.]    RELIGION  AND  WORSHIP  IN  THE  mODLE  AGES.  237 

let  down  upon  earth,  so  triumphantly  were  chased  away  the  fiends 
of  darkness  to  their  prison  below."  It  is  a  pity  that  so  fair  a  pict- 
ure has  to  be  marred  by  the  recollection  that  comes  unbidden  to 
the  mind  of  the  student,  of  so  grievous  an  amount  of  ignorance  and 
social  misery,  priestcraft  and  superstition. 

A  cardinal  fault  of  religious  services  in  the  middle  ages  was  the 
undue  predominance  of  the  liturgical  element  over  the  didactic. 
The  liturgy  centred  in  the  mass.     In  the  lands  which 
and  preach-     had  belonged  to  the  Roman  Empire,  Latin  was  under- 
"'^'  stood,  and  attention  has  already  been  called  to  the  fact 

that  the  languages  which  sprung  from  the  mixture  of  Latin  with 
vernacular  tongues  were  slow  in  their  formation.  Moreover,  mis- 
sionaries to  new  countries  retained  the  Latin  in  the  liturgy  from 
the  force  of  sacred  association.  It  was  the  bond  of  connection 
with  Rome,  a  source  and  sign  of  unity.  Thus  Latin  established 
itself  as  the  sacred  language.  But  we  find  that  the  best  men  in 
every  age  insist  on  the  importance  of  preaching  to  the  people  in 
their  own  languages,  in  a  plain  and  intelligible  style.  The  illit- 
eracy of  the  clergy,  much  greater  at  some  periods  than  at  others, 
was  a  prime  hinderance  to  the  carrying  out  of  these  exhoi'ta- 
tions.  We  have  seen  that  Charlemagne  urged  on  bishops  the 
duty  of  preaching.  Alcuin,  his  friend  and  adviser,  gave  an  en- 
lightened support  to  the  emperor's  ejfforts.  He  desired  to  have 
Christian  knowledge  diffused  among  the  laity.  Councils  in  the 
ninth  century  required  that  there  should  be  preaching  in  hamlets, 
as  well  as  in  larger  towns.  The  revival  at  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth 
century  awakened  a  new  and  vivid  interest  on  the  subject  of  preach- 
ing. Guibert  of  Nogent,  who  was  born  in  1053,  in  a  work  on  this 
theme,  demanded  of  preachers  that  they  should  avoid  obscurity, 
inculcate  valuable  truth,  and  preach  from  their  own  experience  of 
the  power  and  blessedness  of  the  gospel.  A  Dominican  general, 
Humbert  de  Romanis,  pointed  to  the  fact  that  Christ  celebrated 
the  mass  only  once,  but  spent  his  life  in  preaching  and  pi'aying. 
The  preachers  of  the  mendicant  orders  discoursed  in  a  plain  and 
popular  style  to  great  audiences,  frequently  in  the  open  air.  In 
the  fifteenth  century,  the  period  of  the  papal  schism,  Clemangis, 
one  of  the  most  influential  men  of  the  age,  ascribed  the  evils  of 
the  times  largely  to  the  neglect  of  preaching,  and  to  the  study  of 
theology  from  a  speculative  and  scientific  motive,  instead  of  regard- 
ing it  as  a  means  of  preparing  for  practical  and  efiective  work  in 
the  pulpit.  It  is  v^'orthy  of  remark  that  Thomas  Aquinas,  the 
deepest  of  mediaeval  theologians,  preached  to  the  people  plain  ser- 


238  FROM  GREGORY  VII.  TO  BONIFACE  VUI.        [Period  VI. 

mons  in  the  Italian  tongue.  In  the  preaching  of  the  middle  ages 
there  abounded  appeals  to  fear.  The  aim  was  to  paint  the  tor- 
ments of  the  lost  in  the  most  vivid  colors.  The  sufferings  of  Jesus 
and  the  sorrow  of  the  Virgin  Mother  were  favorite  themes,  in  the 
imfolding  of  which  the  preacher  exerted  himself  to  excite  the  emo- 
tions of  his  auditors. 

In  the  hymns  of  the  Church,  the  trammels  of  the  classical  me- 
tres, which  had  given  them  a  stiff  and  artificial  character,  were 
gradually  thrown  off.     "  It  was  not,"  says  Trench,  "  till 
^^^^'          the  classical  framework  of  Latin  verse  was  wholly  shat. 
tered,  quantity  absolutely  ignored  and  accent  substituted  in  its 
stead,  the  latent  powers  of  rhyme  being  at  the  same  time  evoked, 
that  Christian  Latin  poetry  attained  the  perfection  which  fills  with 
astonishment  all  who  are  capable  of  judging,  as  they  contemplate 
this  second  birth  of  Latin  song."    The  grandest  of  all  the  mediseval 
hymns  is  the  hymn  on  the  Last  Judgment,  the  "  Dies 
Irse  "  of  Thomas  of  Celano,  the  friend  and  biographer  of 
St.  Francis,  beginning ; 

**  That  day  of  wrath,  that  dreadful  day 
When  heaven  and  earth  shall  pass  away." 

The  most  pathetic  of  the  hymns  is  the  "Stabat  Mater" 
of  Jacobus  de  Benedictis,  beginning  : 

*'  By  the  Cross,  sad  vigil  keeping, 

Stood  the  mournful  mother  weeping." 

<j.  1192.  Adam  of  St.  Victor  wrote  the  hymn  : 

"  Be  the  Cross  our  theme  and  story  ; 

and  Bernard  of  Morlas,  a  friend  of  St.  Bernard,  is  the  author  of 
"  The  Celestial  Country,"  which  begins, 

"  The  world  is  very  evil, 

The  times  are  waxing  late  ; 
Be  sober  and  keep  vigil, 
The  Judge  is  at  the  gate." 

Robert,  King  of  France,  is  thought  to  have  written  the 
"Veni,  Sancte  Spiritus," 

"  O  Holy  Ghost !  Thou  fire  divine  ! 
From  highest  heaven  on  us  down  shine  ; " 

while  to  St.  Bernard  of  Clairvaux  we  owe  the  hymn, 

"  Hail,  thou  Head,  so  bruised  and  wounded." 


1073-1294.]    RELIGION  AND  WORSHIP  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES.  239 

"  As  a  whole,"  writes  Milman,  himself  a  poet  as  well  as  historian 
"  the  hymnology  of  the  Latin  Church  has  a  singularly  solemn  and  mar 
jestic  tone.  Much  of  it,  no  doubt,  like  the  lyric  verse  of  the  Greeks, 
was  twin-born  with  the  music  ;  it  is  inseparably  wedded  with  the  mu- 
sic ;  its  cadence  is  musical  rather  than  metrical.  It  suggests,  as  it  were, 
the  grave  full  tones  of  the  chant,  the  glorious  burst,  the  tender  fall, 
the  mysterious  dying  away  of  the  organ.   It  must  be  heard,  not  read." 

From  the  ritual,  and  the  hymns,  an  essential  part  of  it,  were  de- 
veloped the  religious  plays,  the  germs  of  the  modern  drama.  The 
The  religious  ^itual  itself,  with  its  series  of  ceremonial  acts,  its  variety 
plays.  Qf  persons  taking  part  in  it  in  their  different  costumes, 

and  its  antiphonal  music,  had  a  dramatic  character.  The  ancient 
drama  had  perished  under  the  condemnation  of  the  Church,  and 
had  become  so  demoralized  as  to  deserve  its  fate.  It  is  doubtful 
whether  there  was  a  time  when  strolling  mimes  ceased  to  furnish 
diversion  to  the  people.  In  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries 
the  religious  plays,  variously  called  "mysteries," miracle-plays,  and 
moralities,  came  into  vogue.  The  mysteries  were  more  properly 
scenic  representations  of  passages  in  the  life  of  Jesus,  especially  of 
his  trial  and  death,  while  the  miracles  drew  their  materials  from  the 
tales  of  the  saints.  The  characters  in  the  moralities,  which  were 
later,  were  allegorical  figures  standing  for  the  virtues  and  vices,  and 
for  other  abstractions.  The  mysteries  and  miracles  were  first 
composed  and  acted  by  the  clergy,  and  were  given  in  the  churches. 
The  theatre  was  "  the  church,  soaring  to  its  majestic  height,  reced- 
ing to  its  interminable  length,  broken  by  its  stately  divisions,  with 
its  countless  chapels  and  its  long  cloister,  with  its  succession  of  con- 
centric arches.  What  space  for  endless  variety,  if  not  for  change  of 
scene ! "  In  1210  the  miracle-plays  were  excluded  from  the  churches 
by  Innocent  HI.,  and  the  clergy  were  forbidden  to  act  in  them. 
They  were  not,  however,  proscribed  or  disapproved.  By  degrees, 
a  greater  variety  of  personages  was  introduced.  An  element  of 
fun  was  brought  in  to  arouse  merriment  in  the  spectators.  The 
plays  were  performed  especially  in  connection  with  the  great  festi- 
vals which  drew  together  large  assemblies.  In  process  of  time, 
comic  or  carnival  plays  began  to  be  acted,  in  which  the  ceremonies 
of  the  Church  were  travestied,  and  priests  and  monks  made  to  fig- 
ure in  a  ludicrous  way.  The  motive  was  a  relish  for  coarse  mh-th, 
with  no  irreligious  intent.  By  the  introduction  of  types  from  real 
life  along  with  the  abstractions,  in  connection  also  with  historical 
persons,  the  moralities  were  transformed  into  the  modern  secular 
drama,  which  was  fully  developed  in  England  in  the  Elizabethan  age. 


PERIOD  VIL 

FROM  BONIFACE  YIII.  TO  THE  POSTING  OF  LU- 
THEE'S  THESES  (1294r-1517). 

THE  DECLINE  OF  THE  PAPACY  AND  MOVEMENTS  TOWAKD 
EEFOEM. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  CHURCH  AND  THE  PAPACY  FROM  BONIFACE  VIII.   TO  THE 
COUNCIL  OF  PISA  (1294-1409). 

The  growing  indifference  with  which  Western  monarchs  treated 
the  commands  of  Martin  IV.  and  of  his  successors  showed  that 
The  spirit  of  there  was  a  new  force  at  work  in  society  adverse  to  papal 
nationalism,  dominion.  This  was  the  spirit  of  nationaHsm,  the  ten- 
dency to  political  centralization,  which  involved  an  expansion  of 
intelHgence  and  an  end  of  the  exclusive  sway  of  religious  and  ec- 
clesiastical interests.  The  enfranchisement  of  the  towns,  the  rise 
of  commerce,  the  crystallization  of  European  society  under  the  in- 
fluence of  the  crusades,  and  the  new  conception  of  monarchy,  were 
the  principal  signs  of  the  coming  of  a  different  ox-der  of  things. 
The  change  which  had  taken  place  became  apparent  when  Boniface 
VUL  (1294-1303),  a  pope  who  cherished  to  the  full  extent  the  theo- 
ries of  Hildebrand  and  Innocent  III.,  ascended  the  throne  which 
had  become  vacant  through  the  resignation  of  Celestine.  He  aimed 
to  restoi-e  Sicily  to  the  King  of  Naples,  to  pacify  Italy  by  overthrow- 
ing the  GhibeUines,  and  especially  his  own  enemies,  the  Colonnas, 
and  to  judge  in  the  quarrel  between  Philip  the  Fair  of  France,  and 
Edward  I.  of  England. 

In  Sicily  he  failed.  In  Italy  he  had  just  enough  success  to  draw 
Contest  of  upon  him  the  hatred  of  the  people,  while  in  his  attempts 
viifa'^nd  *°  mediate  between  the  French  and  English  kings  he  in- 
Phiiip  the  volved  himself  in  a  struggle  which  was  to  bring  on  his 
ruin.  Neither  Edward  nor  Phihp  would  Hsten  to  the 
pope's  commands.     Boniface  then  resolved  to  force  them  to  peace 


1294^1517.]  THE  CHURCH  AND  THE  PAPACY.  241 

by  cutting  off  the  chief  source  of  their  revenue.  He  issued,  on  Feb- 
ruary 24,  1296,  the  famous  bull,  "  Clericis  laicos,"  in  which,  after  1 
declaring  that  long  tradition  exhibits  laymen  as  hostile  and  mis- 
chievous to  clergymen,  he  forbade  all  taxation  of  ecclesiastics  by 
emperors,  kings,  or  princes,  without  the  authority  of  the  Apostolic 
See.  In  resisting  this  attack  on  kingly  authority,  Philip  took  the 
lead.  It  was  not  until  after  Edward's  clergy  had  refused  to  vote 
him  the  needful  supplies  that  he  retaliated,  and  then  he  quickly 
January,  brought  them  to  terms  by  depriving  them  of  the  royal 
1297.  protection.      The  French  king   did   not  wait  so  long. 

He  struck  a  blow  at  the  papal  treasury  by  forbidding  the  exporta- 
August  17,  ti^Ji  o^  gol^^  ^11^  silver  from  the  realm  without  his  sanc- 
1296-  tion.     Thus  the  contest  in  which  the  Hohenstaufens  had 

perished  was  taken  up  by  Philip,  although  France  throughout  the 
middle  ages  had  been  the  most  faithful  protector  of  the  papacy, 
and  his  family  had  been  established  by  the  popes  on  an  Italian 
throne  as  a  bulwark  against  the  empire. 

"When  Boniface  wrote  to  Philip  in  a  tone  of  haughty  remon- 
strance, his  complaints  and  his  threats  were  met  with  the  asser- 
tion that  before  there  were  any  clei'gy  the  King  of  France  ruled 
over  his  realm.  To  this  it  was  significantly  added,  that  the  "  Holy 
Mother  Church,  the  spouse  of  Christ,  is  composed  not  only  of 
clergymen  but  also  of  laymen  ; "  that  clergymen  are  guilty  of  an 
abuse  when  they  try  to  appropriate  exclusively  to  themselves 
the  ecclesiastical  liberty  with  which  the  grace  of  Christ  has  made 
us  free,  and  that  Christ  himself  commanded  to  render  to  Coesar 
the  things  that  are  Csesar's.  Philip  did  not  stand  alone  in  this 
attitude  of  resistance  to  the  aggressions  of  the  pope.  He  was 
supported  even  by  the  French  clergy.  Boniface,  thus  deserted  by 
his  natural  allies,  was  ready  to  be  reconciled  to  the  king,  that  he 
might  devote  all  his  strength  to  the  destruction  of  his  Roman  ene- 
mies, the  Colonnas.  The  royal  ordinance  and  the  paj^al  bull  were 
now  both  explained  away,  and  the  king's  noble  ancestor,  Louis  IX., 
was  made  a  saint.  It  was  not  long  before  Philip  and  Edward  were 
ready  to  submit  their  differences  to  Boniface,  if  he  would  act,  not 
as  pope,  but  as  Benedict  Cajetan,  a  pi'ivate  individual.  This  he  con- 
sented to  do,  resolving  to  give  to  his  decision  the  sanction  of  papal 
authority,  and  thus  win  by  craft  what  he  had  failed  to  extort  by 
bold  assertion.  Philip  was  dissatisfied  with  the  award,  and  was 
exasperated  by  the  form  in  which  the  acceptance  of  it 
was  enjoined.  He  did  not  hesitate  to  receive  the  exiled 
Colonnas  at  his  court,  nor  to  conclude  an  alliance  with  Albert,  titu- 
16 


242  FROM  BONIFACE  VIII.  TO  LUTHER'S  THESES.     [Period  VII. 

lar  King  of  the  Eomans,  whose  election  Boniface  had  annulled.  He 
was  surrounded  by  his  great  lawyers,  Peter  Flotte,  Will- 
^^^^"  iam  de  Plasian,  and  William  Nogaret,  stout  defenders 

of  royal  prerogatives,  who  were  ready  to  assist  him  not  only  in 
breaking  down  feudalism,  but  also  in  placing  bulwarks  arovmd  the 
civil  authority  in  its  contest  against  the  encroachments  of  the 
Church.  The  hierarchy  was  thus  confronted  here,  as  in  other  coun- 
tries, by  a  body  of  learned  men,  the  guardians  of  a  venerable  code, 
who  claimed  for  the  king  the  prerogatives  of  Caesar,  and  could 
bring  forward  in  opposition  to  the  canons  of  the  Church  canons  of 
an  earlier  date.  In  the  meantime  a  rebellion  broke  out  in  Scot- 
land, and  when  the  pope  attempted  to  interpose  between  Edward 
and  the  Scots,  the  English  Parliament  in  1301  indignantly  repelled 
his  pretensions.  But  at  Rome,  Boniface  was  the  spectator  of  a 
scene  which  might  well  lure  him  to  a  mistaken  confidence  in  the 
papal  power. 

The  year  1300  had  been  set  apart  for  a  jubilee,  and  all  who 
should  visit  the  tomb  of  St.  Peter  had  been  promised  indulgence 
The  jubilee  ^^^^  absolution.  There  streamed  to  the  city  vast  crowds 
at  Borne.  ^£  pilgrims  from  all  parts  of  the  West.  They  were  so 
eager  to  look  upon  the  sacred  relics  that  many  lost  their  lives  in 
the  press.  Immense  contributions  were  brought  to  the  altars. 
The  pope,  however,  was  not  allowed  to  rejoice  long  in  these  ex- 
pressions of  the  piety  of  Christendom.  The  pontifical  legate,  Ber- 
nard, Bishop  of  Pamiers,  whom  he  sent  to  the  French  court,  was 
a  man  whose  animosity  against  Philip  soon  drew  upon  himself  the 
charge  of  treason,  and  involved  Boniface  in  a  bitter  quarrel  with 
The  bull  the  king.  Decree  after  decree  went  forth  from  Rome, 
'Sm,'Novem-  ^^^  finally  the  bull  "Unam  sanctam  "  was  issued,  which 
ber  18, 1.S02.  j^Qadc  the  belief  that  every  human  creature  is  subject  to 
the  pope  to  be  necessary  to  salvation.  The  clergy  of  France,  and 
even  the  doctors  of  the  civil  law,  were  summoned  to  the  Holy  See, 
to  sit  in  judgment  on  the  rebellious  monarch.  When  all  these  ef- 
forts failed,  Boniface  fixed  Se^Dtember  8,  1303,  as  the  day  on  which 
Philip's  deposition  should  be  proclaimed,  and  his  kingdom  laid 
under  an  interdict. 

Philip  was  not  passive  under  these  attacks.  He  forbade  the 
clergy  to  obey  the  summons  to  Rome,  on  penalty  of  confiscation  of 
their  property.  He  sent  forth  an  answer  to  a  letter  purporting  to 
have  been  written  by  Boniface,  and  asserting  in  an  offensive  man- 
ner the  supremacy  of  the  pope.  This  answer  began  with  the  words  : 
"Philip,  by  grace  of  God,  King  of  the  French,  to  Boniface,  who  as- 


1294-1517.]  THE  CHURCH  AND  THE  PAPACY.  243 

sumes  to  be  the  chief  pontiif,  little  greeting  or  none  at  all,"  and  it 
closed  -with  the  assertion  that  all  who  thought  the  king  subject  to 
anyone  in  temporal  things  were  fools  and  madmen.  One  of  the 
papal  legates  was  ignominiously  denied  an  audience  with  the  king, 
and  the  bull  which  he  brought  was  publicly  burned  in  Notre  Dame 
Philip's  ap-  *^^  February  11,  1302.  Philip  now  believed  himself 
nation  ^^^  strong  enough  to  make  an  appeal  to  the  nation.  In  April 
he  assembled  the  representatives  of  the  clergy,  the  nobles, 
and  the  commons,  and  in  this  meeting  of  the  estates  of  the  realm 
he  received  assurances  of  their  support.  In  another  assembly,  held 
the  following  year,  Boniface  was  accused  of  heresy,  simony,  eccle- 
siastical tyranny,  and  blind  hatred  toward  the  King  of  France  ; 
and  then  an  appeal  was  made  to  a  general  council,  and  to  a  future 
legitimate  pontiff.  But  these  verbal  weapons  were  not  the  king's 
only  resort.  William  of  Nogaret  and  Sciarra  Colonna  were  in 
Italy,  and  on  September  7th  they  forced  themselves  into  the  pres- 
ence of  Boniface,  in  his  own  town  of  Anagni,  and,  assailing  him 
with  rude  words,  and  even  blows,  made  him  prisoner.  He  had 
scarcely  escaped  from  the  insults  of  Philip's  emissaries  and  entered 
what  he  supposed  was  his  loyal  capital,  when  he  again  found  him- 
self in  the  midst  of  another  set  of  bitter  foes.  This  was  too  much 
to  bear,  and  the  aged  pontiff  died,  broken-hearted,  on 
Bonitace,  October  11th.  Later  in  the  century  his  career  was  con- 
cisely described  in  the  epigram,  "  He  entered  like  a  fox, 
reigned  like  a  lion,  and  died  like  a  dog."  "The  papacy  had  first 
evinced  its  power  by  a  great  dramatic  act.  Its  decline  was  mani- 
fested in  the  same  way.  The  scene  at  Anagni  stands  in  striking 
contrast  with  the  scene  at  Canossa." 

The  wrath  against  Boniface  which  was  felt  by  the  Ghibellines 
finds  expression  in  Dante,  who  calls  him  "the  chief  of  the  new 
Pharisees,"  and  makes  St.  Peter  himself,  in  Paradise,  brand  him  as 
a  usurper.  The  indignant  poet  accuses  him  of  absolving  from  sin 
before  it  was  committed,  and  for  this  crime  consigns  him  to  perdi- 
tion. Celestine  was  canonized  by  Clement  V.  in  1313  ;  yet  for  ab- 
dicating the  papal  office,  to  make  room  for  Boniface,  Dante  places 
him  at  the  mouth  of  hell,  as  one  disdained  alike  by  mercy  and 
justice : 

"  I  looked,  and  I  beheld  the  shade  of  him 
Who  made  through  cowardice  the  great  refusal. " 

Inferno,  iii.,  59,  60. 

The  contest  of  Philip  and  Boniface  incited  the  learned  to  an 


244  FROM  BONIFACE  VIII.  TO  LUTHER'S  THESES.     [Period  VII. 

investio-ation  of  the  relations  of  the  Church  to  the  State.  The  views 
of  papal  supremacy  advocated  by  rigid  churchmen  en- 
tackron  pa-  countered  resistance.  EgidiuS  de  Colonna,  a  monk,  and 
pai^usurpa-  ^^  ^  ^^^^^^  ^^^^^  Archbishop  of  Bourges,  held  that  the 
d.  131G.  spiritual  and  temporal  powers  were  distinct  and  inde- 

pendent, each  being  ordained  of  God.  From  this  fundamental 
principle  he  argued  that  the  King  of  France,  in  civil  matters,  was 
subject  to  no  superior.  His  contemporary,  John  of 
Paris,  attacked  the  extravagant  pretensions  of  the  popes 
by  attempting  to  deprive  them  of  their  historical  foundation.  The 
por)e  could  not,  he  said,  receive  from  Christ  jurisdiction  over  the 
affairs  of  laymen,  because  Christ  himself  did  not  possess  it.  A  few 
Dante  on  ycars  later,  in  opposition  to  the  political  ideas  of  Thomas 
monarchy.  Aquinas,  his  master  in  theology,  Dante  wrote  his  noted 
treatise  on  monarchy.  In  this  work  he  maintains  that  if  mankind 
would  enjoy  the  blessings  of  peace,  justice,  and  liberty,  they  must 
unite  under  the  rule  of  one.  Historically,  such  needful  unity  has 
only  been  realized  in  the  empire  which  the  Eomans  won  by  their 
valor,  and  whose  rightful  dominion  Christ  sanctioned  by  being  born 
under  its  sway  and  by  submitting  to  die  at  the  hands  of  its  oflS- 
cers.  Dante  did  not  acknowledge  the  validity  of  the  Donation  of 
Constantine,  although  he  seems  not  to  have  suspected  its  genuine- 
ness. He  denied  the  authority  of  the  later  papal  decretals,  and 
those  allegorical  interpretations  of  Scripture  which  were  always  on 
the  lips  of  supporters  of  the  papacy.  In  the  empire  it  was  the 
duty  of  the  popes  to  guide  men's  souls  ;  God  had  appointed  the 
emperor  to  govern  them  in  their  temporal  affairs.  Apart  from  the 
great  influence  of  this  book,  and  outside  of  Italy,  the  cjuestion  of 
the  origin  of  the  empire  and  the  nature  of  monarchy  in  general 
provoked  earnest  investigation.  In  Germany,  especially,  legists 
and  theologians  plunged  into  historical  and  critical  inquiries  upon 
the  foundation  of  civil  authority  and  the  ground  on  which  papal 
interferences  with  secular  government  professed  to  repose. 

In  the  meantime  the  papacy  itself  had  been  brought  iinder  the 
power  of  France,  and  had  begun  the  period  of  its  "Babylonian 
The  Babyio-  Captivity  "  at  Avignon.  The  successor  of  Boniface,  Bcne- 
nian captivity.  j|(.^  XL,  annulled  the  decrees  against  Philip  and  his 
nation,  but  refused  to  join  in  the  scheme  to  vilify  the  dead  pope's 
character.  After  Benedict's  death,  which  soon  occurred,  the  king 
planned  to  secure  the  election  of  a  pope  favorable  to  his  interests. 
Through  the  successful  intrigues  of  the  French  cardinals,  Ber- 
trand,  Archbishop  of  Bordeaux,  a  former  enemy  of  Philip,  pledged 


1294-1517.]  THE  CHURCH  AND  THE  PAPACY.  245 

himself,  if  he  should  be  made  pope,  to  reconcile  the  king  and  his 
supporters  to  the  Church,  to  grant  to  him  a  levy  of  a  tenth  from 
the  French  clergy,  and  to  investigate  the  charges  against  Boniface, 
There  was  one  article  of  the  agreement  kept  secret,  and  it  still 
iQOK  1-51^     remains   a  matter  of   surmise.     Bertrand   was  chosen, 

c.  l<JU5-lol4.  ' 

and  was  consecrated  in  Lyons  as  Clement  V.  Not  long 
after,  he  removed  the  seat  of  the  papacy  to  Avignon,  on  the  bor- 
jggg  ders  of  France,  and  belonging  to  the  King  of  Naples, 

the  pope's  vassal.  Thus  began  the  foreign  residence  of 
the  popes,  or  what  is  known  as  the  Babylonian  captivity.  From 
this  time  the  prestige  of  the  papacy  began  to  wane  as  rapidly  as, 
in  the  preceding  centui'ies,  it  had  grown.  This  fall  was  due  to  the 
genei-al  change  in  society,  to  which  reference  has  been  made,  but 
it  was  accelerated  by  influences  which  were  dependent  to  a  consid- 
erable extent  on  the  doings  of  the  popes  themselves.  During  a 
great  part  of  the  period  of  the  Babylonian  captivity  the  papacy 
was  enslaved  to  France,  and  administered  in  the  interest  of  the 
French  court.  This  degrading  subservience  marked  in  a  peculiar 
degree  the  relations  of  Clement  V.  to  Philip.  The  wealth  of  the 
Su  ression  Templars  had  become  an  object  of  the  king's  cupidity, 
of  the  Tern-      The  members  of  the  order  were  tortured  and  confessions 

of  strange  and  blasphemous  initiatoiy  rites  were  wrung 
from  them.  The  chief  accusations  against  them  were  a  denial  of 
Christ,  homage  paid  to  the  idol  called  Baphomet,  and  unnatural 
lewdness.  Their  property  was  confiscated.  Some  of  them  were 
burned  and  others  were  driven  into  exile.  The  pope  suj)ported  the 
king  in  his  proceedings,  and  in  the  year  1312,  at  the  Council  of 
Vienne,  he  abolished  the  order.  When  Philip  pressed  for  the  con- 
demnation of  Boniface,  Clement  skilfully  avoided  the  difficulty  by 
freeing  from  the  censure  of  the  Church  those,  with  few  exceptions, 
who  accused  or  contended  against  the  late  pope,  and  by  commit- 
ting the  investigation  of  the  charges  to  the  Council  of  Vienne. 
which  he  knew  would  stoutly  defend  the  memory  of  the  Vicar  of 
Christ.  Upon  the  death  of  the  Emperor  Albert,  in  1308,  the  pope 
was  obliged  to  practise  duplicity  in  order  to  satisfy  his  French 
master,  and  yet  to  carry  out  his  own  wishes.  He  publicly  recom- 
mended the  election  of  Charles  of  Valois,  Philip's  brother,  and  in 
private  urged  the  electors  to  choose  Henry  of  Luxemburg.  But 
while  Clement  took  this  cringing  attitude  toward  the  King  of 
France,  he  assumed  a  bold  and  aggressive  position  in  relation  to 
Germany,  England,  and  other  Catholic  countries.  France  was  will- 
ing, as  long  as  the  papacy  remained  her  tool,  to  indulge  the  popes 


246  FROM  BONIFACE  VIII.  TO  LUTHER'S  THESES.     [Period  VH. 

in  extravagant  assertions  of  authority,  wbicli  could  only  have  the 
efifect  to  aggravate  the  opposition  of  other  nations. 

In  1310  the  emperor,  Henry  VIL,  whose  election  Clement  had 
promoted,  made  a  brilliant  progress  through  Italy.  For  a  time 
the  glories  of  the  Holy  Empu-e  seemed  to  revive.  The  pope  was 
alarmed,  and  when  Henry  denied  his  pretensions  to  temporal 
supremacy  he  pronounced  upon  him  the  ban  of  the  Church.  The 
emperor's  sudden  death  in  1313  put  an  end  to  the  conflict  and 
gave  Clement  au  opportunity  to  act  on  the  theory  that  during  a 
vacancy  in  the  imperial  office  the  pojoe,  as  overlord,  was  regent. 

Shortly  after,  Clement  himself  died,  and  there  ensued  a  fierce 
struggle  between  the  French  and  Italian  parties  among  the  cardi- 
Contest  of  nals,  the  Italian  party  desiring  to  put  an  end  to  the  Baby- 
fnd°L?S^"  Ionian  captivity.  John  XXH.,  the  new  pope,  at  his  elec- 
of  Bavaria,  ^-^j^  promised  never  to  mount  a  horse  except  to  go  to 
1316-1324.  Rome,  and  kept  his  promise  by  proceeding  forthwith  in 
a  boat  to  Avignon.  John  profited  by  the  double  election  of  Louis 
of  Bavaria  and  Frederick  of  Austria  to  exercise  more  completely  in 
Italy  those  rights  which,  as  regent,  his  predecessor  had  claimed, 
and  to  plot  for  the  elevation  of  the  King  of  France  to  the  throne  of 
the  empire.  As  soon,  however  as  Louis  had  overcome  his  antago- 
nist at  Miihldorf,  he  began  to  resume  the  imperial  pre- 
rogatives in  Italy.  He  was  immediately  summoned  to 
the  feet  of  the  angry  pontiff,  to  answer  for  his  presumption  in  tak- 
ing the  title  and  exercising  the  powers  of  the  King  of  the  Eomans, 
without  the  papal  sanction.  When  Louis  did  not  appear,  the  pope 
excommunicated  him,  and  summoned  the  German  princes  to  a  diet 
to  depose  him  and  to  elect  King  Charles  of  France.  This  new  con- 
flict between  the  empire  and  the  papacy,  had  it  not  occasioned  the 
notable  writings  which  it  called  forth,  would  have  been  but  a  piti- 
ful reminiscence  of  those  old  wars  between  the  mightiest  of  the  em- 
perors and  the  most  famous  of  the  popes.  The  papal  anathemas 
were  disregarded  in  Germany,  and  to  the  pope's  diet  there  came 
only  one  elector,  and  he  the  brother  of  Louis's  rivaL 

This  was  but  the  beginning  of  John's  troubles.  He  ventured 
to  pronounce  the  belief  of  the  Franciscans,  that  Christ  and  his 
apostles  possessed  all  things  in  common,  a  heresy.  The  General 
of  the  Order,  Michael  of  Cesena,  Avrote  a  tractate  against  the  errors 
of  the  pope,  in  which  he  appealed  to  the  "  Universal  Church  and 
a  general  council."  Finally,  under  his  leadership,  the  spirituals 
espoused  the  cause  of  Louis  of  Bavaria.  Thus  there  were  arrayed 
against   John    the  men  who    represented   the    highest   rehgioua 


1294-1517.]  THE  CHURCH  AND  THE  PAPACY.  247 

ideal  of  the  age,  and  whose  unselfish  zeal  attracted  the  homage  of 
the  people.  One  of  the  greatest  of  the  Franciscan  scholars,  Will- 
0ccam(i2so-  ^^^^  of  JDccam,  composed  a  treatise  on  the  power  of  the 
1347)  on  the  popeT  He  Went  beyond  his  predecessors  in  arguing 
that  the  Church,  since  it  has  its  unity  in  Christ,  is  not 
under  the  necessity  of  being  subject  to  a  single  primate.  He 
placed  the  emperor  and  the  general  council  above  the  pope,  as  his 
judges.  In  matters  of  faith  he  would  not  allow  infallibility  even 
to  general  councils.  "  Only  holy  Scripture  and  the  beliefs  of 
the  universal  Church  are  of  absolute  validity."  Such  were  the 
attacks  upon  the  j)apal  authority  from  the  religious  and  theological 
side. 

The  cause  of  Louis  and  the  rights  of  the  empire  were  defended 
by  Marsilius  of  Padua,  the  great  theoretical  politician  of  the  age,  in 
The  work  of  ^^^  "Dcfeusor  Pacis,"  or  Advocate  of  Peace.  He  at- 
MarsiiiuR  of  tackcd  the  j)aj)al  theory  of  society,  and  proceeded  to  give 
a  history  of  the  rise  and  growth  of  papal  j)retensions. 
He  swept  away  aU  the  temporal  power  and  jurisdiction  of  the  priest- 
hood and  of  the  jDapacy  by  proclaiming  one  fundamental  principle, 
which  was  that  the  supreme  authority  in  the  state  is  the  whole  body 
of  citizens,  or  the  greater  portion  of  them.  \  According  to  their  will 
kings  reign  and  princes  decree  justice.  To  them  alone  belongs  the 
power  of  excommunication,  dispensation,  whenever  that  is  right, 
and  of  appointing  and  depriving  the  clergy.  Every  person,  of 
whatever  condition,  is  subject  to  the  ruler  chosen  by  them.  A 
general  council,  if  it  is  to  be  valid,  must  be  summoned  by  them,  or 
by  him,  on  their  authority,  and  must  be  comi^osed  of  priests  and 
laymen.  To  a  council  so  constituted  belongs  the  superintendence 
of  the  Church,  the  making  of  needful  laws,  and  the  interpretation 
of  doubtful  passages  of  Scripture,  which  is  the  sole  authority  in 
matters  of  faith.  It  is  not  the  Old  Testament  law,  upon  which  the 
papacy  is  wont  to  base  so  many  claims,  which  is  necessary  for  sal- 
vation, but  the  law  of  the  New  Testament,  and  not  even  that  can  be 
enforced  by  temporal  penalties.  To  teach  its  precepts,  to  j)reach 
the  gospel,  and  to  administer  the  sacraments  are  the  only  functions 
of  the  priesthood.  In  his  historical  investigations  he  pointed  out 
that  in  the  early  Church  presbyter  and  bishop  were  synonymous. 
He  denied  that  Peter  was  supreme  over  the  other  apostles,  and 
even  denied  that  he  can  be  proved  to  have  ever  visited  Rome.  The 
ascendency  of  the  Roman  Church,  and  its  j)ower  over  the  empire 
had  gradually  grown  up  out  of  the  necessities  of  the  times,  the 
weakness  of  princes,  and  the  usurpations  of  the  popes.     The  sue- 


248  FROM  BONIFACE  Vin.  TO  LUTHER'S  THESES.     [Period  VII. 

cesser  of  St.  Peter  was  really  no  more  than  an  oflScer  to  oversee  the 
affairs  of  the  Church  and  to  preside  in  its  councils. 

These  opinions  sounded  strange  in  the  ears  of  men  accustomed 
to  think  of  the  pope  and  the  priesthood  as  holding  the  keys  of  the 
kino-dom  of  heaven.  But  although  they  might  alarm  those  who  first 
heard  them  uttered,  there  was  in  them  a  power  of  self-propagation 
which  would  avail  to  win  for  them  an  acceptance  in  coming  genera- 
tions. 

The  Germans  continued  to  disregard  the  anathemas  of  the 
pope  and  to  support  the  cause  of  their  king.      In  1327  Louis  made 
a  progress  into  Italy  to  receive  the  imperial  crown,  and  to  enjoy 
a  few  short  months  of  triumph.     The  end  of  the  expedition  was 
humihating  ;  but  at  this  juncture  Pope  John  relieved  the  embai-- 
rassment  of  his  antagonist  by  again  entangling  himself  in  theologi- 
cal disputes.     Death  interposed  to  save  the  heretical  pontiff  from 
the  investigations  of  a  council  about  to  be  called  by  his  ecclesiasti- 
cal and  political  enemies.    His  successor,  Benedict  XII., 
was  so  completely  under  the  power  of  the  French  king, 
Philip  VI.,  that,  contrary  to  his  own  earnest  desire,  he  was  obliged 
to  remain  at  Avignon,  and  to  keep  up  the  strife  with  the  emperor. 
The  states  of  Germany  now  came  out  more  strongly  in  support  of 
Louis.     They  affirmed  the  justice  of  his  cause,  and  set  forth  the 
wrongs  done  him  by  the  pope.     In  1338  the  electoral 
princes  solemnly  declared  that  the  Eoman  king  receives 
his  appointment  and  authority  solely  from  the  electoral  college. 

The  emperor  lacked  the  courage  to  withstand  his  enemies  with 
boldness,  and  the  wisdom  to  pursue  his  aims  with  prudence.  It 
was  not  for  the  defence  of  the  empire  against  the  pope  that  he  put 
in  practice  the  theories  of  Marsilius,  but  for  the  aggrandizement  of 
his  own  house.  He  annulled  the  marriage  of  Margaret  of  Maul- 
tasch,  and  then  removed,  by  a  dispensation,  the  further  obstacles 
to  her  union  with  his  own  son.  This  invasion  of  ecclesiastical 
rights,  for  clearly  selfish  ends,  lost  for  him  the  confidence  of  many 
of  his  supporters  in  Germany.  But  once  more  the  pope,  this  time 
Clement  VI.  (1342-1352),  by  the  unreasonableness  of  his  demands, 
and  by  his  plots  to  set  up  a  rival  emperor,  Charles  IV.,  saved  Louis 
from  ruin  and  assured  to  him  the  loyalty  of  his  subjects 
until  his  death,  a  few  years  later.  The  partisan  contests 
which  the  Avignonese  pontiffs  had  so  long  maintained  against  the 
emperor  seemed  to  end  in  the  triumph  of  the  pope,  but  really 
weakened  the  hold  which  the  papacy  had  upon  the  respect  of  man- 
kind. 


1294-1517.]  THE  CHUKCH  AND  THE  PAPACY.  249 

Meanwhile  Europe  was  groaning  under  the  burdens  laid  upon  it 
by  papal  avarice.  The  revenues  of  the  court  at  Avignon  were  sup- 
Extortions  plied  by  means  of  extortions  and  usurpations  which  sur- 
of  "Ihe  Avi^'  passed  all  precedent.  When  it  was  intimated  to  Clem- 
gnon  popes,  gut  VI.  that  he  was  putting  forth  unheard-of  claims,  he 
replied  that  his  predecessors  did  not  know  how  to  be  pope.  But  his 
tyi-anny  was  made  possible  by  the  success  with  which  popes,  aided 
by  monarchs  who  used  their  interference  in  order  to  obtain  pre- 
ferment for  favorites,  had  for  over  a  century  been  transmuting  pre- 
tensions into  rights.  The  multiplied  reservations  of  ecclesiastical 
offices,  even  of  bishoprics  and  parishes,  which  were  bestowed  upon 
unworthy  persons  by  the  popes,  or  given  to  persons  already  pos- 
sessed of  lucrative  places  ;  the  claim  of  the  first-fruits,  or  annats — 
a  tribute  from  new  holders  of  benefices — and  the  levying  of  bur- 
densome taxes  upon  all  ranks  of  the  clergy,  especially  those  of  the 
lower  grades,  were  among  the  methods  resorted  to  for  replenish- 
ing the  papal  coffers.  The  effect  of  these  various  forms  of  eccle- 
siastical oppression  was  the  greater  when  it  was  known  that  the 
wealth  thus  gained  went  to  support  at  Avignon  an  extremely  lux- 
urious and  profligate  court,  the  boundless  immorality  of  which  has 
been  vividly  depicted  by  Petrarch,  an  eye-witness. 

In  England  there  had  long  been  a  growing  spirit  of  resistance, 
which  was  naturally  quickened  now  that  the  papacy  had  become    \ 
Resistance  in   the  instrument  of  France.     Two  important  statutes  of     ' 
Engjand.        Edward  III.  were  the  consequence — the.  gtatute  of  pro-  1  ; 
1351.  visors,  which  devolved   on   the  king  the  right   to   fiUf    ^ 

the  Church  offices  that  had  been  reserved  to  the  pope,  and  the! 
statute  of  prsemunire,  which  forbade  subjects  to  bring,  o 
by  direcr'prosecution  or  appeal,  before  any  foreign  tri- 
bunal, a  cause  which  fell  under  the  king's  jurisdiction.  These  meas- 
ures were  followed,  a  few  years  after,  by  a  refusal  to  recognize  the 
papal  claims,  which  were  based  on  the  homage  rendered  to  Inno- 
cent III.  by  King  John,  and  to  pay  the  tribute  of  one  thousand 
marks  which  he  had  promised.  The  papacy  was  no  sooner  rid  of 
one  antagonist,  Louis,  than  it  was  threatened  in  another  quarter. 
The  King  of  France  was  no  longer  able  to  protect  his  ecclesiastical 
ally  even  from  the  robber  bands  which  preyed  on  the  country. 

In  Italy  the  outlook  was  still  worse.  Ever  since  the  removal  of 
Close  of  the     *^®  papacy  to  Avignon,  Kome  had  been  distracted  by 

Babylonian      feuds  of  leading  families  which  built  for  themselves  strong- 
captivity.  ° 
holds  in  the  city.     In  1347  the  Eomans,  fired  by  the 

enthusiast  Kienzi,  had  sought  to  restore  Koman  liberty  under  the 


260  PROM  BONIFACE  VIIL  TO  LUTHER'S  THESES.     [Period  VH. 

ancient  republican  forms.  The  people  soon  awoke  from  their 
dreams  of  the  past  to  find  themselves  in  still  worse  confusion. 
The  States  of  the  Church  groaned  under  the  despotism  of  petty  no- 
bles. For  a  time  the  papal  ascendency  was  restored  through  the 
efforts  of  Cardinal  Albox-noz,  who  was  a  soldier  as  well  as  an  ec- 
clesiastic. Moved  by  the  condition  of  his  temporal  do- 
mains. Urban  V.  left  Avignon  amid  the  cries  of  his 
grief-stricken  cardinals  :  "  Oh,  wicked  pope  !  oh,  impious  father ! 
whither  does  he  di-ag  his  sons  ?  "  He  did  not  long  remain  in  Rome. 
After  taking  part  in  the  empty  pageant  of  an  imperial  coronation, 
the  daogers  which  surrounded  him  and  the  entreaties  of  his  prel- 
ates persuaded  him  to  return  to  the  quiet  of  Avignon.  But  the  tyr- 
anny of  the  legates  soon  caused  a  general  revolt  of  the  papal  cities. 
It  seemed  that  their  allegiance  would  be  gone  completely  unless 
the  pope  should  come  back  to  Eome.  Gregory  XI.  no 
longer  heeded  the  outcries  of  his  cai-dinals,  but  listened 
to  the  exhortations  of  St.  Catherine,  a  Dominican  devotee,  whose 
asceticism  and  devotion  gave  her  such  authority  that  she  could 
offer  her  counsels  to  a  pontiff.  In  1377  he  returned  to  Rome,  w^here 
he  died  a  year  later,  with  the  enemies  of  the  papacy  still  unsub- 
dued.    Thus  ended  the  Babylonian  captivity./;;    ,5  .  .  "■  >  -•■  -    / 

Of  the  twenty-three  cardinals  who  at  that  time  constituted  'the 

sacred  college,  sixteen  were  at  Eome  when  Gregory  XI.  died.    Their 

movements  were  closely  watched,  lest  they  should  escape 

BeginninET  , 

of  the  great    to  Avignou  and  elect  another  pope  subservient  to  French 
interests.     Both  the  Italians  and  the  two  factions  of  the 
French — the  Limousins  and  the  Galileans — who  hated  each  other 
bitterly,  were  frightened  into  unanimity  by  the  rising  tumults, 
and  chose  Prignano,  Archbishop  of  Bari.     The  Limousins,  in  j)ro- 
posing  one  who,  although  an  Italian,  owed  his  ecclesiastical  prefer- 
ment to  the  Cardinal  of  Limoges,  thought  to  find  in  him  a  servant, 
but  soon  realized  that  they  had  set  over  themselves  a  rude  and  self- 
1378-1389       willed  master.    Urban  VI.,  the  new  pope,  as  a  monk  rigid 
and  upright,  showed  himself  not  in  the  least  cautious 
or  politic,  and  he  soon  alienated  the  French  cardinals  by  personal 
affronts  and  crude  attempts  at  i-eform.     Their  feelings  were  still 
more  embittered  when  they  learned  that  he  had  no  intention  to 
return  to  Avignon.      They  retired   to  Anagui,  where, 
popeT^^        having  declared  the   election  of  Urban  invalid,  on  the 
ciemenlvn  **  ground  that  it  was  procured  by  violence,  they  chose 
"  Robert   of  Geneva  (Clement  VEL,  1378-1394),  a  man 
who  possessed  those  qualities  of  leadership  which  Urban  so  griev- 


1394-1517.]  THE  CHURCH  AND  THE  PAPACY.  251 

ously  lacked.  The  two  Italian  members  of  the  college  gave  in 
their  adhesion  to  Clement.  Urban,  deserted  by  all,  proceeded  to 
create  twenty-eight  new  cardinals.  There  were  now  two  sacred 
colleges,  and  therefore  the  death  of  either  pope  could  not  put  an 
end  to  the  strife.  Political  enmities  determined  the  position  of 
each  European  nation  with  regard  to  the  rival  claimants  of  the 
triple  crown.  Italy  sided  with  her  countryman  ;  France  supported 
Clement,  with  the  hope  of  regaining  her  former  ascendency  over 
the  papacy,  and,  therefore,  England  gave  her  obedience  to  Urban. 
Scotland  hated  England,  and  Flanders  hated  France  ;  hence  the 
former  revered  Clement,  the  latter.  Urban.  In  like  manner,  po- 
litical motives  brought  Naples,  Castile,  and  Aragon  to  the  side  of 
the  French  pope,  and  Germany,  Hungary,  and  the  northern  king- 
doms to  the  side  of  the  Italian.  Thus  was  Europe  divided,  and  the 
great  schism  begun. 

The  cause  of  Urban  seemed  to  be  that  of  Italy,  and  it  was 
an  Itahan  band,  led  by  Alberigo  da  Barbiano,  which  conquei*ed 
Clement's  Breton  mercenaries  and  forced  him  to  retire  to  Naples, 
whence  he  soon  sailed  away  to  Avignon.  Urban  proceeded  to  de- 
pose the  Neapolitan  queen,  Joanna,  who  adhered  to  his  rival,  and 
declared  the  kingdom  forfeited  to  Charles  of  Durazzo,  an  heir  of 
Charles  the  Lame  by  a  collateral  branch.  In  opposition  to  him, 
Joanna  adopted,  with  the  sanction  of  Clement,  Louis  of  Anjou, 
who  was  descended  from  the  daughter  of  the  same  king.  Urban 
blindly  sought  to  win  the  fairest  cities  which  belonged  to  the  Ne- 
apolitan kingdom  for  his  worthless  nephew,  Francesco  Prignano, 
and  when  the  now  victorious  Charles  resisted  his  demands,  the  pope 
determined  upon  the  ruin  of  the  king,  that  he  might  set  Francesco 
on  the  throne.  This  shameless  nepotism  prevented  him  from  rec- 
ognizing Ladislas  as  the  successor  of  Charles,  and  there- 
1386.  ^^^,^  opened  the  way  for  the  reassertion  of  the  Angevin 

claims.  The  aggrandizement  of  his  family,  not  the  cause  of  Italy 
or  the  true  interests  of  the  papacy,  absorbed  his  attention.  His 
cruelty  to  his  cardinals  made  him  hated  and  distrusted  of  all,  and 
yet  men  adhered  to  his  cause  for  the  reason  that  he  stood  between 
them  and  a  pope  subservient  to  France. 

Boniface  IX.,  Urban's  successor,  had  none  of  his  learning  and 
little  of  his  piety  ;  but  he  was  affable,  sagacious,  and  what  was  es- 
Boniface  IX.  pcciaUy  nccdful,  he  possessed  the  instincts  of  a  states- 
alfd  Clement  ^^^-  He  immediately  recognized  Ladislas  as  King  of 
v^^-  Naples  ;  he  brought  the  States  of  the  Church  together 

by  appointing  as  vicars  of  the  pope  the  nobles  who  had  power  in 


252  FROM  BONIFACE  VHI.  TO  LUTHER'S  THESES.     [Period  VII. 

their  cities ;  and  in  Eome  he  laid  the  foundations  of  papal  sover- 
eignty. But  as  a  pope,  Boniface  had  one  vice  which  could  not  be 
atoned  for,  even  by  the  purity  of  his  private  life.  Not  satisfied 
with  the  vast  sums  which  he  gained  by  the  jubilees  of  1390  and 
1400,  he  resorted  to  shameless  simony.  The  members  of  his  court 
defended  the  practice  on  the  ground  that  the  pope  could  commit 
no  sin. 

But  the  schism  had  already  entered  upon  a  new  phase.  Ear- 
nest men  in  France  and  England  began  to  inquire  where  lay  the 
cause  of  the  evil,  and  what  could  be  done  to  put  an  end  to  the  dis- 
orders it  had  wrought.  The  spectacle  of  rival  popes — Clement  rest- 
ing in  inglorious  ease  at  Avignon,  Urban  heading  a  partisan  war- 
fare in  Italy — each  imprecating  curses  on  the  other,  stirred  up 
Wyclif  to  declare  that  the  very  papal  office  was  poison- 
ous to  the  Church.  The  English  nation  was  so  united 
in  their  resistance  to  ecclesiastical  encroachments  that  this  cham- 
pion of  civil  and  kingly  authority  against  papal  claims  could  utter 
1390-1393  ^^(^^  words  without  fear.  When,  a  few  years  later,  Boni- 
face tried  to  carry  his  schemes  of  extortion  into  England, 
his  attempt  was  met  by  still  more  stringent  statutes. 

In  France,  as  early  as  1380,  the  University  of  Paris  began  its 
efforts  to  heal  the  schism.  It  abandoned  the  project  of  summoning 
Vain  efforts  ^  general  council  as  impracticable,  and  advocated  the  plan 
to  heal  the      of  abdication.     But  almost  insuperable  difficulties  hin- 

schism.  ^ 

dered  the  success  of  any  scheme  that  could  be  devised. 
There  were  two  popes,  each  believing  himself  to  be  the  true  suc- 
cessor of  St.  Peter,  and  therefore  the  fountain  of  all  spiritual 
power,  from  whom  prelates  and  councils  derived  their  authority. 
Gathered  about  them  were  two  sacred  colleges,  the  members  of 
which  defended  respectively  the  pontiff  whom  they  had  elected, 
because,  in  case  he  was  no  j)ope,  they  were  no  cardinals.  Each 
party  had  its  adherents  among  the  nations  of  Europe,  and  the  na- 
tions were  then  in  a  state  of  chronic  warfare.  To  persuade  or  to 
compel  the  rival  popes  to  abdicate  was  almost  impossible,  because 
even  if  they  were  wiUing  to  lay  down  their  offices,  each  would  fear 
lest,  after  he  had  resigned,  the  other  would  refuse  to  copy  his  ex- 
ample. Nor  could  the  nations,  separated  as  they  were  by  mutual 
distrust,  join  in  any  consistent  policy  or  method  of  dealing  with 
the  pontiffs  whom  they  severally  supported.  And  yet,  notwith- 
standing these  obstacles,  the  Paris  theologians  urged  upon  the 
French  court  the  necessity  of  inviting  or  forcing  Clement  to  re- 
sign, hoping  that  the  nations  attached  to  Boniface  would  pursue 


1294-1517.]  THE  CHURCH  AND  THE  PAPACY.  253 

the  same  method  in  relation  to  him.  These  efforts,  seconded  by 
the  French  cardinals,  hastened  Clement's  death ;  but  before  the 
king  had  time  to  interpose,  the  same  cardinals,  that  they  might 
have  a  chief  who  would  in  any  event  defend  their  interest,  has- 
Benedict  tencd  to  choose  Benedict  XIIL,  who  promised  to  resign 
xm.,  1394-  whenever  the  welfare  of  the  Church  should  seem  to  a 
majority  of  them  to  call  for  such  a  step.  It  soon  became 
evident  that  so  stanch  a  believer  in  papal  supremacy  and  one  so 
well  versed  in  the  canon  law  as  Benedict  was,  had  in  mind  no  way 
of  healing  the  schism  except  by  the  universal  recognition  of  him- 
self as  the  true  vicar  of  Christ.  He  would  not  jield,  even  when, 
through  the  influence  of  the  more  violent  party  of  the  university', 
the  French  court,  and  along  with  it  Sicily,  Castile,  and  Navarre, 
withdrew  from  the  obedience  of  Benedict,  and  Marshal  Boucicaut 
besieged  the  papal  palace  at  Avignon.  The  moderate  men,  Peter 
D'Ailly  and  Nicholas  de  Clemangis,  had  been  skilfully  detached,  the 
former  by  preferment  to  the  Bishopric  of  Cambrai,  the  latter  to 
the  office  of  papal  secretary. 

In  the  meantime,  Boniface  IX.  had  contented  himself  with  mak- 
ing pious  professions  in  order  to  stave  off  an  analogous  procedure 
against  himself,  and  had  been  steadily  pursuing  his  own  political 
aims.  The  madness  of  the  French  king  and  the  strife  between 
the  Dukes  of  Burgu.ndy  and  Orleans  made  the  policy  of  France 
waver,  and  soon,  a  reaction  having  set  in,  the  nation  returned  to 
Benedict's  obedience.  On  the  death  of  Boniface  and 
of  his  successor,  Innocent  VII.,  no  progress  toward  an 
agreement  having  been  made,  all  pai-ties  became  weary  of  the  strife 
and  determined  to  bring  it  speedily  to  an  end.  To  accomplish  this 
object  was  the  sole  duty  which  the  Roman  cardinals  most  solemnly 
enjoined  upon  the  venerable  and  pious  man,  Gregory  XII.,  whom,  in 
1406,  they  elected  pope.  France,  spurred  on  again  by  the  persist- 
Benedict  ^^^  demands  of  the  university,  was  gradually  cutting  off 
XIII.  and       the  power  of  Benedict  over  the  French  Church.     There 

Gregory  XII.  _ 

was  no  time  to  be  lost.  It  was  arranged  that  the  jDopes 
should  meet  at  Savona,  there  to  heal  the  disorders  that  afflicted  the 
Church.  But  now  Ladislas  began  to  tremble  for  the  safety  of  his 
crown,  which  would  be  put  in  jeopardy  if  by  chance  the  French 
pope  should  be  victorious.  He  sought  to  throw  obstacles  in  the 
way  of  the  conference.  The  nephew  of  Gregory  whispered  suspi- 
cions of  treachery.  Europe  beheld  these  two  old  men,  each  claim- 
ing to  be  the  vicar  of  Christ,  each  afraid  that  the  other  was  foment- 
ing some  plot  for  his  destruction,  advancing  toward  one  another 


254  FROM  BOXIFACB  VIII.  TO  LUTHER'S  THESES.     [Pekiod  VII. 

slowly,  RBcl  with  great  trepidation.  The  place  of  meeting  was  re- 
peatedly changed.  Gregory  would  go  no  farther  than  Lucca, 
while  Benedict  was  at  Spezzia  on  the  coast.  "  One,  like  a  land 
animal,  refused  to  approach  the  shore ;  the  other,  like  a  fish,  would 
not  leave  the  sea."  Suddenly  Gregory  publicly  disclaimed  any  in- 
tention to  abdicate,  and  created  four  new  cardinals.  His  old  car- 
dinals fled  to  Pisa,  and  appealed  to  a  general  council. 

In  France  the  Paris  University  again  raised  its  voice.  The 
king,  influenced  by  its  arguments,  threatened  to  take  up  a  neutral 
The  cardinals  positiou.  This  step  Benedict  met  by  excommunicating 
cau  a  council,  i^^q^q  y^]^Q  ghould  withdraw  from  his  obedience.  The 
bearers  of  his  bull  were  imprisoned  for  high  treason,  the  document 
itself  publicly  torn  in  pieces,  and  the  proclamation  of  neutrality 
was  sent  forth.  Benedict  fled  to  Perpignan,  in  the  territories  of 
Aragon.  The  cardinals  of  both  popes  then  united  in  summoning  a 
general  council,  to  be  held  in  Pisa  the  following  year. 


CHAPTER  II. 


THE  REFORMING  COUNCILS:  THE  CHURCH  AND  THE  PAPACY  TO 
THE  ACCESSION  OF  PIUS  IL  (1409-1458). 

A  council  had  been  summoned,  but  men  long  accustomed  to 

papal  absolutism  were  in  doubt  as  to  what  authority  such  a  body 

would  possess.     Many  of  the  more  conservative  theolo- 

Theory  of  the  ^  -^  ..... 

Galilean  re-  giaus  sought  to  find  a  warrant  for  its  action  m  provis-- 
ions  of  the  canon  law.  The  Gallicans,  under  the  lead  of 
Gerson  and  D'Ailly,  went  beyond  them,  holding  up  the  principle 
of  the  supremacy  of  the  Church  and  of  its  councils,  and  endeavor- 
ing to  set  proper  limits  to  the  power  of  the  pope.  Gerson,  like 
Occam,  maintained  that  the  Church  has  its  real  unity  in  Christ, 
who  is  its  head.  In  the  Church,  the  mystical  body  established  by 
him,  is  vested  the  power  and  right,  which  neither  the  provisions  of 
the  canon  law  nor  the  decrees  of  the  pope  can  invalidate,  to  take 
the  measures  necessary  to  bring  schism  to  an  end.  If  the  vicar 
who  symbolizes  its  outward  unity  is  dead,  or  has  forfeited  the  alle- 
giance of  the  faithful,  the  Church  may,  not  only  on  the  authority  of 
the  cardinals,  but  also  on  that  of  a  prince  or  of  any  other  Christian, 
call  a  general  council,  to  procure  a  true  and  sole  vicar.  Nor  is  this 
all  that  may  be  done.  Should-  the  public  peace  and  safety  require 
it,  the  vicar  may  be  resisted,  and  even  dej)osed  and  deprived  of  all 


1394-1517.]  THE  REFORMING  COUNCILS.    .  255 

ecclesiastical  rank.  The  aim  of  Gerson,  D'Ailty,  and  their  asso- 
ciates was  to  reduce  the  pope  from  the  position  of  an  absolute 
to  that  of  a  constitutional  monarch,  and  even  to  place  behind 
a  general  council  the  universal  Church,  as  alone  infallible  and 
supreme.  Such  ideas  would  win  for  the  council  the  moral  support 
of  those  who  discerned  in  the  inordinate  power  of  the  papacy  the 
source  of  the  many  evils  that  afflicted  the  Church.  But  the  great 
Council  of  assemblage  which  began  its  sessions  at  Pisa,  on  March! 
Pisa.  25,  1409,  did  not  represent  all  the  nations  which  proi 

fessed  the  Catholic  faith.  Of  the  more  powerful  monarchs  the  King 
of  Spain  still  supported  Benedict,  while  Ladislas,  and  Rupert,  who 
was  Wenzel's  competitor  for  the  throne  of  the  empire,  clung  to  Greg- 
ory as  a  political  necessity.  It  was  the  first  duty  of  the  members 
of  the  council  to  heal  the  schism.  This  they  attempted  to  do  by 
decreeing  the  un^n  of  the  two  sacred  colleges,  and  by  deposing 
Gregory  and  Benedict  as  notorious  schismatics,  perjurers,  and 
heretics.  Many  oFthe  delegates  wished  now  to  proceed  to  the  re- 
form of  the  Church  in  "  head  and  members,"  in  order  that  an  end 
might  be  put  to  ecclesiastical  corruption,  and  that  those  abuses  of 
the  papal  power  which  had  become  so  flagrant  during  the  captivity 
and  the  schism  might  be  checked.  But  there  were  others,  and  these 
constituted  the  majority,  who  doubted  the  right  of  the  council  to. 
take  any  further  action  except  under  the  headship  of  the  pope  yet! 
to  be  elected.  The  leaders  of  this  party  were  the  cardinals,  who 
were  anxious  to  stay  the  liberal  movement  lest  it  might  become 
revolutionary.  They  promised  that  whoever  of  them  should  be 
chosen  woiild  prevent  the  council  from  being  dissolved  until  a  sat- 
isfactory reformation  of  the  universal  Church  should  have  been 
accomplished.  Then  they  united  in  the  choice  of  Peter  Philargi,  i 
the  aged  Cardinal  of  Milan.  As  soon  as  the  new  pope,  Alexander , 
v.,  had  ascended  the  throne,  many  members  of  the  council  seemed 
wholly  absorbed  in  seeking  benefices,  which  his  reckless  prodigal- 
ity was  ever  ready  to  bestow.  He  put  off  the  reforming  party  with 
a  few  unimportant  concessions,  and,  with  specious  promises  to 
Failure  of  the  ^all  another  council,  soon  after  dismissed  the  assembly, 
council.  rpjjQ  flattering  hopes  with  which  its  sessions  had  opened 

had  been  disappointed.  Its  measures  were  the  result  of  impulse, 
and  not  of  that  fnature  deliberation  which  was  required  by  the  ex- 
igency. Such  was  the  comment  of  Gerson.  Moreover,  the  schism 
still  continued,  with  three  popes  instead  of  two  in  the  field.  Alex-^ 
ander  fell  completely  under  the  influence  of  Baldassare  Cossa,  the 
legate  at  Bologna,  a  man  who  was  first  a  pirate,  then  a  student, 


256  FROM  BONIFACE  VIIL  TO  LUTHER'S  THESES.     [Period  VH. 

and  finally  so  successful  a  papal  extortioner  that  he  was  rewarded 
by  Boniface  IX.  with  a  cardinal's  hat.  This  ecclesiastic,  surpassed 
by  few  in  the  number  of  crimes  of  which  he  was  accused,  possessed 
so  much  political  power  that  he  was  soon  called  to  fill 
May  17, 1410.  ^.j^g  ^^^cant  chair  of  St.  Peter,  and  to  defend  it  against 
the  attacks  of  Ladislas.  But  the  tempest  of  Italian  politics  was  too 
i  much  for  even  John  XXHI,,  and  he  was  obliged  to  call  upon  Sigis- 
councii  of  mund.  King  of  the  Eomans,  for  help,  and  to  consent  to 
Constance.  j^jg  proposal  to  summou  a  general  council.  The  pope 
regarded  it  as  of  the  utmost  importance  that  the  council  should 
be  held  in  a  place  where  he  had  more  power  than  the  emperor,  but 
he  made  the  fatal  mistake  of  trusting  the  matter  to  the  prudence 
of  his  legates.  They  yielded  to  the  demands  of  Sigismund,  aud 
!  selected  Constance,  an  imperial  city.  John  was  now  obliged  to 
send  forth  the  summons  to  the  council,  which  was  to  meet  on  No- 
(vember  1,  1414  ;  but  he  still  cherished  the  hope  of  being  able  to 
control  it  when  once  it  had  come  together.  The  failure  of  the 
Council  of  Pisa  to  accomplish  the  work  set  before  it  made  earnest 
men  keenly  alive  to  the  need  of  putting  an  end  to  the  abuses  in  the 
administration  of  the  Church,  and  of  finding  an  instant  and  effect- 
ual remedy  for  the  long  schism  which  endangered  its  union. 
Moreover,  in  Bohemia  there  was  a  formidable  religious  movement, 
jled  by  John  Huss  and  others,  and  stimulated  by  the  writings  of 
Wyclif — a  movement  that  threatened  to  result  in  the  establishment 
of  a  new  and  powerful  sect.  On  the  Eastern  borders  of  Europe 
hovered  the  Turkish  invader,  and  in  the  Christian  countries  of  the 
West  strife  and  confusion  prevailed.  The  council  which  gathered 
lat  Constance  during  the  last  weeks  of  1414,  and  was  not  dissolved 
until  April,  1418,  was  the  most  brilliant  and  imposing  of  the  eccle- 
siastical assemblies  of  the  middle  ages.  If  the  number  of  bishoj^s 
present  was  not  so  large  as  at  some  other  great  synods  of  the 
Church,  this  difference  was  more  than  made  up  by  the  multitude 
jof  inferior  clergy,  of  doctors  and  of  j  mists,  and  by  the  unexampled 
'array  of  sovereigns  and  nobles.  The  pope  and  Sigismund  were 
both  present,  each  with  a  numerous  and  dazzling  retinue  of  ofiicers 
and  attendants.  A  throng  of  not  less  than  fifty  thousand  people, 
drawn  by  official  obligation,  curiosity,  the  desire  of  gain  or  of 
pleasure,  flowed  into  the  city  of  Constance  to  witness  the  doings  of 
the  council.  The  sessions  had  just  begun,  when  John  came  into 
johnxxiii.  collision  with  the  reform  party,  under  the  leadership 
I  foued.  q£  D'Ailly,  now  a  cardinal.     It  was  the  pope's  purpose  to 

procure  a  confirmation  of  the  acts  of  the   Pisau  Council,  which 


1394-1517.]  THE  REFORMING  COUNCILS.  257 

deposed  Benedict  and  Gregory,  and  made  provision  for  the  elec-  \ 
tion  of  his  predecessor.  Thus  his  own  position  would  be  strength- 
ened and  he  would  be  enabled  to  proceed  against  them  as  anti- 
popes,  Haviug  got  this  dangerous  matter  out  of  the  hands  of  the 
council,  he  would  then  try  to  occupy  the  x-emainder  of  its  sittings 
with  the  heresies  of  Huss  and  Wyclif,  and  by  a  few  concessions/ 
baffle  all  serious  attempts  at  reform.  In  opposition  to  this  plan, 
D'Ailly  maintained  that  only  so  far  as  a  council  really  represents 
the  universal  Church,  which  alone  cannot  err,  is  it  freed  from  the 
danger  of  falling  into  error,  and  that  for  this  reason,  although  the 
assembly  at  Pisa  is  with  probability  believed  to  have  been  such  a 
council,  yet  it  is  possible  that  it  did  err,  as  other  such  assemblies 
have  erred,  if  we  may  credit  the  statements  of  the  learned.  More- 
over, any  ratification  of  its  acts  would  only  tend  to  shake  the  belief 
in  its  authority,  and,  besides,  make  it  harder  to  bring  the  schism 
to  an  end.  It  was  evident  that  the  party  represented  by  D'Ailly 
wished  to  leave  the  council  free  to  negotiate  with  Benedict  and  with 
Gregory.  Soon  after,  a  letter  came  from  Gregory,  offering  to  abdi-  i 
cate,  if  his  two  rivals  would  do  the  same.  It  was  now  suggested 
by  Cardinal  Philaster  that  John,  in  imitation  of  the  good  shepherd 
who  lays  down  his  life  for  the  sheep,  should  resign,  and  it  was  as- 
serted that  for  the  sake  of  the  peace  and  union  of  the  Church  he  I 
could  be  compelled  to  take  this  step.  In  the  meantime  the  reso- 
lution to  vote  by  nations  had  crushed  the  design  of  the  pope  to 
control  the  assembly  thi-ough  the  numerical  iDreponderance  of  Ital- 
ian prelates.  The  situation  of  John  began  to  be  critical.  Terri- 
fied by  rumors  of  accusations  about  to  be  presented  against  him, '. 
he  solemnly  promised,  upon  his  oath,  to  abdicate  in  case  Gregory ' 
and  Benedict  would  also  resign.  In  order  to  avoid  carrying  this 
promise  into  effect,  he  fled  to  Schaffhausen,  which  lay  in  the  ter-| 
ritory  of  his  friend,  Frederick  of  Austria.  The  council,  lest  the 
pope's  action  might  be  taken  to  invalidate  its  authority,  promul- 
gated a  decree  which  read  thus  :  "  The  Synod  of  Constance,  regu- 
larly assembled  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  forming  a  universal  council  and 
representing  the  militant  Church,  has  its  authority  immediately 
from  God,  and  everyone,  the  pope  included,  is  bound  to  obey  it 
in  what  pertains  to  the  faith,  and  to  the  extirpation  of  schism,  and 
Deposition  of  ^^^6  reformation  of  the  Church  in  head  and  members." ' 
John  XXIII.  j|.  y^^^  jjQ^  Yong  before  Fx-ederick  submissively  made  his 
peace  with  Sigismund,  and  the  pope,  having  fallen  into  the  hands 
of  the  council,  was,  on  May  29,  1415,  deposed  from  office.  Shortly  ' 
afterwards  Gregory  resigned.     But  Benedict  was  obstinate,  and 


258  FROM  BOKEPACE  VIH.  TO  LUTHER'S  THESES.     [Period  VII. 

when  negotiations  with  him  had  proved  fruitless,  and  he  was 
deserted  by  all  except  the  single  town  of  Peniscola  in  Spain,  he 
'was  formally  dejDosed.  While  the  council  was  thus  engaged  in 
ending  the  schism,  it  was  also  engaged  in  putting  down 
I  n  o  U8S.  ■j^gj^.ggy  ^j^}^  g^  relentless  determination.  Sigismund  had 
been  anxious  that  Huss,  the  leader  of  the  new  movement  in  Bo- 
ihemia,  should  come  to  Constance  and  bring  his  cause  before  the 
'representatives  of  the  Church.  Huss  consented  to  do  so,  appa- 
rently looking  upon  the  council  not  as  a  judicial  body  before 
which  he  was  going  to  be  arraigned  and  tried,  but  as  a  gTeat  assem- 
bly in  whose  presence  he  might  vindicate  himself  against  the  accu- 
sations of  his  enemies.  The  emperor  then  gave  him  a  safe-conduct, 
which  enjoined  upon  all  lords  and  magnates  to  pei-mit  him  without 
molestation  to  go  and  return.  Despite  this,  not  long  after  he  ar- 
rived in  Constance,  he  was  thrown  into  prison.  Sigismund  was  at 
first  angi-y  at  such  a  flagrant  violation  of  his  safe-conduct,  but  the 
determined  attitude  of  the  council  led  him  to  give  way.  It  was 
difficult  to  find  any  statements  of  Huss  which,  in  the  sense  in  which 
they  wei'e  intended  by  him,  could  be  declared  heretical.  The  coun- 
I  cil,  however,  could  plant  itself  on  the  ground  that  he  disowned  the 
I  authority  of  the  Church,  and  acknowledged  no  authority  as  final  ex- 
cept the  Scriptures,  as  he  understood  them.  Moreover,  his  ethical 
I  theory  of  the  foundation  of  the  right  of  rulers,  lay  or  ecclesiastic, 
'  to  govern,  a  theory  in  which  he  followed  Wyclif,  excited  sincere 
alarm.  The  leaders  of  the  reform  party  were  ready  to  pull  an  of- 
fending pope  from  his  throne,  but  they  were  wedded  to  the  doctrine 
of  hierarchical  authority.  They  felt  it  the  more  necessaiy,  there- 
fore, to  mark  the  limits  of  the  reform  which  they  aspired  to  achieve. 
The  violent,  mob-like  deportment  of  the  council  contrasted  very 
unfavorably  with  the  noble  serenity  and  self-possession  of  their  vic- 
tim. When  his  sentence  was  being  read,  Huss  turned  and  fixed  his 
eyes  upon  Sigismund.  The  blush  that  overspread  the  king's  face 
disclosed  the  verdict  of  his  conscience,  that  he  ought  to  have  kept 
Ifaith  even  with  a  heretic.  Huss  was  burned  in  July,  14:15,  and  his 
I  friend  and  disciple,  Jerome  of  Prague,  one  year  later. 

Thus  far  the  council  had  proceeded  with  vigor  and  unanimity. 
But  political  animosities  began  to  aggravate  the  difficulties  which 
Choice  of  a  beset  all  essays  at  reform.  England  and  France  were 
^^-  at  war.     Sigismund,  having  sought  in  vain  to  mediate, 

allied  himself  to  England,  and  thus  lost  the  "  truly  international 
place  "  which  he  had  previously  held  in  the  council.  Movements 
within  the  body  itself  were  equally  destructive  to  its  efficiency.    Ger- 


1294-1517.]  THE  REFORMING  COUNCILS.  259 

son,  by  his  persistence  in  urging  the  condemnation  of  Petit,  who, 
after  the  assassination  of  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  had  written  a  book 
in  defence  of  tyrannicide,  lost  his  influence  over  the  assembly,  i 
D'Ailly  became  the  leader  of  the  cardinals  and  the  defender  of| 
their  authority  as  representatives  of  the  Koman  Church.  He 
sought  to  hasten  the  election  of  a  pope,  lest  the  reforming  spirit  of 
the  council  should  become  revolutionary.  The  Germans,  and  at 
first  the  English,  warned  by  what  took  place  at  Pisa,  were  anxious 
that  the  reformation  of  the  Church  in  "head  and  members " should ( 
precede  the  papal  election.  But  their  movements  were  regarded 
with  suspicion  by  the  French,  the  Spaniards,  and  the  Italians.  The 
cardinals,  taking  advantage  of  this  national  jealousy,  forced  the 
liberal  party  from  one  compromise  to  another,  until  they  won  from 
Sigismund  his  consent  to  the  election  of  a  new  pope.  A  decree  was 
then  adopted  which  forbade  certain  papal  extortions  and  provided/ 
for  the  frequent  assembling  of  general  councils.  All  other  reforms 
were  left  to  be  carried  out  by  the  pojoe,  with  the  assistance  of  the 
council  then  in  session,  or  with  the  aid  of  deputies  from  the  na- 
tions. On  November  11,  1417,  Otto  Colonna  was  chosen,  and  took) 
Failure  of  the  name  of  Martiu  V.  The  new  pope  soon  showed  his! 
the  council.  j,gg^j  attitude  toward  the  reforming  movement.  He  sanc- 
tioned the  abuses  on  which  the  Koman  court  had  flourished  dur-! 
ing  the  reign  of  John  XXIH,,  and,  before  the  council  was  dissolved,' 
asserted  the  papal  supremacy  in  terms  which  contradicted  the  doc- 
trine of  conciliar  authority,  which  had  been  solemnly  promulgated 
in  its  fourth  and  fifth  sessions.  The  members  of  the  council, 
wearied  by  their  long-continued  and  apparently  futile  labors,  were 
in  no  mood  to  withstand  the  schemes  or  pretensions  of  the  pope. 
They  satisfied  themselves  with  a  decree  embodying  a  few  reforms 
upon  which  they  were  all  united,  and  voted  to  leave  the  rest  to  be 
arranged  in  concordats  with  the  several  nations.  Martin,  having 
bestowed  upon  them  plenary  absolution,  which  was  to  extend  un- 
til death,  dissolved  the  assembly.  The  substantial  failure  of  this 
council  to  achieve  reforms  which  thoughtful  and  good  men  every- 
where deemed  indispensable  was  a  proof  that  some  more  radical 
means  of  reformation  would  have  to  be  found. 

Martin  had  rescued  the  papacy  from  the  dangers  which  threat- 
ened it  at  Constance,  and  he  now  undertook  to  restore  its  lost  pres- 
Troubiesin  ^ge.  He  revived  the  pontifical  authority  in  the  papal 
Bohemia.  gtatcs  and  brought  a  new  prosperity  to  Kome.  In  France 
lie  recovered  those  prerogatives  of  the  Roman  see  which  had  been 
taken  away  by  the  royal  ordinances  of  1418.     But  in  England  his 


260  FROM  BONIFACE  VIII.  TO  LUTHER'S  THESES.     [Period  VII- 

/passionate  denunciation  of  the  statutes  of  pro  visors  and  prsemu- 
■  nire  were  not  heeded.     He  reluctantly  assembled  a  general  council 
/at  Pavia,  in  obedience  to  the  decree  adopted  at  Constance,  and 
then,  having  transferred  it  to  Sienna,  and  fomented  divisions  among 
the  few  that  were  present,  procured  its  dissolution.     The  ascend- 
ency of  the  Catholic  Church  was  seriously  endangered  in  another 
quarter.     The  destruction  of  Huss  and  Jerome  of  Prague  had  sent 
I  a  thrill  of  indignation  through  the  greater  portion  of  the  Bohemian 
'people.    Underlying  the  movement  of  which  Huss  was  the  principal 
author  was  a  mingled  national  and  religious  feeling.     The  Hussite 
•  reforms,  and  especially  the  demand  for  the  cup,  w^hich  in  the  ad- 
'  ministration   of  the  sacrament  had  long  been  withheld  from  the 
laity,  wei'e  supported  by  the  Slavic  population,  but  were  opposed  by 
,  the  Germans.     The  Council  of  Constance  and  Martin  V.  resolved  to 
'  suppress  the  rising  heresy  by  force.     Bohemia  was  a  constituent 
part  of  the  German  empire,  and  therefore  to  Sigismund  was  allotted 
the  task  of  conquering  the  Bohemian  heretics,   who  were  called 
(  Utraquists,  because  they  partook  of  the  communion  in  both  kinds. 
There  soon   arose  in  Bohemia  a  powerful  party  which  went  far 
beyond  the  Utraquists  in  their  doctrinal  innovations  and  in  antij^a- 
I  thy  to  the  Church  of  Rome.     The  Taborites,  as  they  were  styled, 
I  rejected  transubstantiation  ;    they  appealed  to  the  Bible  as  alone 
.  authoritative,  and  refused  to  submit  to  the  decisions  of  the  popes, 
of  the  councils,  or  of  the  Fathers.     Opposition  only  turned  their 
enthusiasm  into  fanaticism.     In  Ziska,  the  most  noted  of  their  lead- 
ers, they  found  a  general  of  fierce  and  stubborn  bravei-y  ;  and  under 
his  guidance  the  force  of  the  Hussites  became  well-nigh  irresistible. 
,  In  1420  the  moderate  Utraquists,  or  Calixtines,  embodied  their  be- 
liefs in  the  celebrated  Four  Articles  of  Prague.     They  provided  that 
ithe  word  of  God  should  freely  be  preached,  that  the  sacraments 
should  be   administered   in   both  kinds,  that  priests  and  monks 
should  be  divested  of  their  worldly  goods,  and  that  a  strict  Church 
discipline  should  be  maintained.     The  Utraquists  and  Taborites 
viewed  each  other  with  mutual  suspicion,  and  would  unite  only  on 
the  occurrence  of  a  crisis  involving  danger  to  both.     The  crusades, 
undertaken  by  the  authority  and  at  the  command  of  the  Church, 
filled  Bohemia  with  the  horrors  of  war  ;  but  they  wholly  failed  to 
subdue  the  heretics,  who  laid  aside  their  own  feuds  to  confront  the 
common  enemy.     It  was  a  conviction  of  the  futility  of  these  eflbrts 
I  Council  of       which  prompted  men  to  urge  Martin  to  summon  the 
I  ^^^^^-  Council  of  Basel.     By  the  advice  of  Cardinal  Julian  Ce- 

sarini,  the  papal  legate,  who  had  shared  the  disastrous  overthrow 


1294-1517.]  THE  REFORMING  COUNCILS.  261 

of  the  last  crusading  army,  the  council  decided  to  invite  the  Bohe- 
mians to  a  free  discussion  of  the  existing  differences. 

In  the  meantime  Martin  had  died,  and  his  successor,  Eugeniua. 
1431-1447        ^"  ^6*^^^®  alarmed  at  this  dangerous  activity  of  the' 
council.    His  attempts  to  procure  its  dissolution  were  re- 
sisted by  Cesarini,  and  were  met  on  the  part  of  the  council  by  a  re- 
affirmation of  the  doctrines  of  Constance,  and  a  declaration  that  the 
synod  then  assembled  at  Basel  could  not  be  dissolved,  transferred, 
or  prorogued  without  its  own  consent.     In  order  to  avoid  the  na- 
tional jealousies  which  had  hindered  the  work  at  Constance,  the 
council  formed  itself  into  four  committees,  the  members  of  which 
w^re  taken  in  equal  proportions  from  the  various  ranks  of  the  clergy 
and  doctors  of  the  law  who  represented  each  nation.     The  negotia- . 
tions  with  the  Bohemians  were  successful.     Having  first  carefully 
obtained  abundant  guarantees  for  their  personal  safety,  and  solemn 
pledges  that  they  should  have  a  full  and  free  heai-ing,  the  Utra- 
quist  delegates,   representative  of  both  the  leading  parties,   the  I 
Calixtines  and  Taborites,  presented  themselves  at  Basel.     After 
long  consultations,  and  the  sending  of  an  embassy  from  the  coun- 
cil to  Bohemia,  the  Hussites  obtained  certain  concessions,  which  1 
were  set  forth  in  a  document  termed  the  "  Compactata."     In  them' 
the  articles  of  Prague  were  so  modified  as  to  preserve,  as  far  as 
possible,  the  authority  of  the  Church  and  of  the  hierarchy.    Such  a 
Defeat  of  the    compromisc  could  only  tend  to  divide  the  Calixtines  andi 
Taborites.       ^^^  Taboritcs  iuto  mutually  hostile  camps.     An  armed' 
conflict  ensued,  in  which  the  Taborites  were  thoroughly  vanquished.  ^ 
Thenceforth  the  power  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  Utraquists, 
who  were  desirous  of  approaching  as  nearly  to  the  doctrines  and 
rites  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  other  countries  as  their  convictions 
would  allow.     The  successful  issue  to  which  the  council  had  thus 
brought  the  Bohemian  question  won  for  it  the  adherence  of  the 
princes  of  Europe,  and  enabled  it  to  compel  Eugenius  (in  Decem- 
ber, 1433)  to  acknowledge  its  lawfulness  in  spite  of  his  own  bull  of 
Negotiations    dissolutiou.     The  negotiations  to  bring  about  the  union  , 
oi-eek''^         of  the  Greek  and  Latin  Churches  plunged  the  pope  and* 
Church.  ii^Q  council  iuto  a  new  quarrel.     The  Eastern  emperor 

was  willing  to  treat  with  whichever  party  could  the  more  povi^er- 
fuUy  influence  Western  monarchs  to  join  in  a  crusade  against  the 
Turks,  who  were  threatening  Constantinople.  The  dominant  party 
at  Basel  regarded  the  counter-negotiations  of  Eugenius  as  a  defi-i 
ance  of  the  conciliar  authority.  From  this  time  many  of  the  re- 
forms which  they  undertook  were  designed  to  cripple  the  power  of 


-^ 


262  FROM  BONIFACE  VIII.  TO  LUTHER'S  THESES.     [Period  VII. 

rthe  pope.  They  abolished  all  papal  reservations,  and  all  those  fees 
which  were  customarily  paid  both  before  and  after  ecclesiastical 
^appointments.  Nor  were  they  content  with  depriving  the  pope  of 
the  largest  portion  of  his  revenues.  They  so  changed  the  method 
of  papal  elections  as  to  subject  him  completely  to  the  authority  of 
councils.  But  their  obstinate  persistence  in  appointing  Avignon 
as  the  place  for  the  proposed  conference  with  the  Greeks  caused 
the  more  moderate  members  of  the  council  to  publish  a  decree  in 
favor  of  Florence  or  Udine.  The  pope  forthwith  turned  the  schism 
to  his  own  advantage,  confirmed  the  decree  of  the  minority,  and 
called  the  Council  of  Ferrara.  The  Greeks,  after  some  wavering, 
were  won  over  by  the  papal  emissaries.  The  council 
anuary,  •  .  ^^^^  ^^^  ^^  Ferrara,  and  was  a  year  later  transferred  to 
Florence.  The  debates  on  doctrinal  differences,  especially  on  the 
procession  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  the  addition  by  the  Latins  of 
"  filioque  "  to  the  Nicene  formula,  threatened  to  be  interminable. 
The  Greek  emperor,  John  Paleologus,  was  anxious  to  complete  the 
union,  so  that  he  might  obtain  the  fulfilment  of  some  at  least  of 
the  promises  of  assistance  which  had  flattered  his  hopes.  Urged  on 
by  him,  the  Greeks  consented  to  subscribe  to  statements  of  doc- 
trine whose  phraseology  was  sufficiently  comprehensive  to  shelter 
their  own  beliefs,  and  to  a  declaration  of  the  primacy  of  the  pope 
"  saving  all  the  rights  and  privileges  "  of  the  four  patriarchs  of  the 
East.  Eugenius  in  turn  promised  to  maintain,  for  the  defence  of 
Constantinople,  two  galleys  and  three  hundred  soldiers.  This  was 
all  that  the  emperor  covdd  procure  to  offer  to  his  people,  Avho  were 
indignant  at  his  base  desertion  of  orthodoxy.  The  prestige  which 
the  popes  gained  from  this  affair  was  increased  when,  one  after 
another,  the  remaining  sects  of  the  East  made  a  show  of  submis- 
sion. 

A  few  days  after  the  Council  of  Ferrara  opened,  the  prelates 
who  had  remained  at  Basel  under  the  presidency  of  D'AUemand 
suspended  Eugenius  as  contumacious,  and  declared  that 
mea'sTesof  the  administration  of  the  papacy  devolved  upon  the 
the  counci .  g^j^^^j  t^jgre  assembled.  The  more  powerful  nations  of 
Europe  deprecated  these  extreme  measures  of  the  council,  as  well 
as  the  acts  of  retaHation  to  which  the  pope  had  resorted.  Charles 
Vn.  of  France  hastened  to  adopt  such  of  the  reforms  enacted  at 
Basel  as  would  free  the  French  Church  from  papal  interference  and 
extortion.  Accordingly,  in  July  these  decrees  were  embodied  in 
the  Pragmatic  Sanction,  drawn  up  at  the  Synod  of  Bourges.  Ger- 
many pursued  the  same  course.     The  Church  was  declared  neutral 


1394-1517.]  THE  REFORMING  COUNCILS.  263 

by  the  electoral  princes,  and  a  year  later  an  acceptance  of  the 
Basel  reforms,  similar  in  its  provisions  to  the  Pragmatic  Sanction, 
was  decreed  at  the  Diet  of  Mainz.  The  council,  whose  radical  pro- 
ceedings had  caused  the  desertion  of  many  prelates,  now 
deposed  Eugenius  and  drew  from  his  comfortable  seclu- 
sion Amadeus  VIII. ,  Duke  of  Savoy,  whom  they  elected  pope.  By 
this  act,  which  opened  the  way  for  another  schism,  it  lost  the 
moral  support  of  Europe,  and  after  a  few  years  sank  into  insig- 
nificance, along  with  its  pope,  who  bore  the  name  of  Felix  V.  It 
was  now  the  aim  of  the  Koman  court  to  recover  the  obedience  of 
Germany.  The  weakness  and  irresolution  of  the  king,  Frederick 
III.,  and  the  selfish  policy  of  the  electors,  offered  a  fair  field  for  suc- 
cessful intrigue.  Prominent  among  those  who  took  part  in  the 
^neaa  negotiations  was  Ji^neas  Sylvius  Piccolomini.      He  was 

Sylvius.  g^  brilliant  and  sagacious  man,  cultivated  and  aspiring, 

but  not  free  from  dissolute  ways,  which,  in  his  own  judgment,  ren- 
dered it  for  a  long  period  unseemly  for  him  to  take  orders.  Facile 
and  flexible,  he  was  quick  to  perceive  any  turn  in  the  course  of 
events,  and  immediately  to  take  advantage  of  it.  He  attached 
himself  successively  to  several  prelates  of  opposite  parties^  then 
was  an  official  and  an  eager  partisan  of  the  Council  of  Basel, 
and  finally  was  appointed  one  of  Frederick's  secretaries.  Being 
sent  to  Rome  as  an  envoy,  he  became  reconciled  to  Eugenius, 
and  promised  to  be  as  valuable  a  friend  of  papal  pretensions  as 
he  had  previously  been  an  active  and  formidable  enemy.  It  was 
largely  as  a  result  of  his  efforts  that,  in  return  for  a  vague  con- 
firmation of  the  rights  of  the  national  Church,  the  obedience  of 
Germany  was  restored  to  the  dying  pope,  on  February  7, 
reigu  of  1447.     Nicholas  V.  was  not  slow  to  reap  the  fruits  of 

this  triumph.  The  Concordat  of  Vienna  abandoned  the 
reforms  of  Basel,  and  hardly  left  to  the  German  Church  those  lib- 
erties which  Martin  had  granted  to  it  at  Constance.  When  the  ju- 
bilee year  of  1450  came,  and  the  pope  beheld  the  thousands  of  pil- 
grims flocking  to  Rome,  he  could  reflect  with  gratitude  on  the  fact 
that  the  papacy  had  survived  the  schism  and  the  reforming  coun- 
cils, and  that  now  it  seemed  to  be  regaining  its  ancient  position 
and  influence  in  Europe.  It  was  the  purpose  of  Nicholas  to  give 
strength  and  stability  to  the  papal  power.  He  erected  fortresses  in 
the  lands  of  the  Church  and  strengthened  the  walls  of  the  capital. 
He  adorned  not  only  Rome,  but  also  other  cities,  with  magnificent 
buildings.  He  made  a  vast  collection  of  manuscripts,  and  thus  laid 
the  foundation  of  the  Vatican  library.     As  a  patron  of  men  of  let- 


264  FROM  BONIFACE  VIIL  TO  LUTHER'S  THESES.     [Period  VII. 

ters  he  vied  with  Cosimo  de'  Medici  and  Alfonso  of  Naples,  In  ac- 
cordance with  his  plan,  "  Eome  was  to  be  a  missionary  of  culture 
to  Europe,  and  so  was  to  disarm  suspicion  and  regain  prestige." 
But  Eome,  for  which  he  had  done  so  much,  almost  broke  out  into 
open  rebellion  against  him.  The  last  two  years  of  his  pontificate 
were  embittered  by  his  melancholy  reflections  on  the  capture  of 
Constantinople,  and  his  own  ineffectual  attempts  to  unite  the  West 
in  a  cinisade  against  the  Tui'k. 


CHAPTER  III. 


THE  CHURCH  AND  THE  PAPACY  IN  THE  LAST  HALF  OF  THE  FIF- 
TEENTH CENTURY. 

The  Germans  were  incHned  to  look  upon  the  crusade  as  a  mere 
pretext  for  filling  the  coffers  of  the  Eoman  court.  They  asked : 
"Why  do  we  rob  our  children  of  bread  that  we  may  fight  the  Turk 
when  the  chief  pontiff  spends  the  treasure  of  St.  Peter  on  stones 
and  mortar  ?  "  Their  enthusiasm  was  not  aroused  by  the  appeals 
„  ,.  ^    T^-     of  Calixtus  in.,  in  whose  mind  there  was  a  measure  of 

Calixtus  111.,  ' 

1455-1458.  the  old  crusading  zeal,  mingled  with  a  blind  affection 
for  his  nephews.  Of  these  two  rival  impulses  the  first  did  little 
harm  to  the  infidel,  while  the  second,  by  raising  Eoderigo  Borgia, 
the  future  Alexander  VI.,  to  the  cardinalate,  wi'ought  great  mis- 
chief in  the  Church, 

Ever  since  the  death  of  Eugenius,  iEneas  Sylvius  had  been 
plying  the  princes  and  prelates  of  Germany  with  inducements  to 
Pins  II  become  supporters  of  the  Roman  see.     He  had  turned 

1458-1464.  liis  back  upon  his  past  hfe,  except  that  he  retained  his 
fondness  for  literature.  He  had  taken  orders,  had  been  made  a 
bishop,  and  then  a  cardinal.  And  now,  upon  the  death  of  Calix- 
tus, he  was  exalted  to  the  office  thus  left  vacant.  As  Pius  U.,  he 
repudiated  that  defence  of  conciliar  authority  which,  as  -^neas 
Sylvius,  the  pai'tisan  of  Basel,  he  had  framed,  and  he  launched  the 
anathemas  of  the  Church  against  any  who  should  presume  to  appeal 
from  the  Eoman  pontiff  to  a  future  council.  Pius  refused  to  in- 
volve the  papacy  in  the  dynastic  quarrels  of  Europe.  He  pursued 
the  safe  policy  of  recognizing  as  monarchs  those  who  actually  held 
the  power,  at  the  same  time  that  he  reserved  for  adjudication  the 
rights  of  the  claimants.     But  this  course  could  not  satisfy  the 


1294-1517.]  THE  CHURCH  AND  THE  PAPACY.  265 

French  King,  Louis  XI.,  who  had  abolished  the  Pragmatic  Sanc- 
tion in  the  hope  that  Pius  would  aid  him  in  winning  Naples  for  the 
house  of  Anjou.  Finding  himself  deceived,  Louis  took  revenge 
upon  the  pope  by  renewing  its  provisions. 

No  one  saw  more  clearly  than  Pius  that  the  military  power  of 
the  Turks  threatened  the  safety  of  Europe.  But  it  was  not  far- 
seeing  statesmanship  alone  which  impelled  him  to  urge  on  a  cru- 
sade. He  sought  by  it  to  restore  the  prestige  of  the  papacy,  and 
thus  to  be  able  to  overwhelm  the  Bohemian  king,  Podiebrad,  who 
had  resisted  his  attempts  to  break  down  the  compacts.  When  all 
other  resources  were  of  no  avail,  he  resolved,  feeble  as  he  was,  to 
put  himself  at  the  head  of  a  crusading  army.  But  he  lived  only 
long  enough  to  reach  the  shores  of  the  Adriatic  and  to  gaze  upon 
the  fleet  of  his  Venetian  allies. 

National  rivalries  and  the  ambition  of  princes  had  thwarted  T 
every  attempt  of  the  popes  to  mould  Europe  into  a  confederacy  to ' 
confront  the  common  foe.  These  repeated  failures  show  that  the 
moral  force  of  the  papacy  as  an  international  power  was  hopelessly 
undermined.  The  Eoman  court  was  not  slow  to  recognize  the 
growing  weakness  of  its  position.  But  even  so  upright  a  pontiff  as 
Paul  II.,  1464--^^"^  ^-  could  do  little  to  gain  for  it  new  strength.  In 
1471.  '  Italy  he  sought  to  promote  order  throughout  the  papal 
domains,  and  to  stand  aloof  from  the  intrigues  of  the  surrounding 
princes.  He  loved  splendor,  but  refused  to  thrive  on  extortion. 
He  desired  to  live  at  peace  with  all  men,  and  yet  he  did  not  hesitate 
to  plunge  Europe  into  war  in  order  to  overwhelm  the  heretical  King 
of  Bohemia. 

Sistus  IV.  revived  the  project  of  a  crusade,  only  to  learn  that 
religious  feelings  and  motives  had  little  sway  over  the  hearts  of 
sixtusiv.,  Disn.  He  felt  that  he  could  no  longer, look  to  the  na- 
1471-1484.  tions  of  Europe  for  obedience,  nor  even  for  protection 
against  the  restless  adventurers  and  ambitious  princes  who  continu- 
ally threatened  the  papal  states.  He  sought  to  give  strength  to 
the  papacy,  not  by  reforming  it  and  thus  recovering  something  of 
its  ancient  moral  power,  but  by  giving  it  a  position  beside  the 
principalities  of  Italy,  and  by  enriching  his  relatives  with  lauds  and 
other  possessions  that  they  might  support  it.  His  fierce  energy 
would  brook  no  opposition.  When  the  Medici  threw  obstacles  in 
the  way  of  the  aggrandizement  of  his  nephew,  Girolamo  Eiario,  he 
was  so  eager  to  overthrow  them  that  he  uttered  only  feeble  protests 
in  condemnation  of  the  plot  against  the  lives  of  Julian  and  Lorenzo. 
Julian  was  assassinated  on  the  steps  of  the  altar  during  the  cele- 


266  FROM  BONIFACE  VHI.  TO  LUTHER'S  THESES.     [Period  VIL 

bration  of  high  mass  ;  but  the  conspiracy  failed,  and  those  who 
took  part  in  it  received  summary  vengeance  at  the  hands 
of  the  Florentines.  The  pope  forthwith  excommunicated 
Lorenzo,  laid  the  city  under  an  interdict,  and  joined  the  King  of 
Naples  in  making  war  upon  it.  The  diplomacy  of  the  great  Floren- 
tine citizen  soon  deprived  Sixtus  of  his  royal  ally  ;  and  that  event, 
together  with  the  capture  of  Otranto,  in  1480,  by  the  Tnrks,  forced 
him  to  accept  a  merely  formal  submission  from  Florence.  In 
order  to  gain  Ferrara  for  his  nephew  he  first  united  with  Venice 
in  a  war  against  its  duke  ;  but,  alarmed  at  the  dangers  with 
which  the  continued  hostility  of  the  Italian  League  threatened 
him,  he  forsook  his  Venetian  allies,  and  excommunicated  them  for 
not  making  peace  at  his  bidding.  Little  regard  was  paid  to  this 
act,  and  the  failm-e  of  the  j)ope  to  gain  any  advantage  in  the  con- 
test that   ensued  hastened  his  death.     Innocent  Viil., 

Innocent  ' 

ym-,  1484-  after  waging  a  fruitless  war  with  NajDles,  made  an  alliance 
with  Lorenzo  de'  Medici,  and,  by  following  his  advice, 
won  the  title  of  "  Constant  Guardian  of  the  peace  of  Italy."  He  re- 
ceived an  annual  tribute  from  the  sultan  for  detaining  his  brother 
and  rival  as  a  prisoner  at  the  papal  court,  instead  of  sending  him 
to  lead  a  force  against  the  Turks,  the  enemies  of  Christendom. 
With  parental  zeal.  Innocent  sought  goodly  marriage  portions  for 
his  children,  aud  made  the  halls  of  the  Vatican  resound  with  the 
noise  of  unaccustomed  festivities. 

Meanwhile  several  momentous  events  had  taken  place  in  the 
West.     In  England  the  Wars  of  the  Eoses  had  ended  with  the 
accession  of  Henry  VH.,  of  Lancastex',  and  his  marriage 
with  Elizabeth  of  York.     By  the  union  of  Charles  Vlil. 
1491.  ^£  France  with  Anne  of  Brittany  the  authority  of  the 

crown  had  been  established  over  the  last  great  feudatory.  In  Spain, 
Castile  and  Aragon  had  been  united,  in  1469,  by  the  marriage  of 
their  sovereigns,  and  their  kingdom  had  been  consolidated  by  the 
conquest  of  Granada  in  1492.  At  this  critical  time  Cardinal  Borgia 
Alexander  VI.,  asccudcd  the  papal  throne,  under  the  name  of  Alexan- 
1492-1503.  jgj,  yj_^  g^j^j^  pursued  the  same  policy  as  Sixtus  IV.,  but 
with  more  boldness  and  skill,  and  with  greater  good  fortune. 
Under  his  influence  the  papacy  sank  to  the  level  of  the  other  Ital- 
ian principalities,  and  showed  itself  ready,  like  them,  to  sacrifice 
even  the  welfare  of  Italy  for  its  own  temporal  advantage  and  for 
the  exaltation  of  the  Borgia  family.  Alexander  did  not  shrink 
from  any  form  of  diplomatic  intrigue,  nor  from  war,  nor  even  from 
assassination,  in  order  to  realize  his  purposes.     He  was  stronger 


1294-1517.]  THE  CHURCH  AND  THE  PAPACY.  267 

than  rival  princes,  in  that  he  could  wield  those  spiritual  weapons  of 
excommunication  and  interdict  which  had  not  yet  become  wholly 
blunted.  He  began  his  reign  with  a  stern  repression  of  the  crim- 
inal outbreaks  which  had  grown  so  frequent  at  Kome  under  his 
weak  predecessor.  He  formed  a  close  alliance  with  the  King  of 
Naples  for  mutual  defence  against  Charles  VHI.  of  France,  who  was 
advancing  to  Italy,  as  the  heir  of  the  house  of  Anjou,  to  seek  the 
Neapolitan  crown.  He  besought  the  Sultan  of  Turkey  to  come  to 
his  aid.  But,  despite  all  his  efforts,  Charles  was  everywhere  trium- 
phant. Florence  opened  her  gates  to  him,  and  Savonarola,  the 
great  Florentine  preacher,  saw  in  him  the  deliverer  of  Italy  and  the 
reformer  of  the  Church.  The  pope  bowed  before  the  storm,  but 
only  for  a  moment.  He  soon  formed  a  jDowerful  league, 
through  fear  of  which  the  French  monarch  was  obliged 
to  desert  his  newly  won  kingdom.  By  his  influence  Savonarola, 
who  still  encouraged  Floi-ence  to  maintain  its  treaty  with  France, 
was  brought  to  the  scaffold  as  a  heretic.  Alexander  had  not  been 
forgetful  of  his  children.  They  either  received  princely  titles  and 
domains,  or,  as  in  the  case  of  Cardinal  Csesar,  rich  benefices.  The 
pope  had  labored  to  destroy  the  power  of  France  in  Naples ;  he 
now,  in  1499,  helped  Louis  XH.  to  establish  it  in  Milan.  His  son 
Caesar,  having  renounced  his  ecclesiastical  dignities,  received  a 
French  title  and  the  hand  of  a  French  princess.  Alexander  grasped 
this  opportunity  to  expel  the  petty  tyrants  from  the  cities  of  the 
Komagna,  and  to  consolidate  it  into  one  great  principality,  held  di- 
rectly from  the  Eoman  see  by  his  son  Caesar  as  duke.  There  was  no 
one  to  interpose.  Milan  had  fallen  before  the  arms  of  Louis. 
Venice  needed  the  pope's  help  to  drive  back  the  Turks.  Naples, 
with  the  papal  sanction,  was  being  divided  between 
France  and  Spain.  Alexander  seemed  at  the  goal  of  all 
his  aims,  when  he  was  stricken  with  a  fever  and  died.  The  base- 
ness of  his  character,  the  sensuaHty  of  his  court,  and  the  mysterious 
murders  which  filled  Kome  with  terror,  gave  currency  to  the 
stories  of  his  enemies,  which  pictured  him,  as  well  as  his  children 
Lucretia  and  Csesar,  as  monsters  of  iniquity.  No  doubt  the  pope 
and  his  son  were  bad  enough  ;  but  Lucretia  was  probably  the  in- 
nocent victim  of  her  father's  schemes,  since  from  the  time  of  her 
marriage  with  the  Duke  of  Ferrara  she  was  honored  and  beloved 
by  aU. 

Alexander's  attention  had  not  been  given  solely  to  Italian  poli- 
tics. In  virtue  of  the  rights  derived  from  Peter  to  the  apostolic 
see  he  had  assumed  to  give  away,  "  of  his  mere  liberality,"  to  Spain 


268  FROM  BONIFACE  VUI.  TO  LUTHER'S  THESES.     [Period  VIL 

and  Portugal,  all  the  lands  thenceforth  to  be  discovered.  Spain 
was  to  have  all  territory  west  of  a  meridian  line  one  hundred 
leagues  from  the  Azores,  and  Portugal  all  territory  east  of  that 
line.  Afterward  the  two  kings  agreed  that  the  dividing  line 
should  be  three  hundred  and  seventy  leagues  from  the  Cape  de 
Vei-de  Islands.  Soon  after  Alexander  died,  the  principality  which 
he  had  built  up  for  his  son  in  the  Komagna  fell  to  pieces.  Csesar, 
whose  interests  were  viewed  with  iudiflference  by  Pius  HI.,  was 
powerless  to  prevent  the  return  of  the  exiled  lords,  supported  as 
they  were  by  the  arms  of  Venice.  The  early  death  of  Pius  raised 
Julius  II.,  ^^  ^^6  papal  throne  Julius  IL,  the  nephew  of  Sixtus  IV. 
1503-1513.  jjjg  spirit  was  untamed,  despite  marked  experiences  of 
vicissitude  of  fortune.  He  determined  to  rescue  the  States  of  the 
Church  from  the  domination  of  petty  tyrants,  as  well  as  from  the 
encroachments  of  Venice.  "  What  Alexander  VI.  had  done  ignobly 
as  a  means  of  enriching  his  son,  Julius  11.  would  do  with  persistent 
resoluteness  for  the  glory  of  the  Church."  He  first  got  possession 
of  those  castles  which  were  still  loyal  to  Csesar,  and  by  his  negotia- 
tions with  France  and  Germany  frightened  Venice  into  giving  up 
all  the  other  towns  except  Kimini  and  Faenza,  and  then  led  an  ex- 
pedition in  person  to  overthrow  the  lords  of  Perugia  and  Bologna. 
The  power  of  Venice  still  endangered  the  success  of  his  plans.  To 
destroy  forever  its  ascendency  in  Northern  Italy,  he  promoted  the 
formation  of  the  league  of  Cambrai.  In  this  league,  Ger- 
many, France,  and  Spain  united  with  the  pope  to  divide 
the  dominions  of  Venice  which  were  on  the  main-land.  Julius, 
w^hen  he  had  thus  got  the  Venetians  into  his  power,  would  listen  to 
no  overtures  not  involving  absolute  submission.  He  drove  them 
not  only  to  give  up  the  towns  of  the  Komagna  which  they  held,  but 
also  to  surrender  their  valuable  ecclesiastical  privileges  and  their 
rights  over  navigation  in  the  Gulf  of  Venice.  Now  that  he  had 
gained  his  object,  he  sought  to  check  the  advancing  power  of  the 
French.  He  tried  to  detach  Ferdinand  of  Spain  from  the  league 
by  investing  him  with  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  in  disregard  of  the 
claims  of  France.  He  declared  war  against  the  Duke  of  Ferrara, 
the  ally  of  Louis  XH.,  and  in  the  midst  of  winter  led  an  army 
against  Mirandola,  one  of  his  fortresses.  But  the  pope,  unaided, 
was  not  strong  enough  to  cope  with  the  King  of  France.  He  was 
obliged  to  retire  from  his  hard-won  possessions  in  the  Romagna.  A 
few  disaffected  cardinals  went  over  to  the  French  side,  and  issued 
the  summons  for  a  council  at  Pisa.  Julius  deprived  this  weapon  of 
its  force  by  convoking  another  council  to  meet  at  the  Lateran. 


1294-1517.]  THE  CHURCH  AND  THE  PAPACY.  269 

Neithei'  council  amounted  to  anything  more  than  a  phase  of  the 
warfare  between  the  pope  and  the  French  king.  The  most  tri- 
umphant result  of  papal  diplomacy  was  the  formation,  in  1511,  of 
the  holy  league  between  Julius,  Venice,  and  Spain,  and,  later,  Eng-i 
land,  to  recover  the  possessions  of  the  Church.  It  was  not,  how-l 
ever,  until  Maximilian  of  Germany  entered  the  confederacy  that 
the  pope  could  rejoice  in  the  overthrow  of  the  jDower  of 
the  French  in  Italy.  Florence  still  maintained  her  alli- 
ance with  France.  Julius  resolved  to  break  this  bond  by  the 
restoration  of  the  Medici,  who  had  been  exiled  at  the  time  of  the 
expedition  of  Charles  VIII.  This  result  he  achieved  by  the  help  of 
Spain.  The  pope's  obstinate  determination  to  leave  no  part  of  his 
plans  unrealized  caused  him  to  subject  Italy  to  the  influence  of  one 
foreign  invader  after  another.  Julius  was  no  less  distinguished  as 
a  patron  of  art  than  as  a  warrior.  He  laid  the  foundation  of  St. 
Peter's  Church.  He  summoned  Michael  Angelo  to  decorate  the 
Sistine  Chapel  with  frescos,  and  Raphael  to  adorn  with  beautiful 
designs  the  walls  of  the  Vatican. 

When  Julius  was  dead  the  Romans  mourned  for  him  as  for  one 
"  who  had  enlarged  the  Apostolic  Church,  overthrown  tyrants,  and 
rescued  Italy  from  the  hands  of  the  French."  And  yet  the  domi- 
nant party  among  the  cardinals,  wearied  by  his  intense  activity,  by 
his  violent  and  belligerent  temper,  chose  for  a  successor  the  son  of 
Lorenzo  the  Magnificent,  John  de'  Medici,  who  was  of  a  kindly  dis- 
position and  was  much  more  fond  of  literature,  art,  and  music,  than 
Leo  X.,  of  political  intrigue  and  war.    Leo  X.  had  been  made  car- 

1513-1521.  (Jinal  at  the  age  of  thirteen,  and  was  pope  at  thirty-seven. 
He  was  free  from  the  revolting  vices  which  had  degraded  several 
of  his  predecessors,  but  was  more  devoted  than  was  fitting  to  pro- 
fane studies,  to  hunting,  jousting,  and  pageants.  Sarpi,  in  his  "  His- 
tory of  the  Council  of  Trent,"  after  praising  the  learning,  taste,  and 
liberality  of  Leo,  remai-ks  with  fine  wit,  that  "  he  would  have  been 
a  perfect  pope  if  he  had  combined  with  these  qualities  some  knowl- 
edge of  the  affairs  of  religion  and  a  greater  inclination  to  piety,  for 
neither  of  which  he  manifested  much  concern."  The  pope,  in  spite  of 
his  inclination  to  peace,  found  himself  obliged  not  only  to  resort  to 
diplomacy,  but  also  to  arms,  to  protect  what  his  predecessor  had 
gained.  The  defeat  of  the  French  in  Northern  Italy,  and  the  suc- 
cessful invasion  of  France  by  Henry  Vlli.  of  England,  made  Louis 
Xn.  no  longer  a  dangerous  enemy,  but  he  was  a  monarch  whose 
safety  was  necessary  to  the  maintenance  of  a  proper  balance  of 
power  between  the  European  nations.     Therefore,  Leo  was  quite 


270  FROM  BONIFACE  VIH.  TO  LUTHER'S  THESES.     [Period  VII. 

ready  to  receive  the  submission  of  the  cardinals  who  had  summoned 
the  schismatic  council,  and  to  become  reconciled  to  the 
monarch  who  had  striven  to  overthrow  Julius,  his  prede- 
cessor. The  death  of  Louis  brought  the  young  and  ambitious 
Francis  I.  to  the  throne.  The  pope  sought  to  advance 
the  fortunes  of  his  relatives  by  a  matrimonial  alliance 
with  the  royal  family  of  France.  At  the  same  time,  however,  in 
order  to  strengthen  his  own  position,  he  joined  a  European  league 
whose  real  aim  was  to  thwart  the  ambitious  schemes  of  the  French 
king.  To  win  the  support  of  Heni-y  "VUi.  he  raised  Wolsey  to  the 
cardinalate.  The  triumph  of  Francis  at  Marignano  obliged  Leo  to 
agree  to  a  treaty  with  him,  even  at  the  expense  of  those  cities  on 
the  north  of  the  Romagna  which  the  valor  of  Julius  had  won.  But 
the  pope  succeeded  in  obtaining  from  him  the  abandonment  of 
the  Pragmatic  Sanction,  for  whose  repeal  preceding  popes  had 
vainly  striven.  This  seemed  to  be  a  great  victory  for  the  papacy. 
In  reality,  however,  although  the  Galilean  Church  was  robbed  of 
its  liberties,  the  pope  gained  only  the  annats — the  first  year's  in- 
come of  the  great  benefices — while  the  power  of  nominating  to 
these  places  fell  to  the  king.  Moreover,  the  coercion  that  was  re- 
quired to  bring  the  parliament  to  register  the  new  concordat,  and 
the  indignation  it  awakened  throughout  France,  proved  that  it  in- 
dicated no  change  in  the  sentiments  of  the  nation.  Leo,  though 
at  peace  with  Francis,  did  not  hesitate  to  negotiate  with  his  ene- 
mies. One  of  his  sayings  was  :  "  When  you  have  made  a  league 
with  any  prince,  you  ought  not  on  that  account  to  cease  from  treat- 
ing v^dth  his  adversary."  The  European  monarchs  were  not  much 
disturbed  by  his  genial  duplicity ;  but  he  who  Avatched  to  gain 
something  from  every  change  in  the  political  situation  saw  his  own 
international  importance  rapidly  dwindling,  and  himself  obliged  to 
accede  to  arrangements  made  with  little  consideration  of  his  in- 
terests. The  Council  of  the  Lateran  having,  according  to  the  jDapal 
declaration,  done  all  that  was  necessary  for  the  welfare  of  Christen- 
dom, was  dissolved  in  1517  "  on  the  very  verge  of  the  greatest  out- 
break which  had  ever  threatened  the  organization  of  the  Church." 


1294-1517.]        REFORMERS  BEFORE  THE  REFORMATION.  271 


CHAPTER  IV. 

REFORMERS    BEFORE    THE   REFORMATION:     THE    REVIVAL    OF 
LEARNING. 

Before  the  end  of  the  fourteenth  century  the  scholastic  move- 
ment had  well  nigh  spent  its  force.  It  was  undermined  by  the 
reappearance  of  Nominalism,  and  especially  by  the  teach- 
lasticism.  jng  of  onc  of  the  most  acute  of  all  the  schoolmen,  Will- 
iam of  Occam,  and  by  his  disciples.  Occam  taught  that  common 
_-.„.       .  _    nouns,  the  names  of  classes,  are  like  the  signs  of  algebra. 

William  of  Gc-  '  o  o 

cam,  c.  1280  They  are  a  convenient  mode  of  designating  individuals, 
which  alone  exist.  The  general  notion  and  its  name  are 
both  repi'esentative  fictions  ;  and  this  double  source  of  inexactitude 
shuts  out  the  possibility  of  metaphysical  or  theological  science. 
The  truths  of  religion  are  directly  revealed  by  God  in  the  Bible 
and  to  the  Church.  So  far  from  being  capable  of  demonstration, 
they  may  stand  in  direct  contradiction  to  the  logical  conclusions  of 
what  we  call  science.  Thus  the  foundation  of  scholasticism,  which 
aimed  to  verify  the  creed  by  philosophy,  was  cut  away.  Still  more 
was  done  by  Occam  for  the  future  in  his  attacks  upon  the  claim  of 
papal  infallibility,  and  the  doctrine  of  the  power  of  the  pope  over 
kings  and  in  temporal  aflairs.  He  was  the  champion  of  the  Francis- 
can order,  to  which  he  belonged,  in  the  contest  in  behalf  of  the 
rule  of  poverty,  which  was  waged  against  the  pontiffs.  He  was  the 
animating  spirit  of  a  group  of  men — one  of  whom  was  Marsilius  of 
Padua — who  were  protected  at  Munich,  and  stood  by  Louis  of 
Bavaria  in  his  conflict  with  the  Avignonese  popes.  Occam  asserted 
Doctrines  of  ^^^^  ®^^^  ^  general  council  might  err  ;  that  faith  might 
Occam.  depart  save  from  the  souls  of  a  few  devout  women  ;  that 

the  hierarchical  system  might  be  given  up,  if  the  good  of  the 
Church  required  it ;  that  a  king  has  all  the  powers  of  an  ecclesiasti- 
cal person,  except  such  as  spring  from,  ordination,  and  that  if  an 
emergency  requires  it,  the  emperor  could  appoint  or  depose  the  pope. 
In  his  old  age  there  was  a  partial  reconciliation  between  Occam 
and  Clement  VI.  ;  but  it  is  not  known  that  he  retracted  even  this 
last  proposition,  which  the  pope  required  as  the  condition  of  grant- 
ing him  absolution.  Occam's  influence  was  felt  by  Wyclif,  and 
affected  strongly  the  Galilean  leaders  in  the  reforming 


councils.     It  extended  still  later.      His  principles,  and 
those  of  his  disciples,  were  the  maxims  on  which  the  resistance  of 


272  FROM  BONIFACE  Vin.  TO  LUTHER'S  THESES.     [Period  VIL 

Protestant  princes  to  the  authority  of  Eome  was,  to  a  considerable 
extent,  based.  Luther  was  a  student  of  Occam,  praises  him  as  the 
most  ingenious  of  the  schoolmen,  and  derived  from  him  his  concep- 
tion of  the  Lord's  Supper — a  conception  suggested  by  Occam  as  a 
reasonable  view,  yet  as  one  that  fm-nishes  an  instance  of  the  possible 
inconsistency  of  faith  and  reason.  Notwithstanding  the  revolu- 
tionary influence  that  went  forth  from  Occam,  he  was  a  conscien- 
tious and  orthodox  believer  in  the  dogmas  of  the  Church.  His 
whole  method  of  discussion  is  scholastic,  and,  in  theology,  he  added 
a  third  school,  that  of  the  Occamists,  to  the  pre\iously  existing 
jDarties,  the  Thomists  and  the  Scotists.  He  was  honored  by  his  pu- 
pils with  the  titles  of  "Most  Learned,"  "Invincible  Doctor,"  etc. 

Thomas  Bradwardine,  for  a  short  time  before  his  death  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  was  an  able  mathematician,  as  well  as  phi- 
Bradwardine,  losophcr.  His  main  work  was  in  defence  of  the  position 
1290-1349.  ^-^^^  ^Yi  human  holiness  is  exclusively  the  fruit  of  divine 
grace.  As  the  correlate  of  this  view  he  asserted  predestination. 
He  was  styled  "Doctor  Profundus."  Wyclif  is  among  those  who 
held  Bradwardine  in  high  honor. 

In  the  last  half  of  the  fifteenth  century  the  logical  ideas  of 

Occam  were  inculcated  by  Gabriel  Biel,  who  was  not  "  the  last  of 

the  schoolmen,"  as  he  has  often  been  called,  but  was  the 

'^ '  '       '    last  of  the  very  remarkable  men  who   adhered  to  the 

scholastic  method.     As  regards  the  papal  power,  he  adhered  to  the 

position  taken  by  the  Councils  of  Constance  and  of  Basel. 

In  relating  the  history  of  the  papacy  we  have  noticed  certain 
religious  movements  antagonistic  to  the  mediaeval  type  of  Christi- 
anity.    The  earlier  of  these  had  for  their  aim  the  over- 

Insurgent  "^ 

movements,  thi'ow  of  the  cxclusivc  domination  of  the  priesthood, 
deej)ly  infected  as  it  was  with  worldliness  and  immorality.  Prom- 
inent among  the  sects  which  arose  were  the  Albigenses,  whose  doc- 
trines were  tinged  with  heresies  somewhat  akin  to  the  ancient 
Mauichseism,  but  whose  lives  were  characterized  by  self-denying 
devotion  and  zeal  for  moral  purity.  The  same  general  movement 
produced  the  Waldenses,  a  party  not  tainted  with  Manichsean  doc- 
trine, who  denied  the  exclusive  right  of  the  clergy  to  teach  the 
gospel,  and  who,  wherever  they  went,  kindled  among  the  people  a 
desire  to  read  the  Bible.  The  influence  of  the  Spiritual  Francis- 
cans, and  of  the  bands  of  praying  men  and  women  called  Beg- 
„^  „  „.        hards  and  Beguines,  tended  in  the  same  direction.     Are- 

The  Galileans.  o  >  .....,, 

formatory  movement  of  a  different  kind  was  initiated  by 
the  Galilean  theologians  whom  we  had  occasion  to  describe  in  con- 


1394-1517.]        REFORMERS  BEFORE  THE  REFORMATION.  273 

uection  with  the  reforming  councils.  They  aimed  to  substitute  for 
the  papal  conception  of  the  hierarchy  the  idea  that  ecclesiastical 
authority  resides  iu  the  viniversal  Church.         >!- 

But  besides  the  sectaries,  whose  existence  testified  to  a  profound 
dissatisfaction  with  the  mediaeval  order  of  things,  and  a  deep  crav- 
Kadicai  "ig'  miiigled  though  it  was  with  ignorance  and  supersti- 

reformers.  ^^^^^^  f^^.  ^  gii^pig^.  ^^ypg  ^f  Christianity,  and  the  conser- 
vative theologians  Avhose  only  aim  was  to  reform  the  administration 
of  the  Church  and  the  morals  of  the  clergy,  there  were  individuals 
who  are  appropriately  called  radical  reformers — men  who  in  essen- 
tial points  anticipated  the  Protestant  movement.  Although  their 
efforts  to  bring  in  a  more  enlightened  doctrine  and  a  purer  life 
were  to  a  large  extent  ineffectual,  they  j)repared  the  way  for  more 
successful  efforts  when  the  time  for  reform  should  fully  come.  The 
most  remarkable  of  all  these  reformers  befoi-e  the  Reformation  was 
wyciif,  John  Wyclif.      He  was  born  in   the   year    1324.      He 

1024-13S4.  early  won  distinction  at  Oxford,  and,  after  holding  sev- 
eral honorable  positions  at  the  university,  became  doctor  of  theol- 
ogy. While  he  was  warden  of  Canterbury  Hall  he  was  the  leader 
of  the  secular  clergy  in  their  defence — which  finally  proved  unsuc- 
cessful— against  the  aggressions  of  the  aspiring  mendicant  orders. 
In  his  writings  he  repeatedly  attacked  the  practices  of  the  monks, 
as  well  as  the  doctrine  of  the  excellence  of  poverty,  which  lay  at  the 
foundation  of  their  societies.  He  stood  forth  in  the  character  of  a 
champion  of  civil  and  kingly  authority  against  papal  encroachments. 
By  this  attitude  he  not  only  commended  himself  to  parliament  as  a 
valuable  supporter  of  its  policy,  but  also  gained  the  respect  and 
friendshijD  of  the  king's  advisers,  the  great  nobles,  such  as  John  of 
Gaunt,  who  shielded  him  from  the  attacks  of  the  hierarchy.  Thus 
Wyclif  was  not  harmed  although  he  boldly  taught  that  a  papal 
decree  has  no  validity  except  so  far  as  it  is  founded  on  the  Script- 
ures, and  that  the  exercise  of  the  power  to  bind  and  loose  has  no 
effect  save  when  it  is  conformed  to  the  judgment  of  Christ.  He 
urged  that  the  clergy  be  forbidden  to  interfere  with  civil  affairs  and 
temjDoral  authority.  Despite  the  efforts  of  the  churchmen,  his 
ethical  doctrine,  that  the  right  to  hold  property  and  to  rule  is  for- 
feited by  a  disobedience  to  the  will  of  God,  did  not  excite  much 
alarm.  He  asserted  it,  to  be  sure,  simply  as  a  speculative  principle. 
But  when  he  attacked  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation,  maintain- 
ing that  the  bread  and  wine  remain  unchanged,  although  the  body 
and  blood  of  Christ  are  really  present,  he  lost  the  cordial  support 
of  many  who  had  hitherto  looked  upon  him  with  favor.  His  teach- 
18 


274  FROM  BONIFACE  Vni.  TO  LUTHER'S  THESES.    [Period  VII. 

in"-  was  condemned  and  suppressed  at  the  university,  but  be  was 
allowed  to  end  bis  days,  undisturbed,  in  bis  parish  of  Lutterworth. 
Wyclif s  attacks  upon  the  spiritual  domination  of  the  priesthood 
were  not  limited  to  that  main  support  of  sacerdotal  power,  the 
miracle  of  transubstantiation.  He  asserted  that  in  the  primitive 
Church  there  were  but  two  sorts  of  clergy,  and  was  opposed  to  the 
existence  of  the  multipHed  ranks  of  the  priesthood — popes,  cardi- 
nals, patriarchs,  monks,  canons,  etc.  He  spoke  against  the  necessity 
of  auricular  confession,  and  doubted  the  scriptural  wai-rant  for  the 
rites  of  confirmation  and  extreme  unction.  He  advocated  also  a 
simpler  form  of  Church  worship.  The  incompetence  of  the  clergy 
and  their  neglect  of  their  parishes  led  him  to  send  forth  preachers 
who  were  to  go  from  place  to  place  to  labor  wherever  there  was 
need.  The  greatest  service  which  he  did  the  English  people  was 
his  translation  of  the  Bible,  and  his  open  defence  of  their  right  to 
read  the  Scriptures  in  their  own  tongue.  It  was  Wyclif's  rela- 
tion to  the  politics  of  his  day  that  enabled  him  to  attack  the  medi- 
aeval and  papal  Church  in  almost  every  feature  which  distinguished 
it  from  Protestantism,  and  yet  to  live  out  his  days.  His  death  did 
not  seem  at  once  to  destroy  the  power  of  the  movement  which  he 
inaugurated.  But  the  bold  petition  of  the  Lollards,  as  his  follow- 
ers were  called,  to  parliament  for  the  reform  of  the  Church,  aroused 
the  hierarchy  to  take  vigorous  measures  for  their  repression.  It 
was  not,  however,  until  the  reigns  of  Henry  IV.  and  Henry  V.,  when 
the  relations  of  the  kings  to  the  clergy  were  changed,  that  the  per- 
secution of  them  began.  The  Lollard  party  gi-adually  fell  to  pieces, 
and  the  principles  of  its  founder  gained  but  few  adherents  except 
among  the  poor  and  obscure  classes,  whose  aspirations  after  social 
and  industrial  equality  they  seemed  to  countenance.  Wyclif's  trans- 
lation of  the  Bible  was  his  most  permanent  work  for  the  English 
people.  His  philosophical  and  doctrinal  teachings  had  an  influence, 
indirect,  perhaps,  yet  important,  upon  the  religious  history  of  Bo- 
hemia. 

A  movement  had  already  begun  in  Bohemia,  under  the  leader- 
ship of  Conrad  of  Waldhausen,  who  had  been  called  from  Aus- 
Bohemian  ^lia  by  the  Emperor  Charles  IV.  to  assist  in  the  re- 
reformers.  j^^^j^  Qf  ^^^  clcrgy.  What  Courad's  fiery  zeal  did  for  the 
German  population  the  mystical  preaching  of  Militz  did  for  the 
Slaves.  They  attacked  the  vices  of  the  clergy  as  well  as  of  the 
people.  Neither  of  them  was  to  be  turned  aside  by  the  enmity  of 
the  priesthood,  nor  even  by  threats  of  persecution.  The  ideas 
which  they  had  proclaimed  were  set  forth  more  systematically  in 


1294-1517.]        REFORMERS  BEFORE  THE  REFORMATION.  275 

the  writings  of  Matthias  of  Janow.  Over  against  the  vast  system 
of  rites  and  ordinances  he  placed  the  Bible,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  in 
the  heart  of  the  believer,  as  sufficient  to  provide  a  rule  of  life.  The 
reform  movement  was  soon  to  acquire  a  national  and  even  Eu- 
ropean significance.  The  wi-itings  of  Wyclif  had  been  bi'ought 
over  to  the  University  of  Prague,  and  had  found  there  enthusiastic 
Huss,  1369-  expounders.  At  the  head  of  this  rising  party  stood  John 
1415.  Huss,  who  was  drawn  to  the  English  reformer  by  their 

common  zeal  for  the  purification  of  the  Church.  In  1402  Huss  was 
appointed  to  preach  at  the  new  Bethlehem  Chapel,  which  had  been 
founded  in  order  that  the  common  people  might  hear  the  word 
of  God  taught  in  their  own  tongue.  The  efforts  of  the  reformers 
won  the  sympathy  of  the  Bohemians,  all  the  more  because  the  re- 
formers were  opposed  by  the  Germans.  Their  cause  was  espoused 
by  the  king,  Wenzel,  whose  claim  to  the  imperial  crown  brought 
him  into  antagonism  to  the  Bohemian  hierarchy.  The  contest  of 
the  two  parties  led  to  a  change  in  the  constitution  of  the  university, 
which  gave  the  preponderance  of  power  to  the  natives.  Hence  the 
German  students,  who  had  previously  bad  control,  left  in  a  body. 
One  result  of  this  great  exodus  was  the  establishing  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Leipsic.  Huss  was  now  made  rector  at  Prague,  and  the 
ascendency  of  the  reform  party  was  assured.  The  Bohemian  hie- 
rarchy, supported  by  papal  authority,  resorted  to  repressive  meas- 
ures. Huss,  however,  refused  to  stop  preaching  at  the  chapel,  and 
appealed  from  the  pope  poorly  informed  to  the  pope  better  informed. 
His  impassioned  condemnation  of  the  iniquitous  sale  of  indul-i 
gences  called  down  upon  him  the  papal  excommunication.  Prague 
was  laid  under  an  interdict  while  the  heresiarch  should  remain 
there.  He  was  now  persuaded  by  the  king  to  go  into  exile  until 
peace  should  be  restored.  From  his  secure  retreat  he  sent  forth 
letters  to  his  people  and  writings  for  the  Church.  Huss  had  less 
theological  acumen  than  Wj^clif.  He  agreed  with  the  English 
reformer  in  advocating  philosophical  realism  and  predestination.  ' 
Unlike  him,  he  was  to  the  last  a  believer  in  the  doctrine  of  tran-i 
substantiation.  He  was  a  clear  and  fervid  preacher.  His  words 
and  his  life  manifested  a  heart-felt  zeal  for  practical  holiness.  He 
propounded  a  lofty  conception  of  the  functions  and  duties  of  the 
clergy,  and  exalted  the  Scriptures  above  the  dogmas  and  ordi- 
nances of  the  Church.  In  these  characteristics  Huss  was  not  ex- 
celled by  any  other  ecclesiastical  reformer,  before  or  since.  After 
remaining  in  exile  nearly  two  years,  he  readily  accepted  Sigis- 
mund's  invitation  to  appear  at  the  Council  of  Constance,  and  there 


276  FROM  BONIFACE  VIII.  TO  LUTHER'S  THESES.     [Period  VIl. 

to  vindicate  himself  and  the  cause  of  reform  before  the  represent- 
atives of  the  vmiversal  Church.  It  was  at  Constance  that  he  met 
his  death,  July  G,  1415,  in  the  manner  already  described.  The 
execution  of  Huss,  and,  one  year  later,  that  of  Jerome  of  Prague, 
who  shared  his  reforming  spirit,  stirred  the  hearts  of  the  Bohe- 
mians to  a  still  more  fervent  and  determined  advocacy  of  reform. 
The  important  place  which  this  movement  occupied  for  many  years 
in  the  affairs  of  Europe  has  before  been  explained. 

There  were  other  men,  less  renowned,  however,  than  Wyclif 
and  Huss,  who  attacked  the  system  of  mediaeval  Christianity  in 
Wessei,  some  of  its  principal  features.     Among  them  was  John 

1420-1489.  'W^essel,  a  teacher  of  theology  at  several  of  the  leading 
universities,  who  clearly  and  earnestly  set  forth  the  doctrine  of  sal- 
vation by  faith  alone,  and  argued  against  the  alleged  infallibility  of 
bishops  and  pontiffs.  He  avowed  so  many  of  those  beliefs  which 
later  became  the  fundamental  tenets  of  the  reformers,  that  Luther 
declared  that  if  he  had  read  sooner  the  works  of  Wessei,  it  might 
have  been  plausibly  said  by  his  enemies  that  he  borrowed  every- 
savonaroia  thing  from  them.  Another  of  these  men  was  Jerome 
1453-149S.  Savonarola,  whose  interest  lay  much  less  in  doctrinal  re- 
form than  in  the  purification  of  morals.  Born  at  Ferrara,  and  des- 
tined for  the  study  of  medicine,  he  became  disgusted  and  alarmed 
at  the  wickedness  which  he  beheld  everywhere  about  him,  and  en- 
tered the  Dominican  order.  His  first  attempts  at  preaching  in 
Florence,  whither  he  had  gone  in  1182,  produced  little  effect  upon 
the  luxurious  and  pleasure-loving  inhabitants  of  that  city.  But  he 
was  not  daunted  by  this  failure.  As  his  sense  of  the  corruption  of 
society  became  keener,  he  stood  forth  as  a  preacher  of  righteous- 
ness and  of  a  judgment  speedily  to  come.  He  no  longer  used  the 
reasonings  of  the  schools,  but  discoursed,  as  did  the  pro^Dhets  of 
old,  in  the  name  of  the  Most  High.  Florence,  which  at  first  would 
not  listen  to  him,  at  length  filled  the  cathedral  with  awe- struck 
hearers.  In  1191  Savonarola  was  made  prior  of  the  Convent  of 
St.  Mark.  His  influence  was  fast  becoming  dangerous  to  the 
supremacy  of  the  Medici.  He  directed  the  shai'pest  invectives 
against  the  immoralities  which  flourished  under  their  rule.  And 
yet  Lorenzo  treated  him  with  kindliness,  and  called  him  to  hia 
death-bed  to  receive  his  words  of  counsel  and  admonition,  and  to 
be  uplifted  by  his  prayers.  After  the  death  of  Lorenzo,  Savona- 
rola rapidly  gained  a  ruling  influence  in  the  affairs  of  the  city.  He 
became  vicar-general  of  the  newly  formed  Tuscan  Congregation 
of  Dominicans.     His  pro^^hecies  of  impending  judgment  found  a 


1294-1517.]        REFORMERS  BEFORE  THE  REFORMATION.  277 

speedy  fulfilment  in  the  coming  of  the  French.  Through  the  per- 
sonal respect,  amounting  to  awe,  with  which  he  inspired  the  king, 
Charles  VIII.,  he  was  able  to  hasten  the  departure  of  this  conqueror, 
whose  continued  presence  threatened  the  safety  of  the  city.  Now 
that  the  rule  of  the  Medici  was  overthrown,  he  urged  the  people  to 
the  adoption  of  a  democratic  constitution.  Florence  assumed  a 
changed  aspect.  The  carnivals  were  no  longer  scenes  of  lawless- 
ness and  immorality.  Along  the  streets  went  processions  of  chil- 
dren bearing  olive  branches  and  chanting  sacred  songs.  And  yet, 
though  Savonarola  had  seemingly  wrought  a  religious  and  moral 
revolution  in  the  city,  he  had  prepared  the  way  for  his  own  destruc- 
tion. His  prophetic  enthusiasm  saw  the  will  of  God  in  the  iDoliti- 
cal  changes  which  were  taking  place  about  him.  He  earnestly  sup- 
ported a  policy  which  made  for  him  bitter  enemies,  and  among 
them  the  pope,  Alexander  VI.  When  the  j)ope  found  that  he  could 
not  bribe  the  powerful  preacher  with  the  offer  of  a  cardinal's  hat, 
nor  reduce  him  to  silence  by  repeated  admonitions,  he  excommuni- 
cated him.  Savonarola  pronounced  this  excommunication  void,  as 
contradictory  to  the  wise  and  just  law  of  God.  His  enemies  finally 
succeeded  in  discrediting  him,  for  a  time,  with  the  people,  and  in 
procuring  his  arrest.  While  in  prison  he  busied  himself  with  writ- 
ing a  tract  on  the  fifty-first  psalm,  in  which  he  set  forth  views  of 
justification  so  like  those  expounded  by  the  later  i-e formers  that 
Luther  published  it  with  a  laudatory  preface.  He  was  soon  brought 
to  trial  and  condemned  to  death.  On  May  23,  1498,  with  tAvo  of 
his  followers,  he  was  hanged,  then  burned,  and  his  ashes  thrown 
into  the  Arno. 

There  was  still  another  class  of  men  who  prej)ared  the  way,  even 

though  unconsciously  and   indirectly,  for  the  coming  Protestant 

revolution.     These   were   the   mystics,    who,   while   re- 

■The  Mystics.  ...  i 

maining  in  the  church,  opposed  to  the  prevalent  dog- 
matic type  of  piety  a  religion  more  inward  and  spiritual.  They 
exalted  the  perceptions  gained  by  the  insight  of  a  heart  glowing 
with  religious  feeling  above  the  knowledge  obtained  by  the  reason- 
ings of  the  schools.  Although  the  best  of  the  schoolmen  had  been 
characterized  by  similar  tendencies,  mysticism  assumed  a  more  dis- 
tinct form  wdth  the  decline  of  the  scholastic  theology.  Societies 
calling  themselves  "  Friends  of  God  "  grew  up  in  the  South  and 
West  of  Germany  and  in  the  Netherlands.  The  most  prominent  of 
Tauier,  their  preachers  was  John  Tauler.     From  a  member  of 

1J9U-1361.  ^jj-g  same  mystical  school  came  forth  a  little  book  called 
"The  German  Theology."     Luther,  who  republished  it  in  1516, 


278  FROM  BONIFACE  VIII.  TO  LUTHER'S  THESES.     [Period  VII. 

erroneously  ascribing  it  to  Tauler,  said  that  he  had  been  taught 
by  it  more  of  what  God,  Christ,  man,  and  all  things  are,  thau  by 
any  other  book  except  the  Bible  and  the  works  of  St.  Augustine. 
Another  celebrated  book,  the  "Imitation  of  Christ,"  written  by 
Thomas  a  Kempis,  reflects  admirably  the  characteristic  spirit  of 
this  school,  and  has  had  among  devotional  books  an  unparalleled 
circulation  and  influence. 

Other  forces,  still  more  indirect  but  no  less  powerful,  lent 
their  aid  in  ushering  in  a  new  civilization  and  a  purified  Chris- 
The  vernacu-  tianity.  The  growth  of  national  languages  and  the  be- 
lar  literature,  gi^nings  of  a  vcmacular  literature  mark  the  decline  of 
the  control  of  medisevalism  over  the  minds  of  men.  Many  of  the 
writings  which  now  began  to  ajDpear  in  Italy,  France,  German}^ 
and  England  sharply  censured  the  vices  of  the  clergy  and  the  cor- 
ruptions of  the  church.  One  of  the  most  interesting  of  these 
is  the  "Vision  of  Piers'  Ploughman,"  by  William  Langland,  writ- 
ten about  1362.  In  this  poem  he  asserts  that  the  calamities  of 
mankind  are  due  to  the  worldHness  and  riches  of  the  clergy, 
and  especially  of  the  mendicant  orders.  Reason  and  conscience 
are,  according  to  him,  the  true  guides  of  the  soul,  and  a  right- 
eous life  better  than  trust  in  papal  indulgences.  His  contem- 
porary, Chaucer,  the  greatest  of  the  early  English  poets,  in  his 
allusions  to  the  friars  and  to  the  temporal  usurpations  of  the 
higher  clergy,  reminds  one  of  Wyclif.  In  Italy,  Dante  and  Pe- 
trarch chastised  the  vices  and  tyranny  of  the  j^apacy,  while  Boc- 
caccio in  his  humorous  tales  held  up  the  lower  orders  of  the  clergy 
to  unbounded  ridicule.  At  the  same  time,  the  sacerdotal  theory 
was  left  untouched,  and  those  who  bitterly  condemned  popes  and 
prelates  for  their  usurpations  of  worldly  power  still  bowed  submis- 
sively before  their  spiritual  authority. 

This  same  period  witnessed  the  revival  of  learning,  an  event  of 
immeasurable  influence  in  moulding  the  new  era.  It  was  the  Re- 
The  revival  uaissauce — the  re-birth  of  letters  and  art — that  scattered 
of  learning.  ^]^g  mists  of  iguorauce,  and  of  the  superstition  and  big- 
otry connected  with  it.  Italy  was  the  source  of  this  great  intellect- 
ual movement.  Trained  in  her  schools  and  inspired  with  a  conta- 
gious enthusiasm,  scholars  went  forth  to  promote  it  in  the  other 
1304-1374  countries  of  the  West.  Petrarch,  the  Italian  poet,  was  the 
first  to  show  men  the  pleasure  to  be  found  in  the  study 
of  the  classical  authors,  and  to  fill  their  minds  with  a  passion  for 
antiquity.  During  the  first  half  of  the  next  century,  the  monas- 
teries of  the  West  were  ransacked  for  manuscripts  of  the  ancient 


1294-1517.]  THE  REVIVAL  OF  LEARNING.  279 

poets,  philosophers,  and  orators.  Scholars  did  not  give  their  atten- 
tion exclusively  to  Latin.  In  the  last  years  of  the  fourteenth 
century,  Chrysoloras,  a  learned  Greek,  had  been  persuaded  to  teach 
at  Florence  and  in  other  cities.  Students  visited  Greece  and  re- 
turned with  manuscripts,  frequently  of  authors  whose  names  had 
long  been  well-nigh  forgotten  in  Italy.  As  the  dangers  from  the 
Turks  which  threatened  the  remnants  of  the  Eastern  Empire  in- 
creased, Greek  scholars  turned  their  eyes  westward,  and  began  to 
seek  a  peaceful  and  hospitable  exile  among  the  inquisitive  and 
ardent  devotees  of  the  new  learning  in  Italy.  One  of  the  most  dis- 
tinguished of  these  Greeks  was  Bessarion.  This  migration  of  the 
learned  and  of  their  treasures  was  stimulated  by  the  capture  of 
Constantinople,  in  1453.  The  passion  for  everything  that  belonged 
to  antiquity  had  now  become  all-absorbing.  Princes  vied  with  each 
other  as  patrons  of  the  new  learning.  They  expended  large  sums 
of  money  in  the  collection  of  manuscripts  and  in  the  foundation  of 
libraries.  Into  this  generous  rivalry  Pope  Nicholas  V.  eagerly  en- 
The  art  of  tex'cd.  Just  at  the  period  when  the  interest  in  books 
printing.  ^j^g  g^^  ^^g  height,  camc  the  invention  of  pi'inting.  This 
art  was  soon  carried  to  a  high  degree  of  perfection,  especially  at 
the  Aldine  press — the  press  of  Aldus  Minutius — at  Venice.  By 
means  of  printing  presses,  dictionaries  and  grammars,  versions  and 
commentaries,  for  instruction  in  classical  learning,  as  well  as  copies 
of  the  ancient  writings  themselves,  were  multiplied  with  a  rapidity 
truly  wonderful,  and  scattered  far  and  wide. 

This  movement  had  a  profound  influence  on  the  subsequent  re- 
ligious history  of  mankind.  It  spread  before  the  eyes  of  men  new 
^,  ^  .^        fields  of  thouj?ht.     In   the  room   of  faint   and   partial 

The  Fathers  °  '■ 

and  the  glimpses,  it  opened  to  them  a  clear  vision  of  the  mental 

life  of  the  gifted  nations  of  the  past.  It  held  out  to 
them  culture  as  a  rival  claimant  for  that  interest  which  the  most 
active  minds  had  so  long  given  almost  exclusively  to  religion.  The 
products  of  the  intellectual  life  of  antiquity  came  into  contact  with 
Christianity,  not  in  its  primitive  and  purer  form,  but  overlaid 
with  mediaeval  formalism  and  superstition.  Out  of  this  contrast 
there  were  bred,  in  some  cases  skepticism  and  indifference,  in  others 
an  earnest  search  after  the  fundamental  truths  of  religion.  But 
there  were  other  consequences  more  distinct  and  positive.  The 
writings  of  the  Fathers  were  brought  forth  from  obscurity  and 
compared  with  the  creed  of  the  church.  The  scriptures  of  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments  were  studied  in  the  original  languages.  This 
renewed  knowledge  of  the  sources  of  Christian  doctrine  must  clearly 


280  FROM  BONIFACE  VIU.  TO  LUTHER'S  THESES.     [Period  VII. 

reveal  the  differences  between  the  native  simplicity  of  the  gospel 
and  the  doctrinal  and  ecclesiastical  system  which  professed  to  be 
founded  upon  it.  The  widespread  intellectual  ferment  which  en- 
sued could  not  leave  the  fabric  of  Latin  Christianity  undisturbed. 
Scholasticism  was  tottering  to  its  fall.  The  scholars  of  the 
new  learning,  elated  with  their  discoveries,  derided  the  scholastic 
^  „  ,    ^       theologians  for  their  narrowness,  their  endless  wrangling 

Fall  of  scho-  °  _  '  ? 

lasticism.  and  Overdrawn  subtlety,  their  uncritical  method  and  igno- 
rance of  history.  The  writings  of  Aristotle,  to  which  the  schoolmen 
attached  so  much  weight,  were  now  read  in  the  original,  and  the 
mistranslations  and  false  interjDretations  of  the  older  theologians 
were  exposed  and  ridiculed.  In  truth,  however.  Scholasticism  had 
already  run  its  course  and  lost  its  vitahty.  After  Nominalism  had 
been  reinstated  by  Occam  and  his  school,  it  was  no  longer  possible 
to  seek  for  truth  by  simply  developing  the  contents  of  reason  ;  it 
was  necessary  to  go  to  the  facts  of  nature  and  of  inner  experience. 
While  a  door  was  thus  opened  for  skepticism,  the  way  was  also  pre- 
pared for  a  more  vital  faith.  But  although  the  scholastic  theory 
had  lost  its  former  supremacy,  it  was  still  vigorously  defended, 
especially  at  the  universities  of  Paris  and  Cologne.  Several  univer- 
sities, however — notably,  Heidelberg  and  Tiibingen — took  the  lead 
in  admitting  the  new  studies.  When,  in  1502,  the  Elector  Frederic, 
of  Saxony,  organized  a  university  at  Wittenberg,  it  became  a  seat 
of  classical  learning  and  of  Biblical  researches.  It  was  destined 
soon  to  become  the  hearthstone  of  the  Reformation. 

The  revival  of  learning  assumed,  north  of  the  Alps  and  especi- 
ally in  Germany,  characteristics  different  from  those  pertaining  to 
Tone  of  the  ^^  ^^  Italy.  In  Italy  it  was  less  distinctively  religiovis, 
iienaissance  and  morc  Speculative,  and  even  skeptical.  Companies  of 
scholars  formed  themselves  into  academies.  One  of  the 
most  important  of  these  was  that  founded  in  Florence  by  Cosimo 
de  Medici.  At  its  head  was  placed  Marsiho  Ficino,  an  enthii- 
siastic  student  and  translator  of  Plato,  and,  at  the  same  time,  a 
conscientious  priest.  He  wrote  erudite  theological  works,  one  of 
which  was  on  the  immortality  of  the  soul.  He  sought  to  find  in 
the  teachings  of  his  favoi'ite  philosopher  anticijoations  of  Christian 
doctrine.  But  although  he  frequently  mingled  Platonic  fancies 
with  Christian  teachings,  he  did  not  sympathize  at  all  with  the  in- 
difference and  even  skepticism  with  which  many  of  the  Humanists, 
as  the  lovers  of  the  new  learning  were  called,  looked  ui^on  the 
Church  and  Christianity.  It  was  against  these  unbelieving  tendencies 
that  Savonarola  wrote  his  "Triumj)h  of  the  Ci'oss. "    The  most  strik- 


1294-1517.]  THE  REVIVAL  OF  LEARNING.  281 

ing  instance  of  the  widely  prevailing  spirit  was  Pomponius  Lcetus 
and  his  Eoman  Academy,  He  cared  nothing  for  religion  and  de- 
spised the  clergy.  He  loved  only  Rome  and  the  relics  of  its  ancient 
grandeur.  He  and  his  companions  took  Roman  names,  and  applied 
to  one  another  the  titles  of  the  pagan  priesthood.  Although  but 
few  of  the  humanists  pushed  their  idolatry  of  antiquity  as  far  as 
did  Pomponius,  many  of  them  were  infected  by  an  Epicurean  in- 
fidelity, caught  from  Lucretius  and  the  dialogues  of  Cicero.  They 
were  inclined  to  doubt  the  essential  doctrines  of  Christianity,  and 
even  the  essential  truths  of  natural  religion.  The  council  of  the 
Lateran  (1512-1517),  under  these  circumstances,  felt  itself  called 
upon  to  affirm  the  immortality  and  individuality  of  the  soul.  Even 
those  who  believed  what  was  taught  in  the  church  were  fond  of 
dwelling  on  the  heroes  of  pagan  antiquity  as  models  of  virtue  or 
teachers  of  wisdom,  apparently  lifting  them  to  the  rank,  if  not  above 
the  rank,  of  prophets  and  apostles. 

A  curious  example  of  the  ethical  spirit  of  the  period  is  fur- 
nished by  "The  Prince,"  a  work  composed  by  Machiavelli,  in 
which  the  famous  Italian  scholar  and  statesman  sets 
forth  the  maxims  that  should  guide  a  ruler  in  his  man- 
agement of  the  affairs  of  state.  The  principles  which  he  advocates 
are  contrary  to  the  very  essence  of  Christian  morality.  Every 
means,  even  lying  and  murder,  are  defended  as  worthy,  if  adapted 
to  the  attainment  of  the  end  in  view.  This  book  simply  embodies 
the  political  morality  of  the  age  as  interpreted  by  its  wisest  and 
most  skilful  statesman.  It  aroused  no  condemnation  then,  though 
the  moral  judgment  of  later  times  is  expressed  in  the  epithet 
"Machiavellian,"  applied  to  crooked  and  treacherous  arts  of  di- 
plomacy. 

In  Germany  the  new  learning,  from  the  beginning,  was  culti- 
vated in  a  religious  spirit.  There  was  a  desire  to  examine  the  writ- 
^^  „     .       ings  of  the  "Fathers  and  to  study  the  Scriptures,  and  this 

The  Uenais-  '->  _  .   „ — ~ — "X,-. ' 

sance  ia  Ger-  not  mainly  from  an  intellectual  curiosity.  John  Eeuchliu 
(1455-1522),  a  sincerely  religious  man,  who  "had  sludied 
and  lectured  at  various  universities,  who  at  Florence  had  associated 
with  the  poef  Poiitian  and  the  philosophers  Ficino  and  Pico  della 
Mirandola,  was  the  recognized  leader  of  the  German  Humanists. 
His  principal  work  was  a  grammar  of  Hebrew.  He  was  interested 
in  Hebrew,  not  only  as  being  the  language  of  the  ancient  Scrij)t- 
ures,  but  as  that  of  the  Jewish  Kabbala.  He  shared  with  Pico  and 
other  scholars  of  the  age  the  belief  that  in  this  work  could  be 
found  proof  and  illustration  of  the  Christian  doctrines.     The  Do- 


282  FROM  BONIFACE  VIU.  TO  LUTHER'S  THESES.     [Period  VII. 

miuicans  of  Cologne,  who  dreaded  the  theological  errors  which 
lurked  in  the  mystic  lore  of  the  Kabbala,  incited  by  Pfeflferkorn, 
a  converted  Jew,  and  with  Hoogstraten,  an  ignorant  prior,  at  their 
head,  accused  Keuchlin  of  heresy.  The  charge  against  him  was 
that  he  would  not  join  in  their  project  for  destroying  all  Judaic 
teaching  not  contained  in  the  Scriptures,  by  burning  all  the  Hebrew 
literature  except  the  Old  Testament.  In  the  bitter  conflict  which 
ensued  the  Humanists  rallied  around  their  chief.  Keuchlin  was  ef- 
ficiently supported  by  Francis  of  Sickingen  and  Ulrich  von  Hutten, 
knights,  who  were  quite  as  ready,  if  the  occasion  wefe*lurnished,  to 
use  their  swords  as  their  pens  in  his  defence.  There  was  a  group  of 
Latin  poets,  having  their  centre  at  Erfurt,  and  intimate  with  Muti- 
anus,  a  canon  at  Gotha,  a  cultivated  Humanist,  who  had  studied  in 
Italy  and  was  infected  with  the  lax  ojoinions  in  religion,  and  to  some 
extent  with  the  lax  standards  of  morality,  prevalent  among  Itahan 
scholars.  From  Crotus  Kubianus,  Hutten,  and  others  of  the  Erfurt 
circle,  emanated  the  "  Epistolae  obscurorum  virorum,"  a  pretended 
correspondence  of  the  monks  among  themselves.  The  letters,  writ- 
ten in  barbai-ous  Latin,  displayed  in  caricature  the  illiteracy,  big- 
otry, and  free  convivial  habits  of  the  monks.  The  "Epistles"  were 
found  to  be  very  diverting,  and  were  the  more  sought  for  when 
Leo  X.,  in  a  bull,  forbade  them  to  be  read.  They  helped  the  more 
serious  defenders  of  Eeuchliu  to  win  the  final  victory. 

The  Renaissance  in  England  assumed  characteristics  similar  to 
those  which  marked  it  in  Germany.  English  scholars  went  to  Italy, 
ThP.  -Renais  ^^^  brought  back  to  Oxford  a  zeal  for  the  new  learning, 
in  Eng-  It  was  at  Oxford  that,  in  1496,  one  of  them,  John  Colet, 
son  of  a  wealthy  Loudon  merchant  who  had  been  Lord 
Mayor  of  the  city,  began  to  give  lectm'es  on  the  Epistles  of  Paul. 
He  boldly  pushed  aside  the  artificial  methods  and  voluminous 
comments  of  the  schoolmen,  and  sought  in  simple,  clear  language 
to  make  real  to  his  hearers  the  life  and  teachings  of  the  Apostle. 
His  lecture-room  was  thronged  with  eager  listeners.  Many  who 
came  out  of  curiosity  remained  to  learn.  Those,  however,  M'ho 
were  firmly  attached  to  traditional  ways  in  theology  could  not  but 
be  alarmed  by  what  they  believed  to  be  the  dangerous  tendencies 
of  the  new  style  of  exposition.  Among  the  few  to  whom  Colet 
looked  for  active  sympathy  in  his  work  was  Thomas  More,  a  young 
loan  destined  for  the  law.  His  gentle  nature,  enlivened  by  a 
brilliant  mind,  endeared  him  to  every  one  of  the  little  circle  of 
friends  Avhich  the  new  learning  was  gi-adually  bringing  together. 
The  following  year,  Colet  and  More  were  joined  by  Erasmus,  who 


Bance 
land. 


1294-1517.]  THE  REVIVAL  OF  LEARNING.  283 

was  soon  to  become  the  prince  of  the  Humanists,  and  one  of  the 
most  influential  men  of  the  age.  Erasmus  was  already  broken  in 
health  by  close  study  and  by  the  privations  which  his  want  of 
money  had  often  obliged  him  to  endure.  He  had  early  been 
thrust  into  a  monastery  by  relatives  who  were  anxious  to  obtain  his 
small  inheritance.  His  natural  antipathy  to  the  monastic  life  was 
increased  by  the  bitter  experiences  of  those  days,  and  by  the 
trouble  it  cost  him  in  after  years,  when  he  had  become  famous,  to 
release  himself  from  the  thraldom  to  which  his  former  associates 
were  inclined  to  call  him  back. 

The  new  studies  did  not  make  much  headway  in  England  until 
after  the  death  of  Henry  VH.  In  the  young  king,  his  son,  the 
Oxford  reformers  found  a  monarch  well  disposed  to  the  new  learn- 
ing. Colet,  in  the  meantime,  had  become  dean  of  St.  Paul's,  in 
London.  Erasmus  had  carried  out  his  long-cherished  plan  of  going 
to  Italy,  but  hearing  of  the  accession  of  Henry  VIH.,  had  started 
to  return.  As  he  journeyed  back  he  conceived  the  plan  of  a  satire 
on  the  follies  of  mankind,  which,  when  he  reached  England  and 
became  a  guest  at  More's  house,  he  wrote  out,  calling  it  the  "Praise 
"The  Praise  °^  Folly."  Folly  is  personified  and  represented  as  pro- 
of Folly."  nouncing  before  her  devotees  an  oration  on  the  affairs  of 
mankind,  in  which  she  has  so  all-important  an  agency.  None  of 
the  follies  of  the  age  but  come  in  for  their  share  of  ridicule.  On 
these  lively  pages  figure  the  sickly  bookworm  ;  grammarians  and 
pedagogues  in  the  fetid  atmosphere  of  their  school-rooms,  bawling 
at  their  boys  and  beating  them  ;  scholastic  theologians,  wrangling 
over  vain  problems  and  prating  about  the  constitution  of  the  uni- 
verse, as  though  they  had  just  come  down  from  a  council  of  the 
gods — "  with  whom  and  whose  conjectures  nature  is  mightily 
amused  ; "  the  monks,  a  "  race  of  new  Jews,"  who  will  be  grieved 
to  find  themselves  among  the  goats  on  the  Judgment  Day,  and  to 
see  sailors  and  wagoners  preferred  to  themselves ;  kings  who  do 
not  protect  their  subjects,  but  rob  them  and  seek  only  their  own 
pleasure  ;  popes  who,  though  decrepit  old  men,  take  the  sword 
into  their  hands  and  "turn  law,  religion,  peace,  and  all  human 
affairs  upside  down."  Here  was  so  plain  a  reference  to  the  warlike 
Julius  II.,  that  none  could  fail  to  see  it.  Such  were  some  of  the 
folKes  of  mankind  which  Erasmus  discoursed  upon,  to  the  amuse- 
ment of  More  and  a  few  friends.  The  book  was  soon  published  and 
rapidly  passed  through  several  editions.  It  was  read  by  all  who 
sympathized  with  the  new  studies,  and  by  thousands — ecclesiastics 
included— who  did  not  appreciate  the  effect  of  this  telling  satire 


284  FROM  BONIFACE  Vin.  TO  LUTHER'S  THESES.     [Period  VII. 

in  abating  popular  reverence  for  the  Church.  Erasmus,  for  a  time, 
settled  at  Cambridge,  as  professor  of  Greek.  Meanwhile,  Colet  had 
founded,  in  London,  at  his  own  expense,  St.  Paul's  school,  where 
bo3's  were  to  be  taught  the  rudiments  of  sound  learning.  In  spite 
of  the  enemies  who  were  now  trying  to  convict  him  of  heresy,  he 
went  bravely  forward  with  his  work,  earnestly  pleading  before  the 
convocation  for  a  reform  of  the  clergy,  and  preaching  on  the  barbar- 
ity and  impolicy  of  war  before  the  young  king,  Henry  VIII.  A  little 
later.  More  published  his  "Utopia,"  in  which  he  embodied  kindred 
ideas.  The  work  is  pervaded  by  a  sympathy  for  the  lot  of  the 
laborers,  the  poor,  and  the  distressed.  In  his  imaginary  com- 
monwealth all  are  well-housed  and  educated.  The  "Utopians  are 
liberal  in  religious  matters.  They  debate  among  themselves 
"whether  one  that  was  chosen  by  them  to  be  a  priest  w^ould  not 
thereby  be  qualified  to  do  all  the  things  that  belong  to  that  char- 
actei-,  even  though  he  had  no  authority  derived  from  the  pope." 
The  people  make  confession,  not  to  priests,  but  to  heads  of  families. 
Each  one  can  choose  any  religion  he  pleases,  without  fear  of  j)un- 
ishment.  The  forms  of  worship  are  so  carefully  arranged  that  all, 
whatever  may  be  their  minor  differences,  can  join  in  them.  More 
expressed  in  this  work  the  same  abhorrence  of  the  barbarity  of  war 
which  Colet  set  forth  in  his  sermons. 

Erasmus  had  already  left  England  and  had  gone  to  Basel, 
where  he  formed  that  alliance  with  the  printer  Froben  which  was 
The  theoio  '  ^°  ^^PPJ  ^^r  them  both  and  so  fruitful  of  good  to  the 
cai  writings     public.     In  Basel  he  found  an  abode  where  he  would  be 

of  Erasmus.       ■■• 

at  a  safe  distance  from  his  powerful  patrons  and  would 
be  out  of  the  reach  of  secular  and  ecclesiastical  tyranny.  In  1516 
he  published  his  edition  of  the  Greek  Testament,  accompanied  by 
a  new  Latin  translation.  This  work  was  followed  by  editions  of 
Cyprian  and  Jerome,  and  translations  from  Origen,  Athanasius,  and 
Chrysostom.  Thus  Erasmus  opened  to  the  men  of  his  generation 
the  sources  from  which  they  might  gain  a  better  understanding 
of  the  fundamental  truths  of  Christianity,  a  clearer  knowledge  of 
Christian  antiquity,  and  a  more  biblical  theology.  The  other  the- 
ological writings  of  Erasmus,  among  them  his  commentaries  and 
his  treatise  on  preaching,  did  much  to  spread  enlightened  Adews  of 
doctrine  and  of  the  nature  of  the  Christian  life.  He  wovild  have 
the  laity  instructed  ;  he  wished  that  every  people  might  have  the 
Gospels  and  Paul's  Epistles  in  their  own  tongue,  and  that  even  the 
humblest  woman  might  read  them.  He  inveighed  against  the  mul- 
titude of  ordinances,  against  judaizing  customs  and  rites^  by  which 


1294-1517.]  THE  REVIVAL  OF  LEARNING.  285 

the  Cliurcla  was  burdened  and  the  poor  oppressed  for  the  sake  of 
enriching  the  clei'gy. 

These  more  serious  writings  were  intermingled  with  humorous 
and  satirical  works  in  the  vein  of  the  "  Praise  of  Folly."  Among  the 
The  humor-  ^^^^^'^'  "^^'^re  the  "Colloquies,"  in  which  the  idleness,  illit- 
0U8  writings     eracv,  self-indulgencc,  and  artificial  and  useless  austeri- 

of  Erasmus.         .        "  ,    ,  t     • 

ties  of  the  religious  were  exhibited  in  a  ridiculous  light. 
There  wei-e  also  several  successive  editions  of  the  "Adages,"  each 
larger  than  the  former,  and  each  containing  some  fresh  attack  on 
the  abuses  of  the  age.  Erasmus  would  never  write  anything  which 
would  give  aid  or  comfort  to  the  defenders  of  what  he  termed  the 
"Pharisaic  kingdom,"  His  comments  on  misgovernment  in  the 
Church,  on  the  vices  and  oppressions  of  the  clergy,  from  the  pojDe 
downward,  were  the  more  effective  because  they  were  generally 
put  in  a  humorous  form.  They  all,  as  Coleridge  has  said,  possess 
the  peculiar  merit  that  they  can  be  translated  into  arguments.     In 

his  religious  opinions  Erasmus  was  broad  and  tolerant. 

His  liberality.  ^  -,    ^  -,■,      n 

He  would  do  away  with  the  tyranny  and  avarice  of  the 
court  of  Rome,  but  would  leave  the  constitution  of  the  Church  un- 
disturbed. He  would  have  the  creed  very  short,  embodying  only 
the  "  plain  truths  contained  in  Scripture."  He  left  much  room  for 
individual  judgment,  and  was  for  referring  difficult  questions,  not 
to  "  the  next  general  council  " — about  which  men  were  always  talk- 
ing— but  to  the  time  when  we  see  God  face  to  face.  His  liking  for 
religious  liberty  came  partly  from  his  personal  kindliness  and  his 
liberal  culture,  and  partly,  perhajps,  from  the  consciousness  that 
without  the  practice  of  a  pretty  wide  toleration  by  rulers  in  Church 
and  State  he  would  himself  fare  ill.  He  was  early  recognized  by 
the  more  ardent  adherents  of  the  mediaeval  system  as  one  whose 
influence  threatened  to  destroy  their  ascendency.  They  were  no 
match  for  him  in  literary  combat,  but  they  could,  despite  his  pro- 
fessions of  orthodoxy,  continually  annoy  him  with  imputations  of 
heresy.  Some  of  these,  however,  like  the  condemnation  of  the 
"  Colloquies"  by  the  University  of  Paris,  tended  only  to  diffuse  his 
ideas  still  more  widely. 

The  influence  of  Erasmus  was  not  limited  to  his  formal  publica- 
tions. He  carried  on  a  vast  correspondence  with  eminent  persons 
Extent  of  his  — ccclesiastics,  statesmen,  and  scholars — who  were  his 
influence.  friends  and  patrons.  He  rapidly  became  the  foremost 
literary  man  of  his  time.  In  the  extent  of  his  influence,  and  in  the 
deference  paid  him  by  the  great,  he  has  been  approached  by  none, 
unless  it  be  Voltaire,  who,  however  different  in  important  respects. 


f\ 


286  FROM  BONIFACE  VIII.  TO  LUTHER'S  THESES.     [Period  VII. 

was  like  him  in  being  a  wit  and  iconoclast,  and  in  the  keen,  critical 
character  of  his  intellect.  His  fame  depended  in  part  on  the  uni- 
versal use  of  Latin  as  the  common  language  of  educated  men.  Al- 
though he  had  lived  in  England  and  Italy,  Erasmus  was  acquainted 
with  neither  Italian  nor  English.  His  Latin  style  did  not  possess 
the  classical  finish  of  many  of  the  Humanists,  who  were  horror- 
stricken  at  the  use  of  a  word  not  found  in  Cicero,  or,  at  least,  not 
sanctioned  by  the  best  ancient  authority.  Latin  was  to  him  the 
language  of  every-day  life,  and  into  it  his  genius  infused  an  un- 
wonted vigor.  He  wrote  hastily.  "  I  precipitate,"  he  says,  "  rather 
than  compose." 

Erasmus  had  a  far  more  important  work  to  do  than  the  writing 
\  of  elegant  Latin.  It  was  his  great  purpose  to  deliver  the  minds  of 
.^  men  from  the  bondage  of  sui^erstition  and  dogmatism,  to  bring  in 
the  reign  of  culture  and  liberality,  of  a  simpler  and  purer  Chris- 
tianity. The  multitude  of  books  and  pamphlets  Avhich  came  from 
his  pen,  and  were  sent  forth  from  Froben's  press  at  Basel,  contrib- 
uted not  a  little  to  the  realizing  of  this  purpose.  They  also  did 
much  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  religious  revolution  which  broke 
out  long  before  the  work  of  Erasmus  was  over,  and  some  of  whose 
tendencies  he  could  not  but  view  with  anxiety  and  repugnance. 
His  relations  to  Luther  and  to  the  Protestant  cause  will  be  spoken 
of  in  the  history  of  the  next  period. 


THE  MODERN  ERA. 


PEBIOJD  VIII. 

FROM  THE  BEGINNING   OF  THE  REFORMATION 
TO  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA  (151T-164S). 

THE  EISE  AND  PEOGRESS  OF  PEOTESTANTISM :  THE  CON- 
FLICT OF  EELIGIOUS  PAETIES. 


CHAPTER  I. 


THE  REFORMATION  IN  GERMANY,    FROM  THE  POSTING  OF  LU- 
THER'S  THESES  TO  THE   DIET  OF  AUGSBURG  (1517-1530). 

The  Reformation,  like  all  other  great  social  convulsions,  was  long 
in  preparation.  It  was  one  part  of  that  general  progress,  complex 
The  era  of  i^  its  character,  which  marked  the  fifteenth  century  and 
progress.  ^j^q  opening  of  the  sixteenth  as  the  period  of  transition 
from  the  Middle  Ages  to  modern  civilization.  The  glory  of  the 
Holy  Empire  had  long  since  depai'ted.  The  papacy,  its  counter- 
part in  the  mediaeval  commonwealth,  had  sunk  almost  to  the  level 
of  an  Italian  principality.  In  the  meantime,  all  the  nations  of  the 
West  were  becoming  consolidated.  A  European  state-system  was 
growing  up.  It  is  a  significant  fact  that  in  the  fifteenth  century 
resident  embassies  were  established  at  the  different  courts.  The 
invention  of  gunpowder  revolutionized  the  art  of  war,  making  the 
serf  ih  combat  equal  to  the  noble.  While  this  invention  thus  en- 
abled monarchs,  by  means  of  peasant  armies,  to  destroy  the  remain- 
ing power  of  the  feudal  nobility,  it  also  placed  in  the  hands  of  the 
people  an  instrument  wherewith  to  check  the  tyranny  of  kings.  In 
this  period,  likewise,  the  masterpieces  of  ancient  sculpture  and  the 
literary  treasures  of  antiquity  were  brought  forth  from  their  tombs. 
The  writings  of  Greek  and  Roman  philosophers,  orators,  and  j^oets, 
were  diffused  far  and  wide  by  the  newly  invented  art  of  printing  with 


288    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.   [Period  VIII. 

iBovable  tyjDes.  The  minds  of  men  were  quickened  to  a  new  intel- 
lectual life.  There  arose  masters  in  literature,  like  Erasmus  ;  in 
painting  and  sculpture,  like  Eaphael  and  Michael  Angelo.  This  was 
also  the  era  of  brilliant  discoveries.  Columbus,  with  the  aid  of  the 
magnetic  compass,  then  coming  into  general  use,  lifted  the  veil 
which  had  Hung  across  the  Western  horizon,  and  disclosed  to  the 
peojDle  of  Europe  another  hemisphere.  Vasco  da  Gama  sailed 
around  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and,  by  thus  opening  a  new  high- 
Avay  for  trade  to  the  East  Indies,  struck  a  fatal  blow  at  the  com- 
mercial supremacy  of  Genoa  and  Venice,  and  laid  the  foundation 
of  the  maritime  power  of  the  nations  of  Western  Europe. 

But  while  the  Reformation  was  one  part  of  a  change  extending 
over  the  whole  sphere  of  human  knowledge  and  activity,  it  had  its 
Origin  of  the  ovfn  Specific  origin  and  significance.  These  are  still, 
Eeformation.  ^^  some  extent,  a  subject  of  controversy.  It  is  true  that 
astrology  is  an  extinct  science,  so  that  men  no  longer  refer  the  Eef- 
ormation, as  some  did  at  that  day,  "  to  a  certain  uncommon  and 
malignant  position  of  the  stai'S,  which  scattered  the  sjjirit  of  giddi- 
ness and  innovation  over  the  world."  But  there  remains  a  diver- 
sity of  theories  on  the  subject.  The  French  historian  Guizot  and 
numerous  other  writers  have  described  it  as,  in  its  real  meaning, 
an  insurrection  against  priestly  authority.  It  is  called  an  uprising 
of  the  human  intellect  to  break  the  bonds  which  had  been  imposed 
upon  free  thought.  Guizot  distinguishes  between  the  conscious 
purpose  of  the  Reformers  and  the  actual  drift  and  final  effect  of 
their  work.  There  is  no  doubt  that,  as  regards  liberty,  they  "  builded 
better  than  they  knew."  Yet  the  true  glory  of  the  Refoi'mation  is 
not  increased  by  making  it,  in  its  origin  and  essential  nature,  any- 
thing save  a  movement  in  the  cavise  of  religion,  and  instigated  by 
deep  religious  convictions.  Roman  Catholic  writers  find  in  the 
Protestant  movement  the  prolific  source  of  infidelity  and  atheism. 
Rationalists  applaud  it  as  the  first  step  towards  the  emancipation  of 
human  reason  from  the  reign  of  tradition  and  dogma.  Time  was  re- 
quired, they  both  affirm,  to  develop  its  inherent  tendencies.  But 
whatever  dangers  may  attend  freedom  of  thought  in  matters  of  re- 
ligion, skepticism  is  certainly  no  more  the  fruit  of  such  liberty  than 
of  the  yoke  laid  upon  the  intellect  by  the  mediaeval  system.  The 
Reformers  themselves  were  confident  that  their  work  arrested  the 
progress  of  unbelief  and  saved  the  religion  of  Europe.  With  the 
Renaissance  there  came  in  a  great  amount  of  latent  skepticism. 
Melanchthon  aflSrmed  that  Luther's  movement  prevented  far  greater 
disturbances — longe  graviores  tiimuUus — from  the  spread  of  infidel- 


1517-1648.]  THE  REFORMATION  IN  GERMANY.  289 

ity.  It  cannot  be  denied  that  Protestantism  brought  a  revival  of 
rehgious  feeling  among  those  who  accepted  it,  and  resulted,  by  a 
reactionary  influence,  in  an  awakening  of  religious  zeal  within  the 
Catholic  body  itself. 

The  Reformation,  whatever  may  have  been  its  occult  tendencies, 
was  a  movement  in  the  sphere  of  religion.  One  of  its'causes,  as 
itwasareiig-  "^^^^  ^^  ^^^  *^^  ^^^^  sourccs  of  its  great  power,  was  the  in- 
j^^s  move-  creasing  discontent  with  the  prevailing  corruption  and 
misgovernment  in  the  Church,  and  with  papal  interfer- 
ence in  civil  affairs.  As  far  back  as  1431,  Cardinal  Julian  Cesa- 
rini,  who  presided  as  papal  legate  at  Basel,  wx'ote  to  Pope  Eugene 
IV.  that,  unless  there  could  be  a  reform,  there  would  be  a  great  up-  ' 
rising  of  the  laity  for  the  overthrow  of  a  corrupt  clergy,  and  that  a  / 
heresy  would  arise  more  formidable  than  that  of  the  Bohemians.  / 
The  misconduct  of  the  popes  in  the  last  half  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury was  not  more  flagrant  than  that  of  their  predecessors  in  the 
tenth  century.  But  the  fifteenth  century  was  an  age  of  light.  AVhat 
was  done  by  the  pontiffs  was  not  done  in  a  corner,  but  under  the 
eyes  of  all  Europe.  Besides,  there  was  now  a  deep-seated  craving, 
especially  in  the  Teutonic  peoples,  who  had  so  long  been  vmderthe 
tutelage  of  a  legal,  judaizing  form  of  Christianity,  for  a  more  spir- 
itual type  of  religion.  The  freer  spirit  of  the  gospel,  which  was 
kept  alive  in  their  hearts,  gradually  acquired  strength  sufficient  to 
break  down  the  barrier,  which  a  vast  institution  had  placed  in  the 
way  of  a  direct  access  to  God.  It  was  not  a  zeal  to  destroy  which 
subverted  the  older  beliefs,  but  the  expulsive  power  of  deeper  con- 
victions and  of  a  purer  apprehension  of  the  truth.  The  Reformation 
did  not  attempt  to  build  up  a  new  religion,  but  to  reform  the  old, 
according  to  its  own  authoritative  standards.  It  was  distinctively 
Christian,  because  it  found  its  source  and  regulative  principles  in 
the  Scriptures. 

Yet  the  Reformers,  in  maintaining  that  authority  resided  not 
„.  ^^  ,    .     in  the  Church  but  in  the  Bible,  exercised  the  risht  of 

Right  of  pn-  _  o 

vate  judg-       private  judgment.     In  so  doing  they  laid  the  foundation 
of  that  intellectual  liberty,  that  freedom  of  thought  and 
inquiry,  which  coming  generations  were  to  enjoy. 

While  it  is  necessary  to  keep  in  mind  the  real  origin  and  signifi- 
cance of  the  Reformation,  as  well  as  the  place  which  it  occupied  in 
Importance  the  general  course  of  history,  it  is  important  not  to  lose 
of  leaders.  sight  of  the  agcucy  of  the  leaders  by  whose  personal 
qualities  it  was  to  a  large  extent  produced  and  moulded.  If  a  rev- 
olution in  long-established  opinions  and  habits  of  feeling  is  to  take 
19 


290    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OP  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VIII, 

place,  there  must  be  individuals  who  have  caught  glimpses  of  some 
great  but  obscured  truth,  who  have  realized  its  value  in  their  own 
experience,  can  interpret  it  to  their  fellow-men,  and  can  create  and 
sustain  in  them  the  new  moral  life. 

The  Keformation  may  be  viewed  in  two  aspects.     On  the  one 

hand  it  is  a  religious  revolution  affecting  the  beliefs,  the  rites,  the 

ecclesiastical  organization  of  the  Church,  and  the  form 

Two  aspects  °  ' 

of  the  Refer-    of  Christian  life.     On  the  other  hand,  it  is  a  great  move- 

mation.  .  ,  .    ,  .  -  .  .  , 

ment  in  which  sovereigns  and  nations  are  involved  ;  the 
occasion  of  wars  and  treaties  ;  the  close  of  an  old,  and  the  intro- 
duction of  a  new,  period  in  the  history  of  culture  and  civilization. 

Germany,  including  the  Netherlands  and  Switzerland,  was  the 
stronghold  of  the  Reformation.  It  was  natural  that  such  a  move- 
it  beifins  in  ^nent  should  spring  vip  and  rise  to  its  highest  power 
Germany.  amoug  a  peoj)le  in  whom  a  love  of  independence  was 
mingled  with  a  yearning  for  a  more  spiritual  form  of  religion  than 
was  encouraged  by  mediaeval  ecclesiasticism.  Hegel  has  dwelt  with 
eloquence  upon  the  fact  that  while  the  rest  of  the  world  was  gone 
out  to  America  or  to  the  Indies,  in  quest  of  riches  and  of  a  domin- 
ion that  should  encircle  the  globe,  a  simple  monk,  turning  away 
from  empty  forms  and  the  things  of  sense,  was  finding  him  whom 
the  disciples  once  sought  in  a  sepulchre  of  stone. 

Unquestionably  the  hero  of  the  Reformation  was  Martin  Luther, 
His  dauntless  determination  was  the  rallying-point  for  multitudes 
not  able  of  themselves  to  begin  a  work  involving  so 
arduous  a  conflict  with  misgivings  within  and  foes  with- 
out. The  trumpet  which  he  put  to  his  lips  resounded  afar.  It 
was  heard  among  the  mountains  of  Switzerland  ;  it  roused  kin- 
dred spirits  in  all  the  Teutonic  lands  ;  and  even  awoke  responsive 
voices  of  sympathy  in  the  Southern  nations  of  Europe.  With- 
out Luther  and  his  powerful  influence,  other  reformatory  eSbrts, 
even  such  as  had  an  independent  beginning,  like  that  of  Zwingli, 
might  have  led  to  no  enduring  results.  As  an  English  writer  has 
pointed  out,  Luther's  whole  nature  was  identified  with  his  great 
work,  and  while  other  leaders,  like  Melanchthon  and  even  Calvin, 
can  be  separated  in  thought  from  the  Reformation,  "Luther,  apart 
from  the  Reformation,  would  cease  to  be  Luther." 

He  was  the  son  of  a  plain  miner,  and  was  born  at  Eisleben  on 
the  10th  of  November,  1483.  His  parents  were  quite  poor,  but 
.  they  were  self-respecting,  and  set  a  proper  value  on  in- 
tellectual and  religious  training.  Having  passed  through 
the  severe  but  well-meant  disciphne  of  his  humble  home,  and,  in 


i517-164S.]  THE  REFORMATION  IN  GERMANY.  291 

conformity  with  a  custom  of  the  times,  sung  at  the  doors  of  the 
citizens  of  Eisenach  to  pay  for  his  schooling  there,  he  went  to  Er- 
furt to  complete  his  studies  before  entering  the  legal  professsion. 
There  deep  religious  anxieties  in  his  soul  were  increased  by  the 
i-eading  of  a  copy  of  the  Scriptures  which  he  one  day  met  with. 
Familiar  as  he  ^vas  with  the  portions  of  the  Bible  read  in  the  church 
services,  the  entire  volume,  strange  to  say,  he  had  not  before  taken 
in  his  hands.  Two  years  later,  against  his  father's  will,  he  forsook 
the  legal  profession  and  entered  an  Augustinian  convent.  In  1508 
he  was  made  preacher  at  Wittenberg  and  professor  in  the  univer- 
sity which  had  recently  been  founded  by  the  Elector  of  Saxony, 
Frederick  the  Wise.  There  he  soon  became  distinguished  for  his 
learning  and  for  his  devotion  to  the  Scriptures. 

Luther,  notwithstanding  his  genial  and  joyous  nature,  was  not 
without  a  deep  vein  of  reflection  which  tended  even  to  melancholy. 
His  religious  His  earlier  religious  life  had  been  full  of  anxiety  and 
experience,  ^g^^,^  ^£  conscieuce.  He  had  been  taught  to  look  upon 
Christ  as  a  law-giver  who  would  "at  the  last  day  demand  how 
we  had  atoned  for  our  guilt,  and  how  many  good  woi-ks  we  had 
done."  The  wise  counsels  of  John  Staupitz,  the  vicar-general  of 
his  order,  and  his  own  study  of  Augustine  and  of  Tauler,  opened  to 
him  glimpses  of  the  purer  doctrine  of  the  gospel.  But  it  was  only 
after  j)ondering  the  words  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  "  the  just 
shall  live  by  faith,"  that  the  truth  flashed  upon  him.  It  was  then  that 
he  realized  that  Christ  came,  not  as  a  law-giver,  but  as  a  Saviour  ; 
that  by  his  union  with  mankind  he  takes  on  his  heart  the  whole 
burden  that  rests  upon  us,  and  by  our  union  with  him  all  that  is 
his  becomes  ours  ;  that  faith  lifts  the  believer  out  of  the  legal  into 
the  filial  relation,  and  brings  him  into  immediate  union  with.  God. 
Good  works  are  then  the  fruit  of  faith,  a  spontaneous  and  necessary 
product.  Thenceforth  the  writings  of  Paul,  and  especially  the  Epis- 
tles to  the  Romans  and  Galatians,  were  his  constant  companions. 
The  latter  he  styled,  in  his  humorous  way,  his  wife,  his  Cathai'iue 
von  Bora. 

Luther  had  not  then  thought  of  any  antagonism  in  his  new  posi- 
tion to  the  rites  and  ordinances  of  the  Church,  and  to  the  prin- 
He  opposes  ciple  of  Cliurch  authority.  It  was  subsequent  events 
Tetzei.  which  gradually  revealed  this  to  him.     In  1517  John 

Tetzel,  a  hawker  of  indulgences,  the  proceeds  of  which  were  to 
help  pay  for  the  building  of  St.  Peter's  Church,  appeared  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Wittenberg.  To  persuade  the  people  to  buy  his 
spiritual  wares,  he  told  them,  as  Luther  himself  testifies,  that  as 


292    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OP  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VIIL 

soon  as  their  money  clinked  in  the  bottom  of  the  chest  the  souls  of 
their  deceased  friends  forthwith  went  up  to  heaven.  Luther  was 
so  struck  with  the  enormity  of  this  traffic  that  he  determined  to 
stop  it.  He  preached  against  it,  and  on  October  31,  1517,  he 
posted  on  the  door  of  the  Church  of  All  Saints,  at  Wittenberg,  his 
ninety-five  theses,  relating  to  the  doctrine  and  practice  of  selling 
indulgences. 

Indulgences,  as  we  have  already  explained,  were  at  first  com- 
mutations of  penance  by  the  payment  of  money.  The  right  to 
issue  them  had  gradually  become  the  exclusive  preroga- 
tive of  the  popes.  The  eternal  punishment  of  mortal 
sin  being  remitted  or  commuted  by  the  absolution  of  the  priest,  it 
was  open  to  the  pope  or  his  agents,  by  a  grant  of  indulgences,  to 
remove  the  temporal  or  terminable  penalties,  which  might  extend 
into  purgatory.  For  the  benefit  of  the  needy  he  could  draw  upon 
the  treasury  of  merit  stored  up  by  Christ  and  the  saints.  Although 
it  was  expressly  declared  by  PojDe  Sixtus  TV.,  that  souls  are  deliv- 
ered from  purgatorial  fires  in  a  way  analogous  to  the  efficacy  of 
prayer,  and  although  contrition  was  theoretically  required  of  the 
recipient  of  an  indulgence,  it  often  appeared  to  the  people  as  a 
simple  bargain,  according  to  which,  on  j)ayment  of  a  stipulated 
sum,  the  individual  obtained  a  full  discharge  from  the  penalties  of 
sin,  or  procured  the  release  of  a  soul  from  the  flames. 

Luther's  theses  assailed  the  doctrines  which  made  this  baneful 
traffic  possible.  They  denied  the  power  of  the  pope  to  remove  any 
Doctrine  of  penalties  other  than  those  he  had  himself  imposed,  and 
the  theses.  affirmed  that  these  do  not  reach  beyond  death.  The 
right  to  issue  indulgences  in  this  restricted  form,  they  maintained, 
belongs  to  pastors  and  bishops  not  less  than  to  the  pope.  The 
theses  were  an  attack  on  the  theory  of  indulgences  which  Thomas 
Aquinas  had  built  up.  But  they  were  much  more  than  this.  Un- 
consciously to  their  author,  they  struck  a  blow  at  the  authority  of 
Rome  and  of  the  priesthood.  Luther  had  no  thought  of  throwing 
off  his  allegiance  to  the  Roman  Church.  Even  his  theses  were  only 
propositions,  propounded  for  academic  debate,  according  to  the 
custom  in  mediseval  universities.  He  concluded  them  with  the  sol- 
emn declaration  that  he  affirmed  nothing,  but  left  all  to  the  judg- 
ment of  the  Church.  Could  he  have  been  allowed  by  the  ecclesiasti- 
cal powers  to  hold  and  to  preach  the  gospel,  which  had  wrought 
itself  so  completely  into  his  experience,  he  would  have  continued  a 
loyal  subject,  without  any  scrutiny  of  the  foundations  of  the  away 
under  which  he  had  grown  up.     It  was  only  by  degrees  that  he 


1517-1648]  THE  REFORMATION  IN  GERMANY.  293 

came  to  perceive  how  groundless  were  the  papal  pretensions,  and 
how  incompatible  the  traditional  theory  of  Church  authority  was 
with  his  interpretation  of  the  gospel.  "  Oh  !  "  he  exclaims,  "  with 
what  anxiety  and  labor,  with  what  searching  of  the  Scriptures,  have  I 
justified  myself,  in  conscience,  in  standing  up  alone  against  the 
pope?"  Such  reflections,  natural  to  an  ingenuous  mind,  on  the 
apparent  audacity  of  such  a  revolt,  occasionally  occurred  to  him 
when  he  was  in  the  midst  of  his  career,  and  have  been  falsely  styled, 
even  by  recent  polemical  writers,  fits  of  remorse. 

The  theses  stirred  up  a  commotion  all  over  Germany.  The 
life-long  antagonists  of  monkish  superstition,  Reuchlin  and  Erasmus, 
Effect  of  the  rejoiced  at  the  boldness  of  Luther.  "No  one,"  says 
theses.  Luthcr,  "  would  bell  the  cats  ;  for  the  heresy-masters  of 

the  preaching  order  [the  Dominicans]  had  driven  all  the  world  to 
terror  by  their  fires."  The  emperor,  Maximilian,  whose  political 
hopes  had  often  been  thwarted  by  the  pope,  said  to  the  elector,  "Let 
the  Wittenberg  monk  be  taken  good  care  of  ;  we  may  some  day  want 
him."  A  controversy  arose  between  the  new  champion  of  reform 
and  the  defenders  of  indulgences.  It  was  during  this  dispute  that 
Luther  began  to  realize  that  human  authority  was  against  him  and 
to  see  the  necessity  of  planting  himself  more  distinctly  on  the 
Scriptures.  His  clear  arguments  and  resolute  attitude  won  the 
respect  of  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  who,  though  he  often  sought  to 
restrain  his  vehemence,  nevertheless  protected  him  from  his  enemies. 
This  the  elector  was  able  to  do  because  of  his  political  importance, 
which  became  still  greater  when,  after  the  death  of  Maximilian,  he 
was  made  regent  of  Northern  Germany. 

The  pope,  Leo  X.,  when  he  first  heard  of  the  commotion  in  Sax- 
ony, pronounced  it  a  squabble  of  monks.  He  made  an  ineffectual 
October?,  attempt,  through  his  legate,  Cajetan,  to  reduce  Luther  to 
1518.  submission.     The  wary  and  accomplished  Italian,  liberal 

minded,  too,  as  he  proved  himself  in  his  subsequent  career,  found 
the  monk  whom  he  met  at  Augsburg  and  whom  he  expected  to  con- 
vert, much  more  ready  to  debate  than  to  be  instructed.  Leo  then 
issued  a  bull  reaffirming  the  doctrine  of  indulgences.  Thereupon 
December  ^^^  Saxou  rcformcr  appealed  from  the  pope  to  a  general 
i''i8.  '  council.  A  second  messenger  from  the  papal  court,  Mil- 
titz,  a  Saxon  by  birth,  an  ecclesiastic  who  was  conciliatory  in  manner, 
would  perhaps  have  met  with  better  success  had  not 
atLeipsic°'^  Luthcr  been  in  a  manner  forced  by  Dr.  John  Eck,  one 
of  his  theological  opponents,  into  a  public  disputation 
at  Leipsic.     Eck  had  arranged  for  a  debate  with  Carlstadt,  one  of 


294    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.   [Period  VIII. 

Luther's  colleagues,  but  he  made  his  theses  an  attack  on  the  doc- 
trine of  Luther.  To  Leipsic  Luther  went,  attended  by  the  new 
professor  of  Greek  at  Wittenberg,  Philip  Melanchthon,  a  3'oung 
man  of  twenty-two,  who  was  already  distinguished  for  his  attain- 
ments. Although  Melanchthon  was  quite  the  opposite  of  Luther  in 
temperament,  he  soon  proved  himself  a  valuable  auxiliary.  He  had 
a  fine  but  cautious  intellect,  and  exact  and  ample  learning.  He 
won  fame  alike  as  a  theologian  and  an  expositor.  His  commentary 
on  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  laid  the  foundation  of  Protestant 
exegesis.  It  was  only  after  jEck-aHd-"6arlstadt  had  been  arguing 
several  days  on  the  difficult  themes  of  gra£fi^  and  free-wUl  that 
Luther  joined  in  the  discussion.  Not  even  at  such  a  moment  did 
he  fail  to"^shrn;r1j[is  delight  in  nature.  As  he  ascended  the  platform 
he  carried  in  his  hand  a  nosegay  of  flowers.  He  was  then  in  his 
thirty-sixth  year,  of  middle  stature,  at  that  time  thin,  and  spoke  in 
a  clear,  melodious  voice.  This  disputation  before  Duke  George  of 
Saxony,  who  became  a  decided  enemy  of  the  Reformation,  proved 
to  be  the  turning-point  in  Luther's  career.  He  was  drawn  by  his 
opponent  into  a  discussion  of  the  primacy  of  tFe  pope,  in'lhe 
course  of  which  he  dedared  it  to  be^of^  human  appointment  and 
therefore  not  indisj)ensable.  In  answer  to  a~X][UBstion,  he  startled 
the  assembly,  and  provoked  an  angry  exclamation  from  the  Duke,  by 
asserting  that  among  the  articles  for  which  Huss  was  condemned 
at  Constance,  there  were  some  that  were  thoroughly  Christian. 

As  the  controversy  continued,  Luther's  studies  led  him  more 

and  more  to  regard  the  jD^pal  rule  as  a  hateful  usurpation.     He 

found  it  vain  to  a]5])eal  to  the  rulers  of  the  church  for 

"  Address  to  ■'•■'■ 

the  Nobles,"  reform,  and  he  now  turned  to  the  people.  In  his  spir- 
lonian  Cap-  itcd  "  Addrcss  to  the  Christian  Nobles  of  the  German 
^^'  ^'  Nation,"  he  urged  them  to  put  an  end  to  the  tyranni- 

cal interference  of  the  pope  in  civil  affairs,  and  to  take  the  work 
of  reformation  into  their  own  hands.  He  rejected  the  idea  of  a 
special  priesthood,  and  emphatically  asserted  the  universal  priest- 
hood of  believers,  and  with  it  their  right  to  choose  those  who  should 
be  "  ministers  of  their  common  power."  This  was  followed  by  a 
treatise  on  the  "Babylonian  Captivity  of  the  Chui-ch,"  in  which  he 
attacked  transubstantiation  as  well  as  the  ordinances  which  violated 
Christian  liberty  by  prescribing  pilgrimages,  fastings,  and  monas- 
Buii  of  ex-  ticism.  It  was  not  long  before  a  papal  bull  was  sent  to 
tionTunr'  Germany,  excommunicating  Luther  and  commanding  the 
15,1520.  Elector  Frederic  to  deliver  him  up.  But  the  elector, 
having  first  sought  the  advice  of  Erasmus,  chose  rather  to  protect 


1517-164S.]  THE  REFORMATION  IN  GERMANY.  295 

liim.  Erasmus  remarked  to  Frederic  :  "  Luther  has  sinned  in 
two  points.  He  has  hit  the  pope's  crown  and  the  bellies  of  the 
monks."  Meanwhile  Luther  was  not  silent.  He  called  the  papal 
decree  the  "execrable  bull  of  Antichrist."  On  the  10th  of  Decem- 
ber, 1520,  he  burned  it,  together  with  a  copy  of  the  canon  law,  at 
the  gates  of  Wittenberg,  in  the  presence  of  the  doctors  and  students 
of  the  university  and  of  a  concourse  of  people  who  gathered  to  wit- 
ness the  scene.  ^  this  act  he  threw  offjiia-allefiiance-tathe  Eoman 
church.  He  was  thenceforth  a  declared  enemy  of  the  mediaeval 
system.  Luther  had  many  friends  and  sympathizers  besides  the 
great  elector.  The  jurists  were  ready  to  defend  him,  for  they  saw 
in  the  papal  bull  only  a  fresh  instance  of  the  interference  of  ecclesi- 
astical powers  with  civil  jurisdiction.  Many  of  the  inferior  clergy 
and  of  the  monastic  orders  were  attracted  to  the  new  doctrine, 
which  based  itself,  not  on  the  dogmas  and  ordinances  of  men,  but 
upon  the  word  of  God.  The  older  Humanists  approved  of  Luther's 
brave  attack  on  the  abuses  of  the  age,  but  deprecated  his  vehemence. 
Not  so  the  young  men  of  whom  Ulrich  von  Hutten  was  the  leader. 
He  entered  with  the  same  wild  zeal  into  the  cause  of  the  Witten- 
berg reformers  that  he  had  shown  before  in  the  defence  of  Keuch- 
liu  against  the  Dominican  obscurantists.  He  scattered  broadcast 
stormy  invectives  against  the  pope  and  his  agents.  He  appealed 
to  the  Germans  to  deliver  themselves  from  their  slavery  to  Rome. 
.His  fiery  harangues  were  all  the  more  effective  because  they  were 
written  in  verse,  m  the  language  of  the  people.  Hutten's  friend, 
Francis  von  Sickingen,  a  knight  who  was  ever  ready  for  a  bold  ex- 
ploit, offered  Luther  a  refuge,  in  case  of  need,  in  his  strong  castle 
of  Ebernburg. 

Germany  was  thus  on  the  eve  of  a  great  religious  movement. 
The  political  condition  of  the  country  seemed,  however,  to  portend 
Condition  of  ^<^^  reform  but  revolution.  The  Italian  wars  of  Frederic 
Germany.  jj_  ^^^  ^^^  anarchy  which  followed  his  downfall,  fatally 
■weakened  the  authority  of  the  imperial  government.  The  Golden 
Bull  of  Charles  IV.,  in  1356,  left  the  preponderance  of  power  in  the 
hands  of  the  seven  leading  princes,  three  archbishops  and  four 
nobles,  to  whom  the  choice  of  the  emperor  was  committed.  But 
the  intestine  strife  beween  the  different  states  did  not  cease.  The 
efforts  of  the  emperor  Maximilian  to  dispense  an  equal  justice  and 
to  put  an  end  to  private  war  were  in  the  main  unsuccessful.  The 
quarrels  of  the  princes  with  the  bishops,  as  well  as  with  the  knights, 
became  still  more  frequent.  The  cities  complained  of  the  tyranny 
of  the  imperial  government  and  of  the  depredations  of  lawless 


296    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VUI. 

nobles.  They  murmured  at  the  burdensome  taxes  and  at  the  in- 
security of  the  highways.  The  peasants,  goaded  almost  to  despair 
by  the  hardships  of  their  condition,  were  ready  to  raise  the  stand- 
ard of  revolt.  On  the  death  of  Maximilian  (January  12,  1519),  the 
imperial  crown  was  offered  to  the  Elector  Frederic.  His 
Charles  V.,  refusal  to  accept  an  office  which  required  for  its  vigor- 
ous administration  resources  greater  than  he  possessed, 
left  two  principal  aspirants  for  the  succession,  Francis  I.,  king  of 
France,  and  Charles,  the  young  king  of  Spain.  Charles  was  the 
grandson  of  the  emperor  Maximilian  and  of  Ferdinand  the  Catho- 
lic. He  had  thus  inherited  Austria  and  the  Low  Countries,  the 
crowns  of  Castile  and  Aragon,  of  Navarre,  of  Naples  and  Sicily,  to- 
gether with  the  Spanish  territories  in  America.  The  electors  were 
anxious  to  preserve  their  own  prerogatives,  and  at  the  same  time  to 
seciare  for  the  empire  a  powerful  defender  against  the  Turks.  They 
therefore  passed  by  the  brilliant  but  despotic  Francis,  and  fixed 
upon  Charles,  whose  mild  temper  and  great  hereditary  dominions 
seemed  better  to  suit  their  aims.  But  they  first  bound  him  by  a 
"  capitulation  "  to  respect  the  rights  of  the  Diet,  and  not  to  bring 
foreign  troops  into  the  country.  The  election  of  Charles  did  not 
prove  an  unmixed  advantage  to  Germany.  Although  he  was  a 
sagacious  statesman,  he  was  unfitted,  both  by  his  education  and  by 
his  position,  to  become  the  leader  of  a  people  who  were  filled  with 
aspirations  after  national  unity  and  reform.  The  object  of  his  life  • 
was  not  so  much  to  further  the  peculiar  interests  of  Germany, 
which  was  but  one  part  of  his  great  realm,  as  to  extend  his  domin- 
ions and  strengthen  his  imperial  authority.  His  idea  that,  as  em- 
peror, he  was  the  temporal  ruler  of  the  Christian  commonwealth  of 
which  the  spiritual  head  was  the  pope,  necessarily  made  him  an 
antagonist  of  the  Protestant  movement.  And  yet  his  attitude  to- 
wards it  was  actually  governed  by  no  consistent  plan,  but  was  dic- 
tated by  the  changing  circumstances  of  the  political  situation.  The 
interests  of  his  vast  dominions  often  compelled  him  to  suffer  the  re- 
formers to  remain  undisturbed.  He  was  frequently  in  conflict  with 
the  French  king  and  sometimes  with  the  pope,  both  of  whom  were 
alarmed  at  the  concentration  of  so  much  power  in  the  hands  of  a 
single  monarch.  Charles,  Francis,  and  the  pope  each  sought  to 
win  an  advantage  over  the  others,  and  to  each  at  one  time  or  another 
the  Lutherans  were  useful  allies.  Moreover,  Christendom  was  con- 
tinually threatened  by  the  Turks,  and  the  enaperer  could  ill  afford, 
in  the  ihce  of  so  dangerous  an  invader,  to  alienate  a  large  part  of 
the  German  population. 


1517-1648.]  THE  REFORMATION  IN  GERMANY.  297 

The  first  political  combination  seemed  unfavorable  to  tlie  cause 
of  Luther.  Leo  X.  had  opposed  the  election  of  Charles  V.,  fearing 
Diet  of  Worms,  ^^  ^^^^^  ^^®  States  of  the  Church  surrounded  by  the 
1521.  '  imperial  territories.     This  did  not  prevent  him,  how- 

ever, from  entering  into  friendly  negotiations  with  Charles  as 
soon  as  he  had  become  emperor.  He  urged  him  to  put  Luther, 
•who  was  already  cut  off  from  the  communion  of  the  Church,  under 
the  ban  of  the  empire.  This  Charles  proposed  to  do  by  an  impe- 
rial edict  at  the  Diet  of  Worms.  But  the  German  princes,  not 
unmindful  of  the  many  encroachments  of  the  court  of  Rome, 
and  of  the  reformer's  manly  denunciation  of  its  extortions  and 
tyranny,  persuaded  the  emperor  not  to  condemn  him  unheard. 
Luther  was,  therefore,  summoned  before  the  Diet  to  answer  for 
himself.  All  along  the  way  to  the  city  of  Worms  he  was  greeted 
with  enthusiasm.  At  Erfurt,  the  university  went  out  in  a  proces- 
sion to  meet  him,  and  welcomed  him  with  a  speech  from  the  rector. 
There  were  occasionally  voices  which  warned  him  not  to  trust  in 
the  emperor's  safe-conduct.  To  one  of  the  councillors  of  the 
elector,  who  reminded  him  of  the  fate  of  Huss,  he  replied  :  "  Huss 
has  been  burned,  but  not  the  truth  with  him.  I  will  go  on,  though 
as  many  devils  were  aiming  at  me  as  there  are  tiles  on  the  roof." 
When  he  appeared  before  the  Diet  the  hall  was  filled 
with  a  great  assembly  of  princes  and  nobles.  The  young 
emperor  was  seated  on  his  throne.  Near  him  was  his  brother,  the 
Ai'chduke  Ferdinand.  Among  the  magnates  present  were  the 
Elector  of  Saxony,  and  Philip,  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse.  When  first 
introduced,  clad  in  his  monk's  frock,  into  the  presence  of  this  august 
body,  Luther  appeared  a  little  dazed,  spoke  in  a  low  tone,  and 
when  questioned  whether  he  would  retract  the  contents  of  his  books, 
he  asked — no  doubt,  as  directed  by  his  legal  adviser — for  time  to 
frame  a  reply.  It  was  a  question  not  to  be  answered  by  a  simple 
"  yes  "  or  "  no."  There  was  much  in  his  books  to  which  no  one 
could  object,  and  some  things,  especially  in  regard  to  persons, 
which  he  might  not  himself  approve.  On  the  following  day,  he  de- 
clared to  the  Diet  that  he  could  not  retract  anything  that  he  had 
written  until  it  was  proved  contrary  to  Scripture  or  right  reason. 
When  asked  finally  whether  he  would  recant,  he  replied  that  his  con- 
science would  not  permit  him,  and,  according  to  an  early  and  trust- 
worthy tradition,  closed  with  the  words  :  "Here  I  stand  ;  I  can  do 
naught  else.  God  help  me.  Amen."  There  were  some  who  urged 
Charles  to  arrest  Luther  on  the  ground  that  faith  is  not  to  be  kept 
with  heretics.    Such  solicitations  only  kindled  the  anger  of  the  Ger- 


298    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VIII. 

man  princes.  There  were  others  besides  the  Elector  Frederic  who 
were  ready  to  defend  the  brave  monk.  Daring  knights  like  Ulrich 
von  Hutten  signified  to  members  of  the  Diet  that  vengeance  would 
follow  in  case  he  was  harmed.    While  Luther  was  on  his  way  back  to 

Wittenberg  he  was  intercepted  by  soldiers  of  the  elector 
^"  ■  and  was  carried  off  to  a  safe  retreat  in  the  castle  of  the 
Wartburg,  The  elector  had  previously  informed  him  of  his  scheme, 
but  it  was  supposed  at  first  that  his  enemies  had  made  way  with 
him.  Albert  Diirer,  then  at  Antwei-p,  recorded  in  his  diary  his 
poignant  grief  over  so  great  a  loss  to  the  Church.  The  Diet  had 
already  begun  to  disperse  when,  on  May  2Gth,  an  edict  placing 
Luther  under  the  ban  of  the  empire  was,  through  the  intrigues  of 
Aleander,  the  papal  nuncio,  hastily  passed.  Bearing  the  same  date 
was  a  treaty  between  Chai-les  V.  and  Leo  X.  for  the  reconquest  of 
Milan  from  the  French. 

Charles  laid  claim  to  Lombardy  as  one  of  the  territories  of  the 
empire.  But  Francis  was  resolved  to  hold  the  lands  which  he  had 
Victories  of  ^°^  ^^  Mariguauo,  and,  in  addition,  to  vindicate  the  rights 
Charles  in       of  the  house  of  Anjou  over  Naples.     His  army,  however, 

was  soon  driven  out  of  Lombardy  by  the  emperor,  and 
Francesco  Sforza,  second  son  of  the  old  duke,  was  established  in 
Milan.  The  sounds  of  rejoicing  at  Rome  over  the  imperial  victory 
Lad  scarcely  died  away  when  Leo  X.  fell  sick  of  a  mortal  disease. 

His  successor,  Adrian  VI.,  although  he  had  been  formerly 

1521—1522  ■'■'<->  J 

a  tutor  of  Charles,  assumed  as  long  as  he  was  able  a 
neutral  attitude  towards  the  warring  monarchs.  But  new  dangers 
drove  him  to  the  side  of  the  emperor.  The  cause  of  Francis  was 
threatened  in  another  quarter.  Charles  of  Boui-bon,  the  most 
eminent  and  the  richest  man  of  the  kingdom,  dissatisfied  with  the 
treatment  which  he  had  received,  went  over  to  the  imj^erial  side. 
Clement  VII.,  however,  who  was  of  the  house  of  Medici  and  was 
a  man  of  the  world,  like  Leo  X.,  saw  that  little  gain  was  coming  to 
the  j)apacy  out  of  the  Spanish  dominion  in  Italy,  and  became  anx- 
ious to  put  an  end  to  it.  He  had  already  esj^oused  the  cause  of 
the  French  when  Francis  himself,  having  advanced  into  Italy  at  the 
head  of  a  brilliant  army,  was  defeated  at  Pavia  and  taken 
prisoner.  The  king  was  now  in  the  power  of  Charles, 
and  was  obliged,  in  order  to  obtain  his  release,  to  renounce,  by 
January  14  *^®  treaty  of  Madrid,  his  claims  in  Italy,  as  well  as  over 
152G.  other  territories  which  were  in  dispute.     Had  he  faith- 

fully carried  out  the  terms  of  the  peace,  the  Lutherans  would  have 
been  at  the  mercy  of  the  emperor.     But  the  very  day  on  which  he 


1517-1648.]  THE  REFORMATION  IN  GERMANY.  299 

pledged  his  honor  to  fulfil  the  treaty,  he  signed  a  protest  declaring 
that  it  was  jorocured  b}'  compulsion. 

The  attention  of  the  emperor  had  been  so  absorbed  in  his  Ital- 
ian wars,  and  in  settling  the  affairs  of  Spain,  that  Germany  was 
^  ,.    ,  left  to  take  care  of  itself.     This  was  favorable  to  the 

Luther's 

translation  of  cause  of  the  Reformers.    Although  Luther  was  now  legally 

the  Bible.  °  _  o       j 

an  outlaw,  under  the  condemnation  of  the  Church  and  of 
the  Empire,  institutions  which  men  had  been  wont  to  regard  as  the 
two  governing  powers  of  the  world,  he  was  safe  as  long  as  he  re- 
mained in  Saxony.  The  elector,  however,  thought  it  prudent  for  him 
to  stay  for  a  time  in  the  Wartburg.  While  there  he  busied  himself 
chiefly  with  his  translation  of  the  New  Testament,  the  first  portion 
of  that  version  of  the  whole  Bible  which,  aside  from  its  value  in  the 
religious  education  of  the  people,  created  an  epoch  in  the  history 
of  the  German  tongue.  Familiar  from  boyhood  with  the  language 
of  common  life,  he  took  great  pains,  nevertheless,  to  confer  with 
anybody  who  could  give  him  light  as  to  popular  phrases  and  idioms. 
The  jDrophets  and  apostles,  cost  what  effort  it  might,  must  be  made 
to  talk  German.  He  humorously  speaks  of  how  he  wi-estled  to 
make  Job  plain  to  the  common  reader.  Through  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury, and  especially  in  the  latter  half  of  the  century,  there  had 
existed  in  Germany  a  growing  desire  to  have  the  Scriptures  in  the 
vernacular.  Besides  translations  of  particulars  parts,  prior  to  1518 
not  less  than  fourteen  editions  of  the  whole  Bible  had  been  printed 
in  High  German,  and  four  in  Low  German.  But  they  were  sub- 
stantially the  same  version ;  they  were  small  editions,  and  their  cir- 
culation was  limited.  It  was  Luther  who  gave  the  Bible  to  the 
people,  and  in  a  form  so  full  of  vitality  that  the  people  were  eager 
to  read  it. 

Meanwhile  a  grave  disturbance  had  arisen  at  Wittenberg.  Carl- 
stadt  had  begun  to  assail  all  the  rites  and  ordinances  of  the  Church 
^.  ^  ^  which  he  deemed  inconsistent  with  the  new  doctrine. 

Disturbances 

atwitten-  The  trouble  was  increased  by  certain  enthusiasts  from 
Zwickau,  who  claimed  to  be  immediately  inspired,  and 
who  prophesied  a  great  social  convulsion.  Luther  saw  that  the 
movement  which  he  had  inaugurated  was  in  danger  of  ending  in  a 
wild  burst  of  fanaticism.  His  profound  Christian  sagacity  made 
him  firmly  averse  to  ecclesiastical  changes  which  did  not  come 
about  naturally,  from  an  insight  into  the  true  principles  of  the 
gospel.  ReaKzing  the  importance  of  the  crisis,  he  was  forgetful  of 
his  own  safety.  He  refused  to  listen  to  the  warnings  of  the  elector, 
who  said  that  he  could  not  protect  him  from  the  consequences  of 


300    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OP  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VIII. 

the  imperial  edict.  Ha\ing  returned  to  Wittenberg,  in  a  few  pow- 
erful sermons  he  inculcated  the  principles  of  Christian  moderation. 
When  the  commotion  was  subdued,  he  did  not  go  back  to  the  asylum 
provided  for  him,  but  i-emained  at  Wittenberg,  laboring  unremit- 
tingly as  a  preacher,  teacher,  and  author. 

^  Meanwhile  the  Council  of  the  Regency,  to  which  the  govern- 
ment of  Germany  had  been  committed  during  the  absence  of  the 
Diet  of  Nu-  emperor,  refused  to  take  any  steps  towards  carrying  out 
remberg,  the  edict  promulgated  at  Worms.  They  were  personally 
favorable  to  the  movement  for  reform,  and  were,  more- 
over, convinced  that  it  had  taken  so  strong  a  hold  uj)on  the  minds 
of  the  people  that  to  attempt  to  crush  it  would  provoke  a  danger- 
ous rebellion.  Consequently,  when  Adrian,  who  was  desirous  of 
doing  away  with  the  abuses  which  had  so  long  afflicted  the  Church, 
promised  through  his  legate,  at  the  Diet  of  Nuremberg,  to  bring 
about  the  needed  reforms,  and  urged  upon  the  diet  tlie  fulfilment 
of  the  imperial  edict,  the  only  answer  he  received  was  a  list  of  a 
hundred  grievances  which  Germany  had  to  allege  against  the 
Roman  court.  But  certain  events  soon  took  place  which  injured 
the  cause  of  the  Reformation,  and  gave  rise  to  a  conservative  re- 
action. The  knights,  aggrieved  at  the  continued  enci'oachments 
of  the  imperial  princes,  banded  themselves  together  under  Francis 
von  Sickingen.  They  sought  to  ally  their  movement  with  the  new 
zeal  which  had  been  excited  in  behalf  of  a  pure  gospel.  The  attack 
on  the  Archbishop  of  Treves,  one  of  the  electors,  by  Sickingen  was 
repulsed,  and  his  death,  which  occurred  soon  after,  brought  the 
revolt  to  an  end.  Luther  had  repeatedly  striven  to  dissuade  the 
knights  from  warlike  measures,  but  the  cause  of  reform  sufiered 
from  the  attempt  of  men  who  had  supported  it  to  bring  about  a 
civil  revolution.  Nevertheless,  Campeggio,  the  legate  of  Clement 
Vn.,  at  the  diet  which  was  held  at  Nuremberg  in  1524,  was  able 
to  obtain  only  an  indefinite  promise  to  observe  the  Worms  decree 
"as  far  as  possible."  By  this  action  the  matter  was  practically 
given  over  to  the  several  princes,  who  could  adopt  whatever  policy 
they  chose  within  their  own  territories — an  important  step  in  the 
progress  of  the  Reformation.  But  Campeggio  succeeded  better  in 
his  second  project.  Through  his  influence  the  Archduke  of  Austria 
and  the  Catholic  princes  and  bishops  of  South  Germany  formed  an 
Catholic  alliance  at  Ratisbon,  by  the  terms  of  which  the  Witten- 
aiiiance.  i^g^.g  jjercsy  was  to  be  excluded  from  their  dominions,  and 
they  were  to  help  each  other  in  their  common  dangers.  Thus  the 
nation,  which  had  hitherto  been  one  in  its  aspirations  after  reform, 


1517-1648.]  THE   REFORMATION   IX   GERMANY.  301 

as  well  as  in  its  refusal  to  supi^ress  the  new  opiuions,  was  separat- 
ing into  two  hostile  parties. 

At  this  time  there  occurred  a  social  convulsion  which,  even  more 
than  the  War  of  the  Knights,  caused  men  to  look  with  alarm  on  the 
The  Peasants'  work  of  the  reformers.  It  was  the  revolt  of  the  peas- 
'^^'''^^-  ants,  which  broke  out  in  1524,  and  became  general  in 

the  following  year.  They  had  long  suffered  under  the  heavy  bur- 
dens laid  upon  them  by  the  nobles  and  the  clergy.  More  than  once 
they  had  risen  in  rebellion.  Their  discontent,  their  sense  of  the 
wrongs  done  them,  was  fomented  by  the  spread  among  them  of 
the  Lutheran  doctrine  of  Christian  liberty.  They  wei'e  still  further 
inflamed  by  the  harangues  of  revolutionary  preachers,  one  of  whom, 
Carlstadt,  had  caused  so  much  trouble  at  Wittenberg.  The  revolt 
began  in  Swabia.  The  peasants  embodied  their  grievances  in 
twelve  articles.  Many  of  their  demands  were  just,  and  were  sup- 
ported, as  they  thought,  by  plain  words  of  Scripture.  They  main- 
tained that  those  whom  Chxist  had  redeemed  should  no  longer 
endure  the  bondage  of  serfdom.  They  demanded  freedom  in 
Church  affairs,  a  restoration  of  the  rights  of  the  community  over 
the  woods  and  commons,  and  the  abohtion  of  other  forms  of  feu- 
dal tyranny.  But  as  the  rebellion  spread  into  Thuringia,  under  the 
influence  of  a  fanatical  leader,  Thomas  Miinzer,  it  threatened  the 
overthrow  of  civil  authority.  The  peasants  looked  to  Luther  for 
sympathy  and  sujDport.  But  although  he  recognized  the  bitterness 
of  their  condition  and  was  ready  to  intercede  in  their  behalf,  he 
was  firmly  oj^posed  to  all  resort  to  force.  When  the  peasants 
finally  rose  in  rebellion,  he  urged  the  pi-inces  to  cut  them  down 
without  mercy.  The  nobles  were  only  too  willing  to  cariy  out 
literally  the  counsels  of  the  reformer.  Great  numbers  of  the  peas- 
ants were  slain,  and  several  of  their  leaders  were  cruelly  punished. 
Luther's  uncompromising  support  of  the  civil  authority  prevented 
so  strong  a  reaction  as  such  disorders  might  have  brought  about, 
to  the  detriment  of  the  cause  of  the  Reformation.  A  few  days  be- 
fore the  revolt  came  to  an  end,  the  Elector  Frederic  died.  He 
was  succeeded  by  his  brother  John,  called  the  Steadfast,  who 
proved  an  equally  stanch  defender  of  the  Lutheran  reform. 

It  is  necessary  here  to  turn  aside  from  the  general  course  of 
events,  in  order  to  describe  certain  occurrences  which,  though  they 
,  ^,    ,  had  an  important  influence  on  the  course  of  the  Eeforma- 

JjUtner  8  mar-  •■■ 

riage  and  do-   tion,  are  especially  interesting  as  illustrating  the  personal 

character  of  Luther.     On  June  13th  of  this  same  year 

(1525)  Luther  married  Catharine  von  Bora,  who  had  formerly 


302    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.   [Pekiod  VIIL 

been  a  uun  of  the  Cistercian  order.  He  took  this  step,  which  dis- 
mayed even  some  of  his  best  friends,  partly  as  a  practical  testimony 
against  the  ecclesiastical  law  of  celibacy,  and  partly  because  he 
yearned  after  the  happiness  of  domestic  life.  It  proved,  in  the 
long  run,  of  advantage  to  his  cause.  It  gave  him  a  home  where, 
when  wearied  by  the  intense  excitement  and  incessant  toil  of 
his  busy  life,  he  could  dehght  in  music  and  song,  and  in  the 
frolics  of  his  children.  His  diverting  letters  to  his  wife — his 
"Mistress  Kate,"  "  Doctress  Luther,"  as  he  styled  her — and  the 
tender  expressions  of  his  grief  at  the  death  of  his  children,  reveal 
to  us  a  side  of  his  nature  the  knowledge  of  which  could  ill  be 
spared. 

During  the  years  which  had  passed  since  the  Diet  of  Worms, 
Luther  was  engaged  in  translating  the  Bible,  and  in  composing 
^    ^   ,  catechisms,  sermons,  tracts,  and  other  writinpfs,  for  the 

Luther  s  con-  '  '  '  °   ' 

troversywith  building  up  of  the  Church.     In  coniuuction  with  these 

Henry  VIII.  °      "■  i        x       i  i.    •  l 

prodigious  labors,  he  took  part  m  many  controversies, 
the  most  important  of  which  were  those  with  Henry  VIH.  and 
Erasmus.  The  vehemence  of  the  reformer's  temper  often  moved 
him  to  use  the  roughest  style  of  vituperation.  On  this  score,  how- 
ever, there  is  much  to  be  said  in  his  defence.  He  was  the  object 
of  violent  antipathy.  Then  he  felt  that  his  warfare  must  be  with- 
out compromise.  To  flinch  would  be  to  surrender.  The  disease  was 
one  which  could  not  be  cured  by  a  palliative.  Moreover,  he  was  con- 
vinced that  he  beheld  in  the  medireval  system  the  same  pharisaical 
theology  and  ethics  which  had  called  forth  unsparing  denuncia- 
tions from  Paul  and  from  Christ  himself.  Yet  it  must  be  allowed 
that  in  Luther,  along  with  deep  tenderness  of  feeling  and  poetic 
sensibility,  there  was  a  coarser  vein.  There  was  a  plebeian  rude- 
ness, which,  when  he  was  goaded  by  oj^position,  found  vent  in 
abusive,  and  even  scurrilous,  language.  Henry  VIH.  wrote,  in 
1521,  a  book  against  Luthei*'s  work  on  the  sacraments,  "  The  Baby- 
lonian Captivity."  It  was  a  haughty  and  severe  attack  on  the  re- 
former for  setting  himself  up  against  the  authority  of  popes  and 
doctors  without  number.  It  won  for  Henry,  from  Leo  X.,  the  title, 
of  Defender  of  the  Faith,  a  title  which  was  retained  by  Henry  after 
his  breach  with  the  Roman  see,  and  which  has  been  ever  since 
worn  by  his  successors.  In  his  reply  Luther  did  not  hesitate  to 
bemire  the  royal  purple,  seeking,  perhaps,  to  dispel  the  prestige 
which  the  arguments  of  one  of  the  foremost  princes  of  Europe 
would  naturally  have  in  the  arena  of  theological  debate.  The 
ungenerous  use  by  Henry  of  an  apology  which  Luther  sent  him,  at 


1517-1648.]  THE  REFORMATION  IN  GERMANY.  303 

a  time  when  he  was  reputed  to  be  turning  in  favor  of  the  Protes- 
tant cause,  confirmed  the  Saxon  reformer  in  the  opinion  that  all 
such  humility  was  thrown  away. 

The  enmity  which  gradually  sprang  up  between  the  Saxon 
theologians  and  Erasmus  was  unfortunate.  They  who  loved  learn- 
Lutherand  ^^S  ^^'^  hated  supcrstition  could  not  but  look  with  re- 
Erasmus.  spect  upou  this  patriarch  of  letters,  this  keen  antagonist 
of  the  monks.  Nor  could  Erasmus  avoid  sympathizing  with  their 
courageous  advocacy  of  principles  the  most  of  which  he  himself 
approved.  But  he  was  not  the  man  to  rebel  against  constituted 
authority  for  the  sake  of  his  convictions.  He  felt,  moreover,  that 
peace  was  all-important  for  the  advancement  of  the  culture  and 
learning  to  which  his  life  was  devoted.  He  bewailed  the  fact  that 
men's  minds  were  being  turned  away  from  literature,  and  were 
becoming  absorbed  in  theological  controversy.  Luther's  roughness 
became  more  and  more  distasteful  to  him.  Moreover,  while  he 
sought  to  avoid  giving  offence  to  the  reformers,  he  was  anxious  to 
remain  on  good  terras  with  the  rulers  of  the  Church,  many  of  whom 
were  his  patrons.  Luther  saw  through  him,  and  too  plainly  showed 
his  contempt  for  what  could  only  appear  to  him  a  cowardly  and  a 
time-serving  policy.  The  refusal  of  Erasmus  to  see  Ulrich  von 
Hutten,  who  called  upon  him  at  Basel,  was  the  first  decided  step 
in  the  estrangement  of  the  great  scholar  from  the  apostle  of 
reform.  At  length,  yielding  to  the  persuasions  of  his  Catholic 
friends,  the  chief  of  the  Humanists  ventured  to  assail  Luther's  posi- 
tion on  the  subject  of  free-will,  a  point  where  the  reformer's  ex- 
travagant language  made  him  especially  vulnerable.  Erasmus  and 
his  associates  preferred  the  Greek  theology,  while  Luther,  as  More 
once  said,  "  clung  by  tooth  and  nail  to  the  doctrine  of  Augustine." 
The  book  of  Erasmus  called  forth  a  reply  from  Luther  in  his  severest 
style.  He  thought  Erasmus  was  defending  the  principles  which  lay 
at  the  basis  of  the  whole  system  of  salvation  by  merit.  The  contro- 
versy which  ensued  completed  their  alienation.  Luther  afterward 
spoke  of  the  illustrious  Humanist  as  a  disciple  of  Lucian,  of  Epicurus, 
as  an  enemy  of  all  religions,  especially  of  the  Christian.  Such  treat- 
ment only  served  to  exasperate  Erasmus,  and  to  make  him  more 
distinctly  an  adversary  of  the  Protestants.  Luther,  although  he 
was  drawn  by  his  usual  ardor  into  erroneous  and  uncharitable  as- 
sertions, was  right  in  believing  that  diverting  satires  on  the  follies 
of  the  monks  could  never  reform  the  Church.  To  accomplish  this 
work  it  was  necessary  to  attack  the  wrong  foundations  upon  which 
the  whole  system,  of  which  monasticism  was  a  branch,  rested.     The 


304    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.   [Peuiod  VIII. 

rising  zeal  of  the  paj)al  party  must  be  confronted  by  au  equally 
uncompx'omising  energy.  Without  the  sterner  contest  waged  by 
Luther,  the  literary  reformers  must  eventually  have  succumbed  to 
the  terrors  of  the  Inquisition.  But  Erasmus  belonged  to  the  age 
of  preparation.  The  splendid  work  that  he  did  then  must  not  be 
disparaged  on  account  of  his  shortcomings  in  later  life.  How  di- 
verse the  two  men  were  in  their  natural  qualities  is  indicated  by 
their  porti-aits.  The  fine,  sharply  cut  features  of  Erasmus,  as  de- 
picted by  Holbein,  show  us  the  critic,  whose  weapon  in  conflict 
is  the  keen- edged  rapier.  The  rugged  face  of  Luther,  as  seen  on 
the  canvas  of  Cranach,  befits  one  who  has  been  called  "the  modera 
Hercules,"  who  cleansed  the  Augean  stables,  and  who  carried  into 
battle  the  club  of  his  fabled  prototype. 

At  the  time  (1526)  when  this  controversy  between  Luther  and 
Erasmus  was  drawing  to  an  end,  the  cause  of  the  reformers  was 
threatened  by  many  dangers.  The  hostile  attitude  which  the  em- 
peror assumed  during  the  latter  part  of  his  war  with  Francis,  and 
his  resolve,  after  the  Treaty  of  Madrid,  to  suppress  the  Lutheran 
League  of  hcresy,  caused  the  princes  who  were  favorable  to  re- 
Torgau.  form  to  Unite  in  the  League  of  Torgau.  Again  the  Kef- 
ormation  was  protected  by  the  political  schemes  of  the  European 
powers.  Clement  VH.  made  an  alliance  with  Francis,  Venice,  and 
the  Duke  of  Milan,  to  check  the  growing  power  of  the  emperor. 
Consequently,  Charles  was  obliged  to  reverse  his  poHcy  in  respect 
to  the  Lutherans.  At  the  Diet  of  Spires  a-decree  was  promulgated 
according  to  which  every  state  was  to  act,  with  reference  to  the 
edict  of  Worms,  as  it  might  answer  to  God  and  his  imperial  majesty. 
This  act  gave  the  Lutheran  movement  a  legal  existence.  It  is, 
therefore,  a  great  landmark  in  the  history  of  the  German  Eeforma- 
tiou.  But  the  emperor  was  soon  triumphant  over  all  his  enemies. 
Rome  was  stormed,  the  pope  was  a  prisoner,  the  armies  of  the 
French  were  destroyed.  The  Italian  victories  of  Charles  and  his 
subsequent  treaty  with  the  pope  emboldened  the  Catholic  party, 
which  was  in  the  majority  at  the  Diet  of  Spires,  in  1529^ 
to  proclaim  an  edict  which  forbade  the  progress  of  the 
Reformation  in  the  states  which  had  not  accepted  it,  while  granting 
full  liberty  in  the  reformed  states  to  such  as  adhered  to  the  Church 
of  Rome.  The  protest  which  the  Elector  of  Saxony  and  several 
other  princes,  together  with  fourteen  cities,  made  against  the  decree, 
gave  the  name  Protestant  to  the  Lutheran  party.  They  declared 
that  the  new  edict  was  contrary  to  a  policy  which  had  been  solemnly 
established  ;  a  policy  on  the  faith  of  which  the  princes  and  cities 


1517-1648.]  THE  REFORMATION   IN   GERMANY.  305 

that  were  favorable  to  the  evangelical  cause  had  proceeded  in  shap- 
ing their  religious  polity  and  worship. 

Meanwhile  a  violent  controversy  had  broken  out  between  Luther 
and  the  Swiss  reformers  on  the  subject  of  the  sacrament.  An  at- 
sacramentai  tempt  was  made  at  Marburg,  in  1529,  by  a  conference 
controversy,  ^f  ^j^g  representatives  of  both  parties,  to  heal  the  threat- 
ened rupture,  but  it  met  with  no  success.  At  a  time  when  the 
enemies  of  the  Reformation  were  strongest,  its  friends  were  hope- 
lessly divided.  If  Luther  coufined  ecclesiastical  fellowship  within 
too  narrow  bounds,  yet  in  his  defence  of  what  he  believed  to 
be  the  truth  he  always  showed  a  noble  disregard  of  mere  ex- 
j)ediency.  The  emperor  was  now  free  to  attend  to  the  affairs  of 
Germany.  The  conflict  with  Francis  had  been  ended  by  the  Peace 
of  Cambrai  ;  the  formidable  attack  of  the  Turks  upon  Vienna  had 
Diet  of  Augs-  been  repulsed.  Charles  came  to  the  Diet  of  Augsburg 
bure,  1530.  filled  with  the  sense  of  his  responsiblity  as  head  of  the 
Holy  Eoman  empire,  whose  crown  he  had  just  received  from  the 
hands  of  the  pope  at  Bologna.  He  was  determined  to  restore  the 
unity  of  the  Church.  But  the  Protestants  were  equally  resolved  to 
maintain  the  cause  of  the  Eeformation.  They  presented  their  cele- 
brated "  Confession  " — drawn  ujp  by  MelancfitHoh- — which,  though 
conciliatory  in  spirit,  clearly  definedjfche  essential  tenets  of  the  re- 
formers. An  attempt  was  made  through  committees  of  theologians 
taken  from  each  party  to  arrange  a  compi'omise.  But  these  nego- 
tiations were  tmsuccessful,  much  to  the  joy  of  Luther,  who  did  not 
believe  in  the  possibility  of  agreement  between  the  respective  parties 
in  matters  of  doctrine.  It  had  not  been  thought  safe  for  Luther 
to  go  to  Augsburg,  and  therefore  he  was  left  behind  at  the  castle 
of  Coburg,  within  the  dominion  of  the  elector.  He  was,  however, 
in  constant  communication  with  the  Saxon  theologians  at  Augsburg, 
and  knew  of  all  that  was  done  at  the  Diet.  His  letters,  with  a  fine 
mingling  of  jest  and  earnest,  exhort  his  friends  to  a  firmer  con- 
fidence in  God's  care  for  the  cause  of  right.  They  breathe  the 
same  sublime  spirit  which  rings  out  in  the  most  popular  of  his 
hymns,  "  Ein  feste  Burg  ist  unser  Gott."  The  diet  decreed  the 
restoration  of  the  old  ecclesiastical  institutions,  and  threatened  to 
resort  to  forcible  measures  should  the  Protestants  not  submit. 
But  the  friends  of  the  Reformation  remained  steadfast.  The  Elec- 
tor John,  in  the  full  prospect  orthe~ruin  of  every  earthly  interest, 
and  not  without  the  deepest  sensibility  from  his  attachment  to  the 
emperor  and  to  the  peace  of  the  empire,  resolved  to  stand  by  "  the 
imperishable  Word  of  God."    The  Protestant  princes,  together  with 


306    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VIII. 

certain  imperial  cities  of  South  Germany,  united  in  the  League 
League  of  of  Smalcald  to  resist  tbe  arbitrary  proceedings  of  the 
smaicaid.  emperor  in  his  efforts  to  crush  out  the  new  opinions. 
Luther,  who  had  hitherto  opposed  a  resort  to  arms,  now  declared 
that  Christians  were  bound  to  defend  their  princes  when  unlawfidly 
assaulted.  The  league  strengthened  itself  by  an  alliance  with  France, 
Denmark,  and  the  Dukes  of  Bavaria.  The  territories  of  the  emperor 
were  again  threatened  by  an  irruption  of  the  Turks  under  Soliman. 
Under  these  circumstances,  it  was  impossible  to  carry  out  the 
measures  of  repression  which  had  been  resolved  upon  at  Augsburg. 
Accordingly,  the  peace  of  Nuremberg  was  concluded  in  1532,  which 
provided  that  religious  affairs  should  be  left  as  they  were  until  they 
could  be  arranged  by  a  new  diet  or  a  general  council. 


CHAPTER  II. 


THE  REFORMATION  IN  SWITZERLAND  ;  IN  SCANDINAVIAN  AND 
SLAVONIAN  COUNTRIES,  AND  IN  HUNGARY:  THE  REFORMA- 
TION IN  GERMANY  UNTIL  THE  PEACE  OF  AUGSBURG  (1555). 

During  the  years  which  elapsed  between  the  posting  of  Luther's 
theses  and  the  peace  of  Nuremberg  a  reformatory  movement,  of  a 
type  somewhat  peculiar,  was  in  progress  in  the  most  populous  can- 
tons of  Switzerland,  Not  only  were  the  doctrines  and  rites  of  the 
Church  recast,  but  the  social  and  political  life  of  the  Swiss  communi- 
ties affected  by  the  reform  was  purified  and  elevated.  This  change 
was  due,  for  the  most  part,  to  the  plastic  influence  of  one  man, 
Ulrich  Zwingli.  Zwingli  was  born  in  the  year  1484  in 
the  mountain- village  of  Wildhaus,  of  which  his  father 
was  the  principal  magistrate.  He  was  bright-minded,  and  eager  in 
pursuit  of  knowledge.  Like  Luther,  he  was  fond  of  music.  He 
first  studied  at  the  University  of  Vienna  and  then  went  to  Basel. 
At  this  centre  of  humanistic  culture  he  acquired  that  love  for  the 
classics  which  he  carried  with  him  to  his  first  parish  at  Glarus. 
When  the  Greek  Testament  was  published  by  Erasmus  he  became 
an  earnest  student  of  it,  and  copied  with  his  own  hand  the  epistles 
of  Paul,  that  he  might  have  them  in  a  portable  volume  and  commit 
them  to  memory.  The  more  he  studied  the  Bible  the  more  in- 
clined he  was  to  defer  to  its  authority.  But  Zwingli  was  a  patriot 
as  well  as  a  scholar.    He  saw  that  the  political  and  social  life  of  his 


1517-1648.]  THE  REFORMATION   IN   SWITZERLAND.  307 

country  was  endangered  by  the  system  of  mercenary  service  in/ 
"  armies,  which  was  then  in  vogue.  Bi'ibes,  pensions,  and  ecclesiasti- 
cal preferments  were  lavished  on  influential  men  that  the  hardy 
Swiss  might  fight  the  battles  of  the  pope  or  of  the  French  king. 
Thus  the  love  of  country  Avas  weakened,  reverence  for  the  rulers  of 
the  Church  was  dispelled,  and  the  morals  of  the  people  were  cor- 
rupted by  the  vices  and  lawless  spirit  which  the  soldiers  brought 
back  from  their  campaigns.  Zwingli  still  regarded  the  pope  as  the 
head  of  the  Church,  and  therefore  did  not  denounce  enlistments 
for  his  service.  For  a  time  he  even  accepted  a  papal  pension.  But 
he  so  vigorously  attacked  the  military  alliance  made  with  Francis 
I.  at  Freiburg,  after  the  battle  of  Marignano,  that  he  was  forced 
to  leave  Glarus.  While  he  was  living  at  Einsiedeln  he  preached  j 
against  one  Samson,  a  vender  of  indulgences,  and  put  an  end  to'l 
his  demoralizing  traffic.  In  1518,  largely  through  the  influence 
of  the  leading  opponents  of  the  French  party,  Zwingli  was  trans- 
zwingii  at  fen-ed  to  the  cathedral  chm-ch  of  Zurich.  He  now  re- 
zurich.  fused  longer  to  receive  the  papal  pension,  and  declared 

against  all  foreign  entanglements  from  whatever  quarter  they  might 
come.  "It  is  well  for  the  Cardinal  of  Sitten,"  he  said,  "  to  wear  a 
red  hat  and  cloak ;  you  have  only  to  wring  them  to  behold  the 
blood  of  your  nearest  kinsmen  dripping  from  them,"  He  recog- 
nized that  the  root  of  these  civil  abuses,  as  well  as  of  the  social 
calamities  which  flowed  from  them,  was  selfishness.  For  this  evil 
the  only  remedy  was  the  Word  of  God.  It  was  Zwingli's  increasing 
reverence  for  the  power  and  authoi-ity  of  the  Scriptures  that  made 
him  the  leader  of  a  quiet  but  thorough-going  religious  revolution. 
His  personal  qualities  fitted  him  for  such  a  j^ost.  He  was  an  in- 
dustrious student,  and  yet  fond  of  the  society  of  his  fellow-citizens. 
He  was  upright,  fearless,  and  a  preacher  who  thrilled  his  audi- 
tors. One  of  his  hearers  said  that  it  seemed  to  him  that  Zwingli, 
when  he  spoke  from  the  pulpit,  held  him  by  the  hair  of  his  head.  , 
He  had  not  been  in  Zurich  long  before  he  obtained  permission 
from  the  town  council  for  the  priests  to  preach  only  what  they 
found  in  the  Scriptures.  In  1523,  at  a  public  disputation, 
even  though  he  brought  forward  sixty- seven  propositions  which 
assailed  all  the  peculiar  characteristics  of  the  Roman  Catholic  sys- 
tem, he  successfully  defended  himself  against  the  charge  of  heresy, 
and  procured  from  the  council  a  decree  that  the  clergy  should 
teach  nothing  which  the  Scriptures  do  not  warrant.  In  the  same 
year  he  obtained  another  decree  forbidding  the  use  of  images  and 
the  sacrifice  of  the  mass.     Zwingli  did  not  seek  to  preserve,  as  did 


308    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.   [Peiuod  VIII. 

Luther,  who  had  a  far  deeper  reverence  for  the  past,  those  rites 
and  ceremonies  of  the  mediaeval  Church  which  the  Bible  did  not 
prohibit.  Whatever  seemed  to  him  allied  to  superstition  he 
discarded  without  hesitation.  In  all  these  changes,  sweeping  as 
they  were,  ever^'thing  was  done  in  an  orderly  manner  and  by  public 
„   .  ^  ^         authority.     Zurich  now  threw  off  its  allegiance  to  the 

Zurich  be-  _  -^  o_ 

comes  Protes-  Bishop  of  Constancc.  At  the  head  of  the  independent 
church  which  was  thus  formed  stood  the  members  of 
the  town  council,  who,  according  to  Zwingli,  were  the  proper  rep- 
resentatives of  the  body  of  the  congregation.  In  a  few  short  years 
the  religious  institutions  of  Zurich  underwent  a  complete  change. 
All  the  distinguishing  features  of  the  mediteval  Church  disap- 
peared. The  rule  of  celibacy  was  abolished.  Zwingli  himself  was 
maiTied  in  1524.  The  religious  revolution  was  accompanied  by  an 
elevation  of  the  moral  life  of  the  community.  In  1525  Zwingli  pub- 
lished his  principal  theological  work,  the  "  Commentary  on  True 
and  False  Religion."  Although  in  most  points  he  held  the  ordi- 
nary Protestant  views,  he  differed  from  them  in  the  doctrine  of  the 
Sacrament,  as  will  hereafter  be  explained.  He  held  to  predestina- 
tion as  a  philosophical  tenet,  but  taught  that  Christ  has  redeemed 
the  entire  race.  He  considered  original  sin  a  disorder  rather  than 
a  state  involving  guilt.  He  believed  that  the  sages  of  antiquity 
were  illumined  by  the  Divine  Spirit,  and  in  his  catalogue  of  saints 
he  placed  Socrates,  Seneca,  the  Catos,  and  even  Hercules.  The 
Reformation  was  not  confined  to  Zurich.  In  1528  it  triumphed  at 
Spread  of  Bcme,  thc  following  year  at  Basel,  and  about  the  same 
Protestantism,  ^^j^g  ^t  St.  Gall  and  Schaffhauscu.  Everywhere  it  was 
attended  by  the  downfall  of  the  oligarchy,  which  was  in  favor  of 
foreign  alliances  and  pensions,  and  the  rise  of  a  reiDublican  party, 
which  supported  the  moral  and  political  reforms.  The  adherents 
of  Zwingli  insisted  on  making  the  gospel  not  only  a  source  of  light 
and  life  to  the  individual,  but  also  a  wholesome  leaven  in  the  body 
politic. 

A  comparison  of  Zwingli  and  of  what  he  did  for  the  Swiss,  with 
Luther  and  his  work  among  the  Germans,  reveals  marked  differ- 
zwingii  and  succs  between  the  two  men,  and  between  the  movements 
Luther.  jj^  which  they  were  the  pioneers.     It  was  onl}'  after  re- 

ligious struggles  of  long  duration  that  Luther  threw  off  his  alle- 
giance to  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  assailed  its  teachings  and  its 
authority.  It  cost  Zwingli,  on  the  contrary,  no  conflict  of  this  sort 
to  reject  whatever  of  the  prevailing  doctrinal  or  ecclesiastical  sys- 
tem of  the  Latin  Church  appeared  to  him  at  variance  with  the 


1517-1648.]  THE  REFORMATION   IN  SWITZERLAND.  309 

Scriptures  or  with  common  sense.  Luther  was  not  a  political  re- 
former, however  much  he  sympathized  with  his  people  and  resented 
the  wrongs  which  they  suffered.  His  life  was  devoted  to  the  set- 
ting forth  of  what  he  believed  to  be  the  vital  truth  of  the  gospel. 
In  the  mind  of  Zwingli,  on  the  other  hand,  the  rescue  of  the  Swiss 
from  immorality  and  raisgovernment  was  inseparable  from  his  de- 
termination to  have  the  gospel  taught  in  its  purity.  And  yet,  how- 
ever independent  in  its  beginning  and  peculiar  in  its  aims  was  the 
Swiss  Reformation,  it  owed  much  to  the  work  of  the  lion-like  Saxon 
reformer  and  his  fellow-laborers.  So  ready  were  the  papal  author- 
ities to  wink  at  all  innovations  in  order  that  they  might  recruit 
their  armies  from  the  peasantry,  that  men  did  not  discern  the  drift 
of  Zwingli's  teaching  until  the  noise  of  the  battle  which  Luther 
was  waging  reached  the  valleys  of  Switzei'land. 

But  scarcely  had  these  two  branches  of  the  Protestant  party 

begun  their  career  when  they  came  into  collision  on  the  doctrine  of 

the  Lord's  Supper.     The  conflict  which  ensued,  occur- 

The  sacra-  ...  . 

mental  con-  ring  as  it  did  just  when  the  enemies  of  the  Lutheran 
movement  in  Germany  were  uniting  to  withstand  its 
further  progress,  was  an  event  most  unfortunate  for  the  cause  of 
the  Reformation,  The  question  upon  which  the  reformers  divided, 
it  need  not  be  said,  was  not  to  them  of  minor  importance.  The 
mass  had  been  from  of  old  the  central  act  of  worship.  It  had  ac- 
quired the  most  exalted  place  in  the  dogmatic  and  ritual  system  of 
the  Church,  through  the  influence  of  the  doctrine  of  transubstan- 
tiation,  of  the  miraculous  transformation  of  the  bread  and  wine  into 
the  body  and  blood  of  Christ.  When,  therefore,  the  I'eformers  of 
both  j)arties  rejected  this  dogma,  together  with  the  associated  doc- 
trine of  the  propitiatory  character  of  the  service,  the  momentous 
task  of  foi^mulating  a  more  correct  opinion  was  forced  uj)on  them. 
Luther  affirmed  the  objective  presence  of  the  glorified  body  and 
blood  of  Christ  in  connection  with  the  bread  and  wine,  so  that  the 
body  and  blood,  in  some  mysterious  way,  are  actually  received  by 
the  communicant  whether  he  be  a  believer  or  not.  This  doctrine 
has  frequently  been  termed  "  consubstantiation,"  although  the  des- 
ignation is  not  generally  approved  by  Lutheran  divines.  Zwin- 
gli, on  the  other  hand,  denied  that  Christ  is  really  present  in  any 
such  sense,  and  made  the  Lord's  Supper  to  be  simply  a  memorial 
of  his  atoning  death.  As  soon  as  Luther  heard  of  the  Zwinglian 
doctrine,  he  conceived  a  violent  hostility  towards  it,  and  could  find 
no  language  too  severe  to  apply  to  the  tenet  and  persons  of  the 
*'  Sacramentarians."     The  reason  for  this  repugnance  is  not  far  to 


310    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VIH. 

seek.  He  felt  most  deeply  the  importance  of  the  objective  means 
of  grace.  In  the  Word  and  the  Sacraments  Christ  is  still  offered  aa 
a  living  reality.  Luther's  religious  feelings  were  intertwined  with 
the  literal  interpretation  of  the  words  "  This  is  my  body."  He 
dreaded  everything  that  tended  to  resolve  religion  and  religious  ex- 
perience into  a  process  of  one's  own  mind.  The  doctrine  of  Zwin- 
gli,  which  Luther  had  first  heard  from  Carlstadt,  was  associated 
in  his  thoughts  with  such  a  divorce  of  the  religious  life  from  the 
outward,  heaven-given  means  of  grace.  The  efforts  of  disinterested 
men  like  Martin  Bucer,  the  Strassburg  theologian,  and  Philii),  the 
Landgrave  of  Hesse,  to  heal  a  schism  which  threatened  to  inflict 
great  disasters  on  the  Protestant  cause,  proved  unavailing.  The 
The  Marbnig  leaders  of  both  parties  met  at  Marburg  in  1529.  When 
conference.  ^]^qj  ^erc  not  able,  either  at  the  private  conference  or  at 
the  public  assembly,  to  come  to  an  agreement,  Zwingli,  with  tears 
in  his  eyes,  offered  the  hand  of  fraternal  friendship  to  Luther. 
But  this  the  Saxon  reformer  refused  to  take,  since  he  could  not 
join  in  Christian  fellowship  with  one  who  denied  what  he  deemed 
a  fundamental  article  of  the  Christian  faith.  Before  they  sepa- 
rated, however,  they  subscribed  to  a  statement  of  those  great  points 
of  doctrine  upon  which  they  were  agreed,  and  promised  to  treat 
one  another  with  all  the  toleration  consistent  with  a  good  con- 
science. 

The  catastrophe  of  the  Swiss  Reformation  was  at  hand.  The 
five  Forest  cantons  which  still  adhered  to  the  Roman  Church  grew 
Defeat  of  the  i^orc  and  morc  hostile  to  the  cities  in  which  Protestant- 
Protestants.  ^gj-^^  ^j^g  established.  They  entered  into  a  league  Avith 
Ferdinand  of  Austria  to  resist  its  progress.  Already  they  had 
begun  to  persecute  the  preachers  of  the  reformed  doctrine  who  had 
fallen  into  their  power,  when  the  citizens  of  Zurich  marched  against 
them  and  forced  them  to  tear  up  their  compact  with  Austria.  Bat 
the  hostile  relation  still  continued.  Zwingli  urged  the  cities  to 
unite  and  to  overthrow  the  pi-eponderance  which  the  five  Forest 
cantons  enjoyed  in  the  affairs  of  the  confederation  over  the  city 
cantons,  which  though  less  in  number  were  far  more  populous. 
But  the  success  of  his  efforts  was  defeated  by  the  jealousy  of  the 
cities,  each  of  which  aspired  to  be  the  metropolis  of  the  proposed  con- 
federation. The  Catholic  party  joined  all  their  forces  and  marched 
suddenly  against  Zurich.  The  brave  soldiers  who  hastily  gathered 
to  defend  the  city  were  overpowered,  and  at  Cappel,  Zwingli,  who 
had  gone  forth  as  their  chaplain,  was  slain.  The  Forest  cantons 
had  won  a  signal  victory,  but  were  not  yet  strong  enough  to  con- 


1517-1648.]  DENMARK:    SWEDEN:  NORWAY.  311 

quer  the  cities.  The  terms  of  peace  which  they  wrung  from  them 
were,  however,  humiliating  to  the  Protestants,  and  checked  the 
progress  of  the  Keformation. 

The  Keformation  in  Denmark,  Norway,  and  Sweden  was  de- 
pendent to  a  large  extent  upon  the  political  fortunes  of  these  king- 
The  Reforma-  (lo^is,  which  had  been  united  under  one  monarch  by  the 
mark'LM""  T^^^io"  of  Calmar  in  1397.  Protestantism  was  favored  by 
Sweden.  Christian  II.,  who  was  on  the  throne  when  the  Lutheran 

movement  began.  In  Denmark,  he  sought  to  overthrow  the  lay 
and  clerical  nobility  by  bettering  the  condition  of  the  people.  Ho 
put  forth  a  book  of  laws  in  which  important  ecclesiastical  reforms 
were  included.  In  Sweden,  on  the  contrary,  where  he  aimed  to 
destroy  the  power  of  a  party  of  nobles  led  by  the  Stures,  he  espoused 
the  jcause  of  the  clergy.  But  his  treachery,  and  the  execution  of 
the  Swedish  leaders — known  as  the  massacre  of  Stockholm — excited 
an  undying  hatred  against  Denmark.  Christian  was  now  so  feared 
and  distrusted  in  Denmark  itself  that  not  even  the  people  whose 
interests  he  had  furthered  would  interpose  to  prevent  his  down- 
fall. In  1523,  Frederic  I.,  Duke  of  Schleswig  and  Holstein,  was 
made  king.  He  swore  to  grant  no  toleration  to  the  Lutherans. 
But  the  reformed  doctrine,  which  first  established  itself  in  the 
duchies,  where  a  milder  policy  prevailed,  gradually  made  its  way 
into  the  country,  and  in  152G  won  public  recognition  from  the  king 
himself.  The  nobles,  who  were  anxious  to  get  possession  of  the 
riches  of  the  Church,  favored  the  new  royal  policy.  The  Diet  of 
Odense  in  the  following  year  ordained  that  Lutheranism  should  be 
tolerated,  and  that  the  prelates  should  look  to  the  king,  and  not  to 
the  pope,  for  ratification  of  their  election.  Although  Frederic  did 
not  deprive  the  bishops  of  their  power,  the  Protestant  doctrine  soon 
gained  the  ascendency.  Upon  his  death,  in  1533,  the  clei'gy  made 
an  effort  to  restore  the  old  order  of  things,  and  refused  to  sanction 
the  election  of  Christian  HI.,  his  son.  At  the  same  time,  Christian 
n.,  who  had  been  deposed  in  1523,  supported  by  the  Liibeckers, 
attempted  to  regain  the  throne,  Lilbeck  was  the  most  influential 
of  the  cities  of  the  Hanseatic  League,  many  of  which  had  given  Lu- 
theranism a  hospitable  reception.  There  the  introduction  of  the 
reformed  doctrine  had  been  attended  by  the  rise  of  the  democracy. 
The  Liibeckers  found  that  Denmark  was  no  longer  disposed  to 
favor  their  commercial  supremacy,  and  therefore  sought  to  raise  to 
the  throne  a  monarch  who  would  be  attached  to  their  interests. 
But  Christian  HI.  soon  overcame  all  his  enemies.  With  his  tri- 
umph the  democratic  movement,  which  had  threatened  to  ally  itself 


312    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VHI. 

with  the  Reformation,  was  subdued.  In  Denmark,  Christian  reor- 
ganized the  ecclesiastical  constitution  and  established  bishops  and 
superintendents  according  to  the  Lutheran  system.  As  a  conse- 
quence of  this  religious  revolution  Protestantism  was  received  in 
Norway,  which  now  became  a  province  of  Denmark.  It  also  soon 
gained  a  foothold  on  the  shores  of  Iceland. 

Meanwhile  in  Sweden  a  great  political  change,  which  involved 
a  reHgious  revolution,  had  taken  place.  Gustavus  Vasa,  a  young 
Gustavus  noble,  whose  father  had  perished  in  the  massacre  of 
'^^^^-  Stockholm,  resolved  to  free  his  country  from  the  hateful 

yoke  of  the  Danes.  The  peasants  rallied  to  his  support.  Town 
after  town  fell  into  his  hands.  When  the  news  of  the  deposition  of 
Christian  II.  reached  Sweden,  Gustavus  was  crowned  king.  He 
favored  Lutheranism,  not  so  much  from  deep  religious  convictions 
as  from  a  steady  jDurpose  to  break  down  the  ecclesiastical  aristoc- 
racy, which  was  well-nigh  independent.  He  raised  Lutherans  to 
high  offices  in  Church  and  State.  In  all  these  measures  he  was 
obliged  to  act  with  caution,  for  the  peasants  who  had  helped  him 
gain  the  throne  were  firmly  attached  to  the  old  Church.  In  1527  a 
crisis  came.  If  the  monarchy  was  to  be  estabhshed  on  a  firm  basis, 
it  must  be  provided  with  sufficient  revenue.  There  was  no  way  to 
obtain  it  but  to  confiscate  the  vast  wealth  of  the  Church.  He  there- 
fore resolved  to  introduce  the  Reformation  by  the  civil  authority. 
He  proposed  to  the  diet  assembled  at  Westeras  that  it  should 
put  at  his  disposal  ecclesiastical  property,  and  should  give  him  the 
power  to  regulate  the  affairs  of  the  Church.  Liberty  was  also  to 
be  granted  "  for  preachers  to  proclaim  the  pure  word  of  God."  He 
sought  to  conciliate  the  nobles  by  allowing  a  large  portion  of  the 
confiscated  possessions  to  pass  into  their  hands.  When  his  pro- 
posals met  with  violent  opposition  he  forthwith  renounced  the 
throne.  Upon  the  news  of  this  step,  terrified  at  the  anarchy 
which  threatened  the  country,  the  diet  recalled  Gustavus  and  issued 
an  edict  embodying  his  demands.  Protestantism,  which  had  thus 
been  adopted  to  suit  the  political  purposes  of  the  king,  soon  won 
its  way  to  the  hearts  of  the  people.  The  efforts  of  John  III  (1568- 
1592),  with  the  aid  of  the  Jesuits,  to  bring  back  a  moderate  Cathol- 
icism proved  a  failure.  By  the  Council  of  Upsala,  in  1593,  the 
Augsburg  Confession  was  accepted  as  the  creed  of  the  national 
Church. 

Long  before  the  beginning  of  the  Lutheran  Reformation,  as  we 
have  already  seen,  Bohemia  had  been  engaged  in  a  struggle  to  build 
up   a  national  Church.     The  doctrines  of  the  Saxon  reformers 


1517-1648.]    THE  REFORMATION  IN  POLAND  AND  PRUSSIA.  313 

were  favorably  received,  especially  by  the  Brethren  in  Unity,  a  party 
„    ^  ^         which  had  arisen  about  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 

The  Reforma- 
tion in  Bohe-    tury.     A  large  portion  of  the  Calixtines,  however,  still 

maintained   their   conservative  position.     Nevertheless, 

when  the  Smalcaldic  War  broke  out,  the  majority  of  the  Utraquists 

of  both  parties  espoused  the  cause  of  the  elector  and  shared  the 

disasters  which  followed  his  defeat.     Many  of  them  fled  into  Poland 

and  Prussia.     The  lot  of  those  who   remained  grew  worse  and 

worse,  imtil,  early  in  the  next  century,  they  were  obliged  to  submit 

or  to  leave  the  country. 

Those  whom  the  early  Hussite  persecutions  had  driven  forth 
from  Bohemia  did  much  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  spread 
TheReforma-  o^  ^^^  Reformation  in  Poland  and  Prussia.  It  made 
ii°d*riid°'  ^^^  "^^y  fi^^*'  ^^^°  ^^^^  ^^^  West  Prussia,  the  one  a  fief, 
Prussia.  i]^q  other  a  province,  of  the  now  rapidly  growing  King- 

dom of  Poland.  From  here  it  passed  over  into  Livonia,  which,  in 
the  treaty  of  1561,  was  annexed  to  the  Polish  kingdom.  The  ad- 
vance of  the  Reformation  in  these  neighboring  communities  made 
it  impossible  to  exclude  it  from  Poland  itself,  where  many  burghers 
and  powerful  nobles  regarded  it  with  favor.  There  was  an  increas- 
ing disposition  on  the  part  of  the  representatives  of  the  nation,  who 
assembled  in  succeeding  diets,  to  grant  toleration  to  those  who 
embraced  the  evangelical  faith.  The  cause  of  reform  was  hindered 
not  so  much  by  the  number  of  its  enemies  as  by  the  discord  of  its 
friends.  The  Protestant  party  was  divided  into  the  Calvinists,  the 
Lutherans,  and  the  Unitarians,  the  followers  of  Faustus  Socinus. 
To  heal  these  divisions  was  the  object  to  which  John  a  Lasco,  a  man 
of  noble  family,  who  at  Basel  had  been  intimate  with  Erasmus,  and 
in  England  with  Cranmer,  devoted  the  later  years  of  his  life.  He 
had  found  it  impossible  to  introduce  a  Reformation  after  the  Eras- 
mian  type,  and  had  taken  a  more  decided  position  on  the  Protes- 
tant side.  In  1556  he  returned  from  his  sojourn  in  foreign  lands, 
and  labored  until  his  death,  in  1560,  to  promote  unity  between  the 
Calvinists  and  Lutherans.  The  Reformation  had  in  the  meantime 
become  firmly  established.  But,  although  equal  rights  were  by 
royal  authority  guaranteed  to  all  churches  in  the  kingdom,  the  fate 
of  Protestantism  depended  mainly  on  the  disposition  of  the  nobles. 
These  the  Jesuits  sought  to  win  over.  To  their  influence,  as  well 
as  to  the  dissensions  of  the  Protestants,  the  Catholic  reaction  was 
indebted  for  its  great  success  in  Poland. 

The  Protestant  movement  extended  into  Hungary  through  the 
influence  of  the  Bohemian  Brethren  and  the  Waldenses,  some  of 


314    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VHI. 

whom  settled  tliere,  and  of  HuBgarian  students  who  brought  back 
from  Wittenberg  the  teachings  of  Luther  and  Melanch- 
tion  in  Hun-    thon.     The  civil  wars  which  broke  out  upon  the  death 
^'"^^'  of  Louis  n.,  in  1526,  necessitated  the  practice  of  tolera- 

tion by  Ferdinand  of  Austria  and  John  of  Zdpolya,  the  rival  aspir- 
ants for  the  throne.  The  evangelical  doctrines  spread  among  the 
people  silently  and  with  great  rapidity.  But  here,  as  in  Poland, 
the  Protestants  were  divided  into  contending  sects,  especially 
u^Don  the  question  of  the  Sacrament.  The  parties  of  Luther, 
Zwingli,  and  Calvin  had  each  of  them  a  set  of  adherents.  Not- 
withstanding these  troubles,  however.  Protestantism  continued  to 
gain  ground  until  the  latter  part  of  the  century,  when,  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Jesuits,  a  strong  Catholic  reaction  set  in. 

During  the  ten  years  which  followed  the  Peace  of  Niiremberg, 

Charles  V.  was  compelled  by  his  wars  with  the  Turks  and  with 

Francis  I.  to  leave  the  Protestants  undisturbed.    Neither 

Progress  of  ■        .  ,       «  . 

Protestantism  the  Opposition  of  its  enemies  nor  the  mistaken  zeal  of  its 
pretended  friends  could  check  the  rapid  progress  of  the 
Keformation.  The  wild  excesses  of  the  Anabaptist  communists  at 
Miinster,  with  whom  the  Lutherans  had  no  sympathy,  were  quickly 
brought  to  an  end  by  the  neighboring  Catholic  princes.  The  armed 
restoration  of  the  exiled  Duke  of  Wiu-temberg  established  Prot- 
estantism in  the  heart  of  Southern  Germany.  The  league  of 
Smalcald  was  now  extended  by  the  accession  of  princes  and  cities. 
^^  „  ^  ,.     Alarmed  at  the  growing  strength  of  the  Lutheran  party. 

The  Catholic  t>  »  o  ir        J' 

League,  the  Catholics  united,  ostensibly  for  mutual  defence,  in 

the  Holy  League  of  Nuremberg.     The  emperor,  who 
needed  the  military  support  of  the  Protestants  in  order  to  bring 
his  wars  to  a  successful  issue,  was  anxious  to  heal  the  ecclesiasti- 
cal schism  which  divided  Germany.     The  most  notable  attempt 
that  was  made  to  do  this  was  at  the  Diet  and  Coufer- 

Diet  ana  Con- 
ference of        ence  of  Eatisbon  in  1541.     The  moderate  men  of  both 

parties  met  here  to  formulate  articles  of  concord.  The 
Lutherans  were  represented  by  Melanchthou,  the  emperor  by  Grop- 
per  and  Pflug,  the  jDope  by  Cardinal  Contarini,  one  of  the  leaders  of 
the  counter-reformation  in  the  Catholic  Church.  In  the -conference 
an  actual  agreement  was  reached  on  what  were  esteemed  the  fun- 
damental doctrines  of  the  Christian  faith — the  nature  of  man,  origi- 
nal sin,  I'edemption,  and  justification.  The  differences  on  the  sac- 
rament and  on  the  authority  of  the  pope  remained  to  be  adjusted. 
But  all  further  efforts  at  concord  were  stopped  by  the  intrigues  of 
the  French  king,  and  by  the  fears  of  the  pope  on  the  one  hand. 


1517-1G48.]  THE  REFORMATION  IN  GERMANY.  315 

and  of  Luther  and  the  Elector  of  Saxonj^  on  the  other.  The  policy 
of  reconciliation  had  failed,  but  the  emperor  could  not  resort  to 
force  as  long  as  he  was  entangled  in  foreign  wars.  He  was  there- 
fore obliged  to  sanction  the  peace  of  Nuremberg  and  await  a  favor- 
able opportunit}'  to  crush  the  Protestant  party.  Meanwhile  the 
Keformation  had  advanced  on  every  side.  It  was  established  in 
Brandenburg,  ducal  Saxony,  and  in  Brunswick,  after  the  expulsion 
of  the  duke  by  the  Elector  of  Saxony  and  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse. 
It  gained  adherents  in  Austria  and  Bavaria.  Even  the  ecclesiasti- 
cal Elector  of  Cologne  took  measures  for  its  adoption  iu  his  domin- 
ions, -^ 

But  the  Protestant  party  was  torn  by  internal  dissensions.  The 
cities  complained  of  the  arbitrary  proceedings  of  the  princes.    Duke 

Maurice,  of  Saxony,  was  more  than  once  on  the  verge  of 
among  Prot-    -war  witli  the  elector,  and  finally,  in  1542,  abandoned  the 

League  of  Smalcald.  Thus,  with  weakened  forces,  the 
Protestants  were  obliged  to  contend  against  the  emperor,  who, 
having  made  peace,  in  1544,  with  Francis  I.,  found  his  hands  free 
to  deal  with  the  affairs  of  Germany.  Nevertheless,  they  refused  to 
take  part  in  the  Council  of  Trent,  which  the  pope  had  at  length 
been  persuaded  to  summon.  Charles  still  continued,  by  new  pro- 
posals of  union,  to  blind  them  to  his  real  intentions.  Meanwhile 
he  won  over  Maurice  of  Saxony,  whose  desire  for  the  title  and 
territories  of  the  elector  was  much  stronger  than  his  religious  con- 
victions. The  emperor  professed  to  attack  the  two  leaders  of  the 
Smalcaldic  League — the  Elector  and  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse — not 
as  Protestants,  but  as  disturbers  of  the  peace  of  the  empire. 

While  the  time  for  the  momentous  struggle  was  rapidly  draw- 
ing near,  Luther  died  (February  18,  1546).  His  last  days  were 
Last  days  of  ^^11  of  wcarincss  and  suffering.  He  took  dark  views  of 
Luther.  ^i^Q  frivolity  and  wickedness  of  the  times,  but  his  sublime 

faith  in  God  and  his  assurance  of  the  final  victory  of  the  truth 
never  left  him.  His  dogmatism  became  more  boisterous  in  the 
battles  which  he  waged,  and  in  the  days  of  ill-health  and  advancing 
age.  During  the  latter  years  of  his  life  his  relations  with  Melanch- 
thon  were  partially  clouded  by  theological  differences.  Melanch- 
thon  modified  his  doctrine  of  predestination,  and  gradually  came 
to  believe  that  the  will  has  a  co-ordinate  agency  in  conversion.  On 
the  subject  of  the  Sacrament,  Hkewise,  he  was  inclined  to  hold  the 
view  midway  between  Luther  and  Zwingli,  which  Calvin  advocated 
— that  Christ  is  really  received  in  the  Lord's  Supper,  but  spirit- 
ually, and  by  the  believer  alone.     Although  Melanchthon  lived  in 


316    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OP  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VIII. 

daily  fear  that  these  changes  of  opinion  would  provoke  an  outburst 
of  the  reformer's  passionate  nature,  he  never  lost  his  respect  and 
regard  for  Luther  as  a  devout  and  heroic  man,  endowed  with  noble 
quahties  of  heart  and  mind.  Nor  did  Luther  ever  cease  to  love  his 
younger  associate.  No  one  will  question  that  Luther,  notwith- 
standing his  faults  and  defects,  has  been  a  great  power  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  world.  No  one  doubts  that  he  was  a  born  leader  of 
men.  The  originality  of  thought  and  virility  of  expression  ;  the 
insight  into  the  deep  things  of  the  spirit ;  the  vein  of  humor  that 
mingles  itself,  unbidden,  with  the  most  profound  and  serious  reflec- 
tion, the  play  of  imagination — these  qualities,  which  characterize 
the  utterances  of  Luther,  constitute  an  unfailing  charm.  One  who 
was  himself  a  poet,  Coleridge,  has  said  of  him :  "  He  was  a  poet, 
indeed,  as  great  a  poet  as  ever  lived  in  any  age  or  country  ;  but 
poetic  images  were  so  vivid  that  they  mastered  the  poet's  own 
mind ;"  "  Luther  did  not  write,  he  acted  poems."  Of  his  profound 
influence  over  the  German  people,  no  one  has  spoken  more  im- 
pressively than  the  most  accomplished  of  the  modern  German 
school  of  Catholic  theologians,  the  chief  of  the  Old  Catholics,  Dr. 
DoUinger.  This  Hfe-long  opponent  of  Protestantism  dwells  on 
Luther's  complete  comprehension  of  the  German  nature  :  "Heart 
and  mind  of  the  Germans  were  in  his  hand  like  the  lyre  in  the 
hand  of  the  musician."  He  speaks  of  Luther's  irresistible  elo- 
quence, which  carried  everything  before  it.  **  Even  those  Ger- 
mans," he  adds,  "  who  abhorred  him  as  the  principal  heretic  and 
seducer  of  the  nation,  cannot  escape  ;  they  must  discourse  with 
his  words,  they  must  think  with  his  thoughts." 

The  Smalcaldic  War,  which  broke  out  in  1546,  resulted,  through 
the  bad  generalship  of  the  elector,  in  disaster.  The  elector  himself 
The  smaicai-  was  captured  in  1547,  at  the  battle  of  Miihlberg,  and  the 
die  War.  landgravo  was  soon  after  obHged  to  submit.  But  the 
triumph  of  the  emperor  was  impaired  by  his  quarrel  with  Pope 
Paul  III.  It  was  the  plan  of  Charles  to  subject  the  Protestants  to 
the  Catholic  hierarchy,  and  to  allay  their  discontent  by  the  intro- 
duction of  certain  external  refoi'ms.  In  his  attempt  to  carry  out 
this  purpose  he  promulgated  a  pi'ovisional  scheme,  called  the  Augs- 
The  Augsburg  burg  Interim.  But  he  could  look  neither  to  the  pope 
Interim.  j-^^j,  ^^  ^|-^q  (^ouncil  of  Trent  for  the  co-operation  which 
was  necessary  to  complete  the  work.  In  spite  of  his  repeated  re- 
monstrances, the  council  had  first  proceeded  not  to  measm-es  of 
reform,  but  to  pronounce  a  condemnation  upon  the  Protestant 
doctrines.     Paul,  in  order  still  further  to  embarrass  the  emperor, 


1517-1648.]  THE  REFORMATION  IN  GERMANY.  317 

whose  absolute  triumph  might  endanger  the  temporal  power  of  the 
papacy  in  Italy,  transferred  the  council  to  Bologna,  and  withdrew 
the  papal  troops  from  the  army  of  Charles  just  before  the  crisis 
of  the  conflict  in  Germany.  He  then  began  to  negotiate  with 
the  French  king.  Not  only  the  pope,  but  also  zealous  Catholics 
everywhere,  regarded  the  emperor's  ecclesiastical  measures  in  Ger- 
many as  an  encroachment  on  the  rights  of  the  Church.  Mean- 
while the  Germans  themselves  were  angered  to  see  their  country 
treated  as  conquered  territory.  Those  who  refused  to  adopt  the 
Augsburg  Interim  were  reduced  to  submission  by  Si^anish  troops. 
In  Northern  Germany  alone  was  it  generally  withstood.  The  city 
of  Magdeburg,  which  was  the  centre  of  this  resistance,  was  besieged 
by  Maurice  of  Saxony,  to  whom  the  execution  of  the  imperial  ban 
had  been  committed.  In  his  own  territories  the  duke  introduced  the 
Leipsic  Interim,  a  modified  form  of  the  one  drawn  up  at  Augs- 
bui'g.  The  accession  of  Julius  m.,  who  was  favorable  to  Charles, 
and  his  reassembling  of  the  Council  at  Trent,  seemed  to  promise 
the  empei'or  that  success  which  had  so  long  eluded  him.  But 
clouds  were  gathering  in  the  sky.  The  Turks  had  kindled  anew 
the  flames  of  war  in  Hungary,  and  the  French  king,  Henry  H.,  was 
uniting  with  the  enemies  of  Charles  in  Italy.  The  German  princes 
were  jealous  of  the  favor  shown  to  Spanish  advisers,  and  were  en- 
raged at  the  continued  presence  of  foreign  troops.  Maurice  was 
Maurice  at-  discontented  with  the  result  of  his  duplicity.  He  had 
tacks  Charles,  ^-j^e  title  and  the  territories  which  he  coveted,  but  he  had 
also  won  the  hatred  of  those  whose  cause  he  had  betrayed,  and 
who  looked  on  him  as  another  Judas.  He  was  chagrined  to  find 
that  he  did  not  possess  influence  enough  with  the  emperor  to  pro- 
cure the  release  of  his  father-in-law,  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse,  The 
insults  which  he  had  to  endure  from  the  Spaniards  still  further 
embittered  his  feelings.  He  now  resolved  to  rescue  Germany  from 
the  oppressor,  into  whose  hands  he  had  himself  delivered  her. 
Using  the  siege  of  Magdeburg  as  a  cover  for  his  operations,  he  laid 
his  plans  with  profound  secrecy.  He  suddenly  marched  southward, 
crossed  the  Alps,  and  forced  Charles  to  fly  in  haste  from  Innspruck. 
The  captive  princes  were  released  and  the  Protestants  were  gi-anted 
equal  rights  until  the  differences  should  be  settled  by  a  national 
assembly  or  a  general  council.  At  the  Diet  of  Augsburg,  in  1555, 
The  Peace  of  ^hc  religious  pcace  was  concluded.  It  embodied  the 
Augsburg.  celebrated  maxim,  Cujus  regio  ejus  religio — the  religion 
of  the  people  is  to  be  that  of  their  prince.  To  this  was  added 
the   Ecclesiastical   Reservation,  which   provided   that   if  a  prince 


318    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VIll. 

of  the  Church  became  a  Protestant  he  should  resign  his  see.  In 
retiirn  for  this  concession  to  the  Catholics  it  was  ordained  that 
Protestants  were  to  enjoy  toleration  in  the  dominions  of  ecclesias- 
tical princes.  In  the  terms  of  this  peace  were  the  seeds  of  that 
strife  which  was  to  distract  Germany  for  generations  to  come.  For 
a  time  it  did  not  check  the  progress  of  the  Reformation.  The 
complete  failure  of  his  efforts  to  restore  the  unity  of  the  German 
Church,  or  to  crush  the  Protestant  party,  was  a  great  bloAv  to 
Charles.  He  refused  personally  to  take  any  part  in  the  proceedings 
which  led  to  the  peace.  After  he  had  laid  aside  the  cares  of  the 
empire,  and  had  retired  to  the  Convent  of  Yuste,  he  expressed 
regret  that  he  allowed  the  man  who  stirred  up  all  the  commotion 
to  depart  in  peace  from  the  Diet  of  Worms. 


CHAPTER  HI. 

JOHN  CALVIN  AND  THE  GENEVAN  REFORMATION. 

Luther  had  firmly  established  the  Reformation  in  Germany,  and 
Zwingli  had  fallen  on  the  field  of  Cappel,  before  John  Calvin  began 
Early  life  of  to  write  the  "Institutes,"  and  to  set  in  order  the  affairs 
caivm.  q£  Geneva.     Calvin  belonged  to  the  second  generation 

of  reformers,  whose  work  it  was  to  unfold  more  clearly  and  more 
systematically  the  principles  of  Protestantism.  He  was  a  French- 
man, and  was  born  in  the  year  1509,  at  Noyon,  in  Picardy.  In  his 
youth  he  had  no  exiDcrience  of  the  rough  conflict  with  penury  which 
many  of  the  German  and  Swiss  reformers  were  obliged  to  undergo. 
His  father's  position  as  fiscal  agent  of  the  lordship  of  Noyon  and 
secretary  of  the  diocese,  as  well  as  the  esteem  in  which  he  was 
held  by  the  nobility,  was  a  source  of  temporal  advantage  to  the 
son.  He  was  educated  with  the  children  of  the  noble  family  of 
Mommor,  and  when  but  twelve  years  of  age  was  appointed  to  a 
chaplaincy  with  revenues  sufficient  for  his  support.  To  this  bene- 
fice another  was  added  a  few  years  later.  At  the  outset  he  was  des- 
tined for  the  priesthood.  At  Paris,  whither  he  was  sent  to  pursue 
his  studies,  he  became  distinguished  for  his  uncommon  intellectual 
powers  and  for  a  certain  strict  and  severe  tone  of  character.  He 
had  not  been  there  long,  however,  when  his  father,  from  ambitious 
motives,  changed  his  plans  and  determined  to  qualify  him  for  the 
profession  of  a  jurist.    He  accordingly  went  to  Orleans  and  Bourges, 


1517-1648.]    JOHN  CALVIN  AND  THE  GENEVAN  REFORMATION.    319 

and  attended  the  lectures  of  celebrated  doctors  of  the  law.  He  un- 
dermined his  naturally  weak  constitution  by  working  far  into  the 
night,  arranging  and  digesting  what  he  had  heard  during  the  day. 
Early  in  the  morning  he  would  awake  to  go  over  in  his  mind 
what  he  had  thus  reduced  to  order.  He  attained  such  proficiency 
in  legal  studies  that  frequently,  when  the  professors  were  absent,  he  \ 
was  invited  to  take  their  place.  At  the  same  time,  influenced  by  a  ' 
relative,  Peter  Olivetan,  who  became  the  first  Protestant  translator 
of  the  Bible  into  French,  he  began  to  direct  his  attention  to  the 
Scriptures.  His  mind  was  still  more  prepared  to  receive  the  teach- 
ings of  Protestantism  by  the  study  of  the  New  Testament  in  the 
original,  undertaken  at  the  earnest  solicitation  of  his  Greek  profes- 
sor, Melchior  Wolmar.  But  in  his  first  i3ublication,  an  annotated 
edition  of  Seneca's  treatise  on  "  Clemency,"  he  appeared  not  as  a 
reformer  but  as  a  cultivated  humanist,  displaying  much  anxiety  that 
his  book  should  find  a  ready  sale.  Not  long  after  the  issue  of  this  \ 
Hisconver-  book,  his  "  suddcu  couversion,"  to  use  his  own  words, 
^'°'^-  took  place.     His  sense  of  the  holiness  of  God  and  of  the 

ideal  excellence  of  the  divine  law  was  so  strong  that  his  sins  and 
errors  seemed  like  a  deep  abyss  in  which  he  was  weltering. 
Neither  the  penances  nor  the  consolations  of  the  Church  were  of 
any  avail.  He  must  throw  himself  uj^on  the  mercy  of  God,  he  must 
enter  by  faith  into  the  fellowship  of  Christ.  Calvin's  whole  soul 
was  now  absorbed  in  the  study  of  the  Bible.  He  did  not,  how- 
ever, neglect  his  other  pursuits,  nor  did  he  purpose  to  enter  upon 
the  active  career  of  a  reformer.  He  preferred  to  pursue  his  studies 
in  seclusion.  But  he  had  no  sooner  returned  to  Paris  than  he  be- 
came a  recognized  leader  of  the  Protestants,  sought  out  by  all  who 
desired  religious  counsel  and  instruction.  Persecution  soon  broke 
His  exile  "P  the  little  company.  Calvin's  friend,  Nicholas  Cop,  the 
from  Pans,  ncwly  elected  rector  of  the  university,  in  his  opening  ad- 
dress clearly  set  forth  the  central  doctrine  of  the  reformers.  His 
orthodox  hearers  were  astounded.  The  doctors  of  theology  and 
the  Franciscans  set  to  work  to  bring  Cop,  as  well  as  Calvin — who,  it 
soon  appeared,  was  the  real  author  of  the  address — to  punishment ; 
but  both  escaped  from  the  city.  Calvin  now  visited  Beam,  where,  at 
the  court  of  Margaret  of  Navarre,  the  sister  of  Francis  I,  he  met 
the  aged  Lefevre,  who,  although  he  never  renounced  the  old  Church, 
is  entitled  to  be  called  the  father  of  French  Protestantism.  Hav- 
ing given  up  his  benefices,  which  his  conscience  would  no  longer 
allow  him  to  retain,  he  returned  to  Paris,  only  to  be  driven  out  again 
by  the  fierce  persecution  which  the  imprudent  zeal  of  the  reform-  1 


320    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VHI. 

ers  in  posting  placards  against  the  mass  drew  down  upon  them. 
He  passed  through  Strassburg,  where  he  was  cordially  received  by 
Bucer,  and  dwelt  for  a  time  in  Basel.  Here  he  found  the  retire- 
ment which  he  so  much  prized.  But  he  was  not  forgetfvil  of  the 
sorrows  of  his  brethren  in  France.  The  king  had  begun  the  perse- 
cutions which  darkened  the  later  years  of  his  reign.  In  order  to 
allay  the  anger  of  the  German  Lutherans  at  the  cruel  treatment  of 
their  fellow-reformers,  he  accused  the  French  Protestants  of  all  the 
lawless  fanaticism  of  the  Anabaptist  sectaries.  To  prove  to  Francis 
the  falsity  of  these  charges,  and,  if  i^ossible,  to  bring  him  into  sym- 
pathy with  the  new  doctrine,  formed  a  part  of  Calvin's  object  in 
The"insti-  "Writing  the  "Institutes  of  the  Christian  Religion."  In 
tutes."  j^ig  dedication  to  Francis  he  vindicated  the  cause  of  the 

king's  oppressed  subjects,  concluding  with  these  words:  "But  if 
your  ears  are  so  preoccupied  with  the  whispers  of  the  malevolent 
as  to  leave  no  opportunity  for  the  accused  to  speak  for  themselves, 
and  if  those  outrageous  furies^  with  your  connivance,  continue  to 
persecute  with  imprisonment,  scourges,  tortures,  confiscations,  and 
flames,  we  shall  indeed,  like  sheep  destined  to  the  slaughter,  be  re- 
duced to  the  greatest  extremities.  Yet  shall  we  in  patience  pos- 
sess our  souls,  and  wait  for  the  mighty  hand  of  the  Lord,  which  un- 
doubtedly will  in  time  appear,  and  show  itself  armed  for  the  de- 
liverance of  the  poor  from  their  affliction,  and  for  the  punishment 
of  their  despisers,  who  now  exult  in  such  perfect  security.  May 
the  Lord,  the  King  of  kings,  estabUsh  your  throne  with  righteous- 
ness and  your  kingdom  with  equity  !  "  This  remarkable  work  was 
the  production  of  a  young  man  twenty-seven  years  of  age. 

The  "Institutes"  were  not  only  a  contribution  to  theology,  but 
also  to  literature.    By  the  dignified  and  forcible  style  in  which  they 
characteris-     wcrc  Written,  they  exer'cised  a  profound  influence  in  shap- 
tics  of  Calvin.  ^^„  modem  French  prose.     The  Latin  edition  is  also 
distinguished  for  the  classical  purity  of  its  language.     Calvin  was 
an  exact  and  finished  scholar.    His  words  did  not  touch  the  hearts  \ 
of  the  common  people  as  did  those  of  Luther.     He  was  more  of  a/ 
patrician  in  his  culture  and  temper,  and  addressed  the  higher  and 
more  educated  class.     It  was  mainly  through  others  that  his  influ- 
ence reached  the  lower  ranks  of  society.    The  work  which  his  "  In- 
stitutes "  did  for  the  Eeformation  was  to  reduce  its  doctrinal  ideas  1 
to  a  systematic  form.     Hitherto  a  brief  and  incomplete  treatise  by,/. 
Melanchthon  was  the  only  manual  to  which  those  who  sympathized 
■with  the  new  doctrine  could  resort  for  instruction.     Calvin  was 
"weU  qualified  for  the  peculiar  task  which  was  set  before  him.     He 


1517-1648.]    JOHN  CALVIN  AND  THE  GENEVAN  REFORMATION.     321 

had  a  well-trained,  logical  mind,  disciplined  by  legal  studies,  and 
he  had  that  genius  for  organization  for  which  the  French  nation  is 
distinguished.  He  was  unlike  the  other  great  reformers  in  the  fact 
that  his  opinions  underwent  no  change  from  the  time  of  his  con- 
version until  his  death.  The  "Institutes,"  though  much  enlarged 
in  subsequent  editions,  preserved  fully  the  identity  of  their  earliest 
teachings.  Their  pre-eminent  value  was  immediately  recognized, 
not  only  by  the  friends  of  Protestantism,  but  also  by  its  enemies, 
who  called  the  book  "The  Koran  of  the  Heretics."  In  Calvin's 
system  the  Bible  is  the  sole  standard  of  doctrine.  The 
IS  BjB  em.  gp— J.  q£  Qq^  gives  an  insight  into  what  is  there  set 
forth,  and  a  conviction  of  the  truth  of  the  gospel.  Calvin  never 
lost  his  reverence  for  the  Church  ;  not  the  Church  over  which  the 
Koman  hierarchy  ruled,  but  the  Church  which  is  established  after 
the  model  of  the  New  Testament,  and  is  known  by  the  right 
administration  of  the  Sacraments  and  the  teaching  of  the  Word. 
He  who  withdraws  from  this  community  cuts  himself  off  from 
Christ.  Within  this  body  is  the  Church  invisible,  composed  of  the 
elect,  or  all  true  believers.  What  has  been  deemed  the  main  charac- 
teristic of  Calvin's  system,  the  doctrine  of  predestination,  is  a  point 
upon  which  his  views  were  at  first  shared  by  the  other  reformers. 
They  all  maintained  the  Augustinian  theology,  in  opposition  to 
Pelagianism,  which  in  their  minds  was  connected  with  the  errors  of 
the  mediasval  system,  and  especially  with  the  doctrine  of  merit. 
But  Calvin  continued  to  emphasize  this  idea  after  others  had 
allowed  it  to  retreat  into  the  background.  In  this  peculiarity  he 
was  influenced  not  only  by  his  deep  sense  of  the  exaltation  of  God, 
but  by  his  concern  for  the  practical  interests  of  religion.  He  be- 
lieved all  men  to  be  in  such  complete  bondage  to  sin  that  God 
alone  can  save  them.  According  to  Augustine,  in  the  fall  of  Adam 
the  race  was  involved  in  a  common  catastrophe.  The  will  of  man 
is  free  to  sin,  but  utterly  unable  to  become  holy.  All  men  are 
justly  under  condemnation  and  objects  of  God's  wrath.  A  part  of 
them  he  elects  to  eternal  life  ;  the  others  he  leaves  to  suffer  the 
righteous  penalty  of  the  broken  law.  In  the  "Institutes"  Calvin 
went  further.  He  appears  to  declare  that  even  the  sin  of  Adam 
was  the  object  of  an  efl&cient  decree,  the  effect  of  divine  agency. 
In  his  later  writings,  however,  he  moderates  his  expressions  on  this 
point,  and  confines  himself  to  the  assertion  of  a  permissive  decree. 
In  election  Calvin  saw  a  work  of  God's  grace  which  gave  security 
against  the  assaults  of  temptation.  Unlike  Augustine  and  Luther, 
he  held  that  the  true  believer  can  never  fall  away.     Notwithstand- 


322    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VIH. 

ing  the  fact  that  he  emphasized  man's  inability  to  do  right,  he 
affirmed  in  the  strongest  terms  his  moral  and  responsible  nature. 
The  mysteries  of  predestination  and  election  he  did  not  pretend  to 
fathom.  He  believed  that  for  every  decree  of  the  Almighty  there 
were  reasons  both  wise  and  good,  though  hidden  from  the  mind 
of  man. 

Calvin  was  not  only  a  theologian  but  a  commentator.  If  Me- 
lanchthon  laid  the  foundation  of  Protestant  exegesis,  Calvin  did 
Calvin's  Com-  much  to  build  up  the  edifice.  His  preference  for  this  ' 
mentaries.  gQj.^^  qJ  Scholarly  labor  was  justified  by  the  clearness, 
thoroughness,  and  conciseness  of  the  results.  He  was  candid  and 
manly  in  the  discussion  of  a  passage.  He  never  evaded  difficulties, 
but  grappled  with  them.  Luther  was  the  translator,  but  Cahdn 
the  interpreter,  of  the  Word.  As  a  practical  reformer,  Calvin  was 
no  rash  iconoclast.  While  he  would  sweep  away  the  corruptions 
which  had  grown  up  through  the  influence  of  mediaeval  super- 
stition, he  would  have  everything  done  in  order,  and  would  not 
yield  to  whims  or  to  the  outcries  of  fanatics. 

In  all  the  activities  of  his  life  certain  marked  traits  of  character 

were  manifest.     The  intensity  of  his  convictions  induced  a  lack  of 

patience  with  dissent.     Even  his  letters  to  his  friends 

Personal  •*■ 

traits  of  were  not  free  from  a  censorious  tone  which  threatened 

to  alienate  from  him  men  of  so  mild  a  nature  as  Me- 
lanchthon.  His  natural  irritability  was  increased  by  his  physical 
sufferings,  and  by  the  multitude  of  cares  which  continually  crowded 
upon  him.  Sometimes  "  the  wild  beast  of  his  anger,"  to  use  his 
own  expression  respecting  himself,  raged  without  control.  There 
was  in  Calvin's  piety  a  large  infusion  of  the  Old  Testament  spirit. 
It  was  an  absorbing  aim  with  him  to  exalt  the  law  of  God,  and  to 
bring  his  own  life  and  the  lives  of  others,  to  bring  Church  and  j 
State,  into  subjection  to  it.  Whatever  seemed  to  cast  dishonor  upon/ 
the  Almighty,  as,  for  example,  attacks  made  upon  the  truth,  he  felt 
bound  to  meet  with  a  pitiless  hostility.  Sach  a  man  was  liable  to 
mistake  his  own  resentful  feelings  towards  an  oj)poneut  for  zeal  in 
the  cause  of  God.  Calvin  did  not  touch  human  life  at  so  many 
points  as  did  Luther.  He  did  not  possess  that  sympathy  with 
nature  which  was  a  perpetual  solace  to  the  Saxon  reformer.  Al- 
though he  lived  for  years  in  the  midst  of  the  most  beautiful  sceiiery 
in  the  world,  his  writings  contain  little,  if  anything,  suggested  by 
it.  He  was  engrossed  in  the  affairs  of  a  great  spiritual  conflict. 
Forgetful  of  his  bodily  suffering,  of  his  physical  timidity,  of  his  love 
for  seclusion  and  for  the  quiet  pursuits  of  a  scholar,  he  plunged 


1517-1648.]     JOHN  CALVIN  AND  THE  GENEVAN  REFORMATION.     323 

into  the  turmoil  of  the  Genevan  Reformation,  and  into  the  still 
more  momentous  struggle  of  Protestantism  in  France  and  in  the 
other  countries  of  the  West.  It  is  no  wonder  that,  after  his  death, 
the  senate  of  Geneva,  which  knew  how  disinterested,  resolute,  fear- 
less he  had  been,  spoke  of  "  the  majesty  "  of  his  character. 

Not  long  after  the  publication  of  the  "  Institutes  "  Calvin  visited 
Italy  and  remained  for  a  time  at  the  coui't  of  the  accomplished 
TheReforma-  I^^^hess  of  Ferrara,  the  daughter  of  Louis  XII.  of 
tion  in  Gen-  France,  and  the  protector  of  the  Protestants.  On  his 
way  back  to  Basel  he  was  obliged  to  pass  through  Gen- 
eva. It  was  while  he  was  stopping  there  for  the  night,  expecting  on 
the  following  morning  to  continue  his  journey  to  Basel,  that  the 
event  occurred  which  changed  the  course  of  his  life. 

After  the  battle  of  Cappel,  the  Forest  cantons  had  been  busy 
driving  Protestantism  out  of  those  districts  which  were  not  imme- 
diately dependent  upon  the  cities.  It  had,  however,  maintained 
itself  in  Zurich,  Basel,  and  Berne,  and  had  recently  become  estab- 
lished in  Geneva.  After  a  long  struggle  with  their  bishop  and 
with  his  ally,  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  the  Genevese  had,  Avith  the  aid 
of  Berne  and  Freiburg,  achieved  a  political  independence.  In 
Fare!,  1532,   William   Farel,   a   bold   and  powerful   preacher, 

1489-1565.  g^g  ^gjj  ^^  ^^  earnest  reformer,  came  to  the  city.  Like 
Calvin,  he  had  been  driven  out  of  France,  his  native  country,  by 
persecution.  His  immoderate  zeal  often  put  his  life  in  immipent 
peril.  On  one  occasion  he  snatched  the  relics  from  the  hand  of  a 
priest  in  a  procession  and  flung  them  into  an  adjacent  river.  He 
was  at  first  driven  away  from  Geneva,  and  owed  his  life  to  the 
bursting  of  a  gun  which  was  fired  at  him.  But  the  influence  of 
Berne  began  to  be  felt  in  that  city.  Farel  returned,  and  this  time 
triumphed  over  his  enemies.  Protestantism  was  established  by  vote 
of  the  citizens.  All  the  Church  festivals  except  Sunday  were  abol- 
ished, and  various  amusements,  such  as  dancing  and  masquerades, 
were  forbidden.  The  people  took  a  solemn  oath  to  live  according 
to  the  rule  of  the  gospel.  But  a  pleasure-loving  and  even  licen- 
tious town  could  not  easily  be  brought  under  such  strict  discijDline. 
Signs  of  discontent  speedily  manifested  themselves.  A  strong 
party  arose  which  clamoi-ed  for  the  ancient  customs  and  the  former 
liberty.  Geneva  was  torn  by  intestine  strife,  when,  on  August  5, 
1536,  Calvin  arrived  there.  Farel,  having  heard  of  his  presence, 
visited  him,  and  besought  him  to  remain  and  assist  him  in  his 
work.  But  Calvin  pleaded  his  devotion  to  the  more  retired  pur- 
suits of  a  scholar.      The  ardent  reformer,  finding  persuasion  of 


324    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OP  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VIH. 

no  avail,  told  him  that  he  might  put  forward  his  studies  as  a  pre- 
text, but  that  the  curse  of  God  would  light  on  him  if  he  refused 
to  engage  in  his  work,  Calvin  was  terror-stricken  at  these  words, 
spoken  with  the  fervor  of  a  prophet.     He  felt  as  if  the  hand  of  the 

Almighty  had  been  stretched  out  of  heaven  and  laid 
huwork'^at  upou  him.  Such  a  summons  he  dared  not  disobey. 
Geneva.  -^.^  labors  began  immediately.  A  catechism  was  com- 
posed for  the  instruction  of  the  young.  The  bands  of  discipline 
were  drawn  still  more  tightly  about  a  community  already  rebel- 
lious. The  people  v/ere  forbidden  to  wear  vain  ornaments,  or  to 
engage  in  obnoxious  sports.  The  Libei'tines,  as  the  party  which  op- 
posed these  innovations  was  called,  soon  gained  the  upper  hand. 
Calvin  and  his  associates  found  themselves  in  conflict  with  the  ma- 
jority of  the  citizens,  and  even  with  the  government  itself.  Hav- 
ing preached  on  Easter  Sunday  (1538)  in  spite  of  the  prohibition 

of  the  magistrates,  and  having  also  refused  to  adminis- 
of  the  preach-  ter  the  Sacrament,  they  were  banished  from  the  city. 

Calvin  went  to  Strassburg.  His  joy  at  being  delivered 
from  the  troubles  which  beset  his  work  at  Geneva  and  in  finding 
himself  at  liberty  to  pursue  his  studies  was  greater,  he  says,  than 
under  the  circumstances  was  becoming.  But  in  Strassburg,  Bucer 
urged  him  to  take  charge  of  a  church  of  French  refugees.  Here, 
again,  it  w^as  not  entreaties,  but  a  prophetic  warning,  drawn  from 
the  life  of  the  prophet  Jonah,  which  conquered  his  reluctance. 
During  the  thi-ee  years  which  he  spent  away  from  Geneva  he  be- 
came acquainted  with  some  of  the  Saxon  theologians.  He  did  not 
meet  Luther,  whom  he  held  in  high  honor,  but  with  Melanchthon 
he  formed  a  friendship  which  lasted  until  they  were  separated  by 
death.  Melanchthon  gradually  came  over  to  his  view  of  the  Sacra- 
ment, but  never  to  his  doctrine  of  predestination.  When  Bolsec 
was  arrested  for  preaching  against  this  doctrine,  Melanchthon 
wrote  to  a  friend  that  they  had  thrown  a  man  into  prison  in  Gen- 
eva for  not  agreeing  with  Zeno.  Calvin,  notwithstanding  the  pe- 
culiarities of  his  temperament,  formed  strong  attachments.  He 
cherished  a  tender  regard  for  his  wife,  to  whom  he  was  married  at 
Strassburg,  and  was  intimate  with  Farel  and  with  Viret,  another  of 
the  Genevan  ministers.  Beza  loved  him  as  a  father.  Calvin's  re- 
lations with  the  followers  of  Zwingli  were  for  a  time  unsettled. 
They  at  first  suspected  him  of  trying  to  bring  in  the  Lutheran  doc- 
trine of  the  Lord's  Supper.  His  view  of  predestination  was  also 
distasteful  to  them,  for  Zwingli's  opinions  on  this  subject  were  sim- 
ply speculative.     It  was  with  difficulty  that  Calvin  succeeded  in 


1517-1648.]    JOHN  CALVIN  AND  THE  GENEVAN  REFORMATION.     825 

allaying  their  fears,  and  in  bringing  about  a  union  by  the  accept- 
ance of  common  formularies. 

Quiet  was  not  restored  to  Geneva  by  the  banishment  of  the 
preachers.  Scenes  of  violence  and  licentiousness  became  frequent. 
Return  of  The  Catholics  were  at  work  endeavoring  to  restore  the 
Calvin.  qJ^  religion.      Cardinal  Sadolet,  Bishop  of  Carpentras, 

addressed  to  the  senate  a  flattering  letter  to  urge  them  to  return 
to  the  fold  of  the  Roman  Church.  To  this  document  Calvin  replied 
in  so  masterly  a  way  that  the  city  looked  again  for  help  to  its 
banished  preacher.  Dej^uties  were  sent  to  persuade  him  to  return. 
They  followed  him  from  Sfcrassbui'g  to  Worms.  To  their  entreaties 
he  answered  more  in  tears  than  in  words.  At  length  he 
yielded,  and  once  more  took  up  his  abode  in  Geneva, 
there  to  live  for  the  remainder  of  his  days. 

Under  his  influence  a  new  ecclesiastical  and  civil  order  was 
created.  It  was  the  duty  of  the  State  to  foster  the  interests  of  the 
Church  and  Church,  to  Carry  out  its  requirements,  and  to  inflict 
state.  temporal  penalties  on  those  who  disobeyed   its  rules. 

Ecclesiastical  discipline  was  in  the  hands  of  the  consistory,  which 
was  composed  of  six  clergymen  and  twelve  laymen.  It  exercised  a 
moral  censorship  over  every  person  in  the  city.  The  high  and  the 
low,  the  rich  and  the  poor,  were  alike  subject  to  its  inflexible  laws. 
It  possessed  the  power  of  excommunication  ;  and  excommunication, 
if  it  continued  beyond  a  certain  time,  was  followed  by  civil  penalties. 
The  preachers  of  the  Genevan  Church  were  chosen  with  great  care 
by  the  ministers  already  in  office,  the  congregation,  however,  having 
a  veto  power.  They  formed  the  "Venerable  Company,"  and,  in 
oi'der  that  a  high  standard  of  professional  service  might  be  main- 
tained, met  together  once  a  month  for  mutual  censure. 

Calvin's  work  in  Geneva  was  not  confined  to  the  arrangement 
of  the  ecclesiastical  system.  The  respect  which  the  citizens  euter- 
Conflict  of  tained  for  him  gave  him  a  controlling  influence  in  the 
parties.  framing  of  the  civil  laws.     Although  he  was  well  qualified 

for  this  task  by  his  legal  training  at  Orleans  and  Bourges,  his 
measures  were  conceived  too  much  in  the  spirit  of  the  Hebrew  theo- 
cracy. Not  only  profaneness  and  drunkenness,  but  innocent  amuse- 
ments and  the  teaching  of  divergent  theological  doctrines,  were 
severely  punished.  Nor  was  this  all.  Trifling  offences  were  visited 
with  severe  penalties.  It  was  impossible  that  a  city  of  twenty  thou- 
sand inhabitants  should  rest  content  under  such  sti'ingent  discipline 
and  such  stern  enactments.  The  elements  of  disaffection  disclosed 
themselves  soon  after  Calvin's  return.      His  chief  opponents,  as 


326    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.   [Period  VIII. 

before,  were  the  Libertines.  They  were  composed  of  two  parties,  the 
Spirituals,  a  pantheistic  sect,  which  among  other  things  advocated  a 
lax  marriage  relation  akin  to  modern  "  Free  Love,"  and  the  Patriots. 
These  were  jealous  of  the  Frenchmen,  who  flocked  to  the  city,  and 
they  were  anxious  to  restore  to  the  people  the  power  which,  under 
Calvin's  influence,  was  gradually  passing  into  the  hands  of  a  select 
number  of  magistrates.  But  the  prosperity  which  the  new  order 
of  things  brought  to  the  industrious,  law-abiding  citizens,  raised 
up  for  Calvin  many  supporters.  The  numbers  of  this  party  were 
swelled  by  the  foreign  immigrants,  many  of  whom  were  admitted 
to  citizenship.  The  conflict  was  long  and  bitter.  The  members 
of  the  Libertine  faction  endeavored  to  intimidate  Calvin.  They 
fired  guns  under  his  windows  at  night ;  they  set  dogs  on  him  /' 
in  the  street.  No  device  was  left  untried  to  break  down  his  deter-  / 
mination,  but  all  in  vain. 

In  a  commonwealth  based  on  such  principles  as  was  that  of 
Geneva,  it  was  inevitable  that  outspoken  religious  dissent  should  be 
Suppression  Suppressed  by  force.  The  modern  idea  of  the  limited 
of  dissent.  function  of  the  state  had  not  yet  arisen.  In  the  system 
which  had  ruled  the  world  for  centuries,  heresy  was  considered  a 
crime  which  the  civil  authority  was  bound  to  punish.  The  Old 
Testament  theocratic  view  was  held  to  be  still  applicable  to  civil 
society.  Although  there  were  occasional  pleas  put  forth  by  the  re- 
formers for  toleration,  their  general  position  is  clearly  defined  in 
the  words  of  Calvin:  "Seeing  that  the  defenders  of  the  papacy 
are  so  bitter  in  behalf  of  their  superstitions,  that  in  their  atrocious 
fury  they  shed  the  blood  of  the  innocent,  it  should  shame  Christian 
magistrates  that  in  the  protection  of  certain  truth  they  are  entirely 
destitute  of  spirit."  Such  convictions  were  not  long  in  bearing 
their  appropriate  fruit.  A  noted  case  was  that  of  Michael  Ser- 
Servetus  vctus.  He  was  a  Spaniard  of  an  ingenious,  inquisitive, 
1509-1553.  restless  mind.  He  early  turned  his  attention  to  theo- 
logical questions.  His  book  on  the  "  Errors  of  the  Trinity  "  ap- 
peared in  1531.  In  it  he  advocated  a  viev/  closely  allied  to  the  Sa- 
bellian  theory,  and  an  idea  of  the  incarnation  in  which  the  common 
belief  of  two  natures  in  Christ  had  no  place.  After  a  vain  attempt 
to  draw  Calvin  into  a  controversy  he  went  to  Paris  and  applied  him- 
self to  studies  in  natural  science  and  medicine,  for  which  he  had 
a  remarkable  aptitude.  For  many  years  he  resided  at  Vienne,  in  the 
South  of  France,  engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  profession.  Dur- 
ing this  time  he  conformed  outwardly  to  the  Catholic  Church,  and 
was  not  suspected  of  heresy.     It  was  his  second  book,  the  "  Res- 


1517-1648.]    JOHN  CALVIN  AND  THE  GENEVAN  REFORMATION.     327 

toration  of  Christianity,"  a  copy  of  which  he  sent  to  Calvin,  which 
brought  him  into  trouble.  In  this  work  he  advocated  theoi-ies  of 
the  world  and  of  God  which  were  pantheistic  in  their  drift.  When 
it  was  discovered  that  Servetus  was  the  author,  he  was  arrested  and 
brought  to  trial.  He  denied  that  he  wrote  either  this  book  or  the 
one  on  the  "Errors  of  the  Trinity."  But  some  pages  of  an  annotated 
copy  of  the  "Institutes,"  which  he  had  sent  to  Calvin,  together 
with  a  parcel  of  letters,  were  obtained  from  Geneva.  Seeing  that 
conviction  was  inevitable,  he  succeeded  in  making  his  escape.  Not 
long  after,  he  went  to  Geneva,  where  he  lived  unrecognized  for  a 
month.  But  as  soon  as  his  presence  was  known,  Calvin  procured 
his  arrest.  In  the  trial  before  the  senate,  which  followed,  Servetus 
defended  his  opinions  boldly  and  acutely,  but  with  a  strange  out- 
pouring of  violent  denunciation.  He  caricatured  the  doctrine  of 
the  Trinity.  He  intermingled  physical  theories  and  theological 
speculation  in  a  manner  considered  by  his  hearers  in  the  highest 
degree  dangerous  and  even  blasphemous.  As  he  was  setting  forth 
his  view  of  the  participation  of  all  things  in  the  Deity,  he  told  Calvin, 
contemptuously,  that  if  he  only  understood  natural  science  he 
would  be  able  to  comprehend  that  subject.  While  his  trial  was  in 
progress  messengers  came  from  the  ecclesiastical  court  at  Vienne 
demanding  their  prisoner.  Servetus  preferred  to  remain  in  Geneva, 
relying  perhaps  on  the  support  of  the  Libertines.  But  they  were 
unable  to  save  him.  After  his  condemnation  he  sent  for  Calvin 
and  asked  his  pardon  for  the  indignities  which  he  had  cast  upon 
him.  He  maintained  his  opinions  with  heroic  constancy,  and  was 
burned  at  the  stake  on  the  27th  of  October,  1553.  No  doubt  Calvin 
had  expected,  and  from  the  course  of  Sei'vetus  in  the  past  had 
reason  to  expect,  that  he  would  abjure  his  errors.  When  this  hope 
failed,  he  tried  to  have  the  mode  of  carrying  the  sentence  into 
execution  mitigated.  Yet  he  believed  that  such  an  attack  upon  the 
fundamental  truths  of  religion  as  Servetus  had  made  should  be 
punished  with  death.  This  opinion  he  shared  with  BulHnger, 
Zwingli's  successor,  and  even  with  the  gentlest  of  the  reformers, 
Melanchthon. 

Two  years  after  the  death  of  Servetus  the  Libertine  faction 

made  a  last  determined  effort  to  overthrow  the  ecclesiastical  system 

which  Calvin  had  built  up.     When  intrigue  did  not  suc- 

Defeat  of  -.mi  ■,    ,        r   ■-,  ,. 

the  Liber-       cccd,  they  rcsortcd  to  arms.     The  complete  failure  of 
the  insurrection  was  a  death-blow  to  their  party.     Cal- 
vin did  not  rejoice  in  the  fall  of  his  enemies,  although  he  keenly 
felt  the  many  calumnies  which  they  had  heaped  upon  him.     It  was 


328    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VHI. 

in  allusion  to  the  vexations  incident  to  his  position  that  he  once 
said,  "  To  my  power  which  they  envy,  O  that  they  were  the 
successors ! " 

Notwithstanding  the  burdens  which  the  care  of  the  civil  and  ec- 
clesiastical affairs  of  the  city  laid  upon  him,  Calviu  performed  a 
Labors  of  great  work  as  a  teacher  and  as  a  counsellor  of  statesmen 
Calvin.  g^jjj]  reformers  in  many  lands.     On  alternate  weeks  he 

preached  every  day,  besides  giving  weekly  three  theological  lectui*es. 
His  memory  was  remarkable.  Without  a  scrap  of  paper  in  his 
hand,  he  would  expound  the  most  intricate  passages  of  the  proph- 
ets. Students  flocked  to  Geneva  to  hear  his  instructions.  Men 
like  Knox,  who  sought  there  a  refuge  from  persecution,  went  away 
thoroughly  imbued  with  his  ideas.  Under  Calvin's  guidance  Gen- 
eva became  to  the  Romanic  nations  what  Wittenberg  was  to  the 
Germans.  A  theological  school  was  founded  there,  and  Beza  was 
placed  over  it.  Calvin's  influence  was  extended  not  only  by  the 
circulation  of  his  writings,  but  by  his  vast  correspondence,  on  the 
rolls  of  which  were  monarchs,  princes,  and  nobles,  as  well  as  theo- 
logians. It  was  in  the  affairs  of  the  Reformation  in  France  that 
his  agency  was  especially  prominent.  Those  who  were  struggling 
there  to  advance  the  cause  of  Protestantism  looked  to  him  for  direc- 
tion and  support.  Geneva  was  the  refuge  for  the  persecuted  and 
the  stronghold  from  which  missionaries  went  forth  to  continue  the 
battle.  From  its  printing-presses  Bibles  and  numerous  other  pub- 
lications in  the  French  tongue  were  scattered  abroad. 

When  his  life  was  drawing  to  a  close,  Calvin  had  the  good  for- 
tune to  see  Geneva  delivered  from  faction,  and  the  institutions  of 
Last  days  ot  learning,  which  he  had  founded,  in  a  prosperous  condi- 
Caivin.  ^JQjj^     g^j|.  j^^g  labors  did  not  cease.     As  had  been  his 

custom,  after  the  arduous  public  duties  of  the  day  were  over  he 
continued  to  devote  himself  in  the  evening  to  his  favorite  studies 
and  to  the  writing  of  his  books.  When  he  became  too  feeble  to  sit 
up,  he  dictated  to  an  amanuensis  from  his  bed.  Although  his  body 
was  wasted  by  disease,  his  mind  retained  its  vigor  and  clearness  to 
the  last.  When  he  felt  the  end  approaching,  he  sent  for  the  Senate, 
at  whose  deliberations  he  had  so  often  assisted.  As  they  gathered 
about  his  bed,  he  thanked  them  for  the  tokens  of  honor  which  they 
had  granted  to  him,  and  desired  their  forgiveness  for  the  outbreaks 
of  auger  which  they  had  borne  with  so  much  forbearance.  He  assured 
them  of  the  sincerity  and  honesty  with  which  he  had  expounded 
the  word  of  God  among  them,  and  urged  upon  them  humility  and 
watchfulness  in  guarding  the  State  from  the  evils  which  still  threat- 


1517-1648.]    JOHN  CALVIN  AND  THE  GENEVAN  REFORMATION.    329 

ened  it.  He  then  offered  a  fervent  prayer,  and  took  each  one  of 
them  by  the  hand,  as  with  tears  they  parted  from  him.  Two  days 
afterward  he  called  the  ministers  of  the  city  and  of  the  neighbor- 
hood to  his  bedside,  and  spoke  to  them  in  a  similar  maunex'.  "  We 
parted  from  him,"  says  Beza,  "  with  our  eyes  bathed  in  tears,  and 
our  hearts  full  of  unspeakable  grief."  He  died  on  the  27th  of  May, 
1564.  Calvin  was  endowed  with  an  understanding  of  wonderful 
power.  The  imagination  and  the  sentiments,  however,  were  not  pro- 
portionately developed.  He  had  a  talent  for  organization  which 
qualified  him  to  become  the  founder,  not  only  of  an  ecclesiastical 
system,  but  of  an  enduring  school  of  thought.  In  the  history  of 
theology  he  stands  on  the  same  plane,  as  regards  the  character  of 
his  influence,  with  Thomas  Aquinas.  He  forgot  himself  in  his  de- 
votion to  what  he  believed  to  be  the  will  of  the  Almighty.  His 
fear  of  God,  that  fear  which  the  Hebrew  prophets  felt,  left  no  room 
in  his  soul  for  the  fear  of  men.  The  combination  of  his  qualities 
was  such  that  he  excited  the  most  profound  admiration  in  some, 
and  an  equally  profound  aversion  in  others.  No  one,  however,  who 
carefully  reviews  the  course  of  his  life  and  the  permanence  of  his 
influence,  can  call  in  question  either  his  moral  or  intellectual  pre- 
eminence. 

The  principles  which  underlay  Calvin's  theological  and  ecclesi- 
astical system  have  been  a  powerful  factor  in  the  growth  of  civil  lib-  \ 
Caivinis  ^^^^^    Nevertheless,  in  the  constitution  which  he  created  ' 

and  civu        at  Geneva,  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Church  was  extended 

liberty, 

over  the  details  of  conduct  to  such  a  degree  as  to  abridge 
unduly  the  liberty  of  the  individual.  The  power  of  coercion  which 
was  given  to  the  civil  authority  subverted  freedom  in  religious 
opinion  and  worship.  But,  notwithstanding  these  grave  errors, 
which  Calvin  shared,  in  a  great  degree  at  least,  with  the  age  in  which 
he  lived,  he  vindicated  the  right  of  the  Church  to  perform  its  own\ 
functions  without  the  interference  of  the  State.  The  Church  thus  ) 
became  the  nursery  of  liberty.  Wherever  Calvinism  spread — in 
England,  Scotland,  Holland,  or  France — men  learned  to  defend  their 
rights  against  the  tyranny  of  civil  rulers.  Moreovei-,  the  separa- 
tion of  Church  from  State  was  the  first  step  in  the  development  of 
religious  freedom.  After  that  step  was  taken,  the  State  would  grad- 
ually cease  to  lend  its  power  to  the  Church  as  the  executioner  of 
its  laws.  In  the  Calvinistic  system,  laymen  took  a  responsible  part  \ 
in  the  selection  of  the  clergy  and  in  the  management  of  the  affaii'S 
of  the  Church.  The  privilege  of  governing  themselves,  which  they 
enjoyed  in  the  Christian  society,  they  would  soon  claim  in  the  com- 


330    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VIII. 

monwealth.  Nor  was  the  pervading  principle  of  Calvin's  theology 
— the  idea  of  the  sovereignty  of  God — without  an  influence  in  the 
same  direction.  In  comparison  with  that  Almighty  Ruler  ujDon 
whose  will  the  lives  and  fortunes  of  men  depended,  all  earthly 
potentates  sank  into  insignificance.  At  the  same  time  the  dignity 
of  the  individual  was  enhanced  by  the  consciousness  that  he  was 
chosen  of  God.  Uplifted  by  such  ideas  and  by  the  aspirations 
which  they  created,  the  people  were  able  to  humble  the  might  of 
kinsrs. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

THE    REFORMATION    IN    FRANCE. 

Feance  had  already  witnessed  two  movements  for  reform  before 
the  rise  of  Protestantism.  In  the  fifteenth  century  the  GalHcan 
„  .       theologians  had  sought  to  remove  ecclesiastical  abuses 

Sources  or  *=>  c 

Protestantism  and  to  check  the  encroachments  of  the  papacy.     But 

IE  France.  ■*•       ^ 

they  desired  to  correct,  not  the  doctrines,  but  the  ad- 
ministration, of  the  Church.  When  they  consigned  to  the  flames 
John  Huss,  they  marked  the  limits  of  the  change  which  they 
wished  to  bring  about.  None  were  more  hostile  to  all  doctrinal 
innovations  than  their  successors  in  the  College  of  the  Sorbonne, 
the  Theological  Faculty  at  Paris,  and  in  the  Parliament.  Two 
centuries  before  the  rise  of  the  Galilean  reformers,  a  movement  of 
a  much  more  radical  character  began  in  Southern  France.  Here 
the  anti-sacerdotal  sects — the  "Waldenses,  and  the  Catharists — flour- 
ished for  a  time.  But  only  a  small  remnant  survived  the  terrible 
persecutions  to  which  they  were  then  subjected,  and  continued  to 
cherish  the  simple  faith  of  their  ancestors.  It  was  not  from  them, 
but  from  the  literary  and  scientific  spirit  which  was  awakened 
through  the  close  intercourse  with  Italy,  during  the  reigns  of  Louis 
Xn.  and  Francis  I.,  that  the  earliest  reformatory  movements  of  the 
sixteenth  century  arose.  Francis  was  especially  anxious  to  attract 
men  of  genius  to  his  court.  Frenchmen  visited  Italy  and  brought 
back  the  classical  culture  which  was  there  acquired.  Trausaljoine 
poets,  artists,  and  scholars,  enticed  by  the  munificence  of  the  king, 
and  dreading  Spanish  tyranny,  came  to  France,  and  still  further 
promoted  the  revival  of  letters.  But  the  introduction  of  the  new 
studies,  especially  Hebrew  and  Greek,  was  bittei'ly  opposed  by  the 
Sorbonne,  under  the  leadership  of  the  Syndic  Beda.      Thus  two 


1517-1648.]  THE  REFORMATION  IN  FRANCK  331 

parties  were  formed,  the  one  devoted  to  the  new  learning,  the  other 
jealously  guarding  the  mediseval  theolog3^ 

Jaccjues  Lefevre,  who  was  revered  among  the  Humanists  as  the 
restorer  of  philosophy  and  science  in  the  university,  was  also  the 
LefCvre,  father  of  the  French  Eeformation.  A  student  of  Aris- 
1-J50-1536.  totle,  his  deep  religious  spirit  impelled  him  to  the  earnest 
study  of  the  Scriptures.  In  1509  he  published  a  commentary  on 
the  Psalms,  and  in  1512  a  commentary  on  the  epistles  of  Paul. 
In  these  books  he  clearly  taught  the  doctrine  of  justification  by 
faith,  and  treated  the  Bible  as  the  supreme  and  sufficient  authority 
in  religion.  He  believed  that  a  reformation  of  the  Church  was 
near  at  hand.  As  early  as  1512  he  said  to  Farel,  who  aftei-wards 
became  distinguished  as  a  Protestant  leader  in  France  and  in 
Switzerland  :  "  God  will  renovate  the  world,  and  you  will  be  a  wit- 
ness of  it."  But  his  writings  did  not  at  first  stir  up  opposition. 
They  were  addressed  to  the  learned,  and  were,  moreover,  mystical 
rather  than  polemical  in  their  character.  As  soon,  however,  as  the 
noise  of  the  movement  in  Saxony  reached  Paris,  the  doctors  of  the 
Sorbonne  became  alarmed.  They  were  resolved  not  to  tolerate  any 
departure  from  the  dogmatic  system  of  Aquinas.  Heresy  was  stig- 
matized by  them,  and  punished  by  the  Parliament,  the  highest 
judicial  tribunal,  as  an  offence  against  the  State.  In  1521,  the 
same  year  that  they  pronounced  Luther  a  heretic  and  a  blasphemer, 
they  condemned  a  dissertation  of  Lefevre  on  a  point  of  evangelical 
history  on  which  he  had  controverted  the  traditional  opinion.  He, 
with  Farel,  Gerard  Roussel,  and  other  preachers,  found  an  asy- 
Brifonnet,  ^^^  with  Briyonuet,  Bishop  of  Meaux,  who  shared  their 
M^ux  1516-  doctrinal  views,  and  who  was  earnestly  engaged  in  re- 
1534.  forming  the  ecclesiastical  administi'ation  of  his  diocese. 

Lefevre  now  put  forth  a  translation  of  the  New  Testament  from  the 
Vulgate,  and  expounded  more  distinctly  than  before  the  evangelical 
doctrines.  It  seemed  as  if  Meaux  was  to  be  another  Wittenberg. 
But  the  Parliament  of  Paris  determined  to  crush  out  the  heresies 
which  infected  that  district.  Briyonnet  bowed  before  the  storm, 
abjured  the  new  opinions,  and  even  countenanced  the  pei'secution 
of  those  whom  he  had  himself  instructed.  Lefevre  fled  to  Strass- 
burg,  but  was  afterwards  recalled  by  Francis  I,  and  finally  took 
up  his  abode  in  the  court  of  the  king's  sister,  Margaret,  Queen  of 
Navarre. 

There  were  two  parties  at  the  French  court.  The  queen- 
mother,  Louise  of  Savoy,  and  with  her  the  Chancellor  Duprat, 
was  ready  to  aid  the  Sorbonne  in  the  persecution  of  heterodox 


332    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.   [Period  VIII. 

opinions.  Louise  was  persuaded  by  this  wily  ecclesiastic  that  by 
so  doing  she  could  atone  for  the  immoralities  of  her  private  life. 
Margaret  Margaret,  on  the  other  hand,  a  versatile  and  accom- 
viTrTe"  149!-*  plished  princess,  shared  many  of  the  doctrines  of  the 
1549.'  reformers,   and  strove  to  save  them  from  persecution. 

The  deep  vein  of  mysticism  which  joenetrated  all  her  religious  be- 
liefs kept  her  from  breaking  away  from  the  Church  or  fi-om  dis- 
countenancing the  mass.  And  yet  her  poem,  the  "  Mirror  of  the 
Sinful  Soul,"  was  so  Protestant  in  its  tone  as  to  draw  down  upon 
her  the  wrath  of  the  Sorbonne.  After  her  marriage  with  Henry 
d'Albret,  the  King  of  Navarre,  she  continued,  in  her  own  little 
court  and  principality,  to  promote  the  evangelical  doctrine  and  to 
protect  its  adherents. 

Francis  I.  himself  was  vacillating  in  his  attitude  towards  the 

Protestant   movement.      His   enthusiasm   for  literatm-e   and   art 

J  prompted  him  to  favor  a  reformation  after  the  Erasmian 

Character  and  ■'•■'■ 

policy  of  type.  He  had  no  love  for  the  Sorbonne,  for  the  Parlia- 
b.  1494,  ' '  ment,  or  for  the  monks  ;  but  the  necessities  of  the  po- 
litical situation  often  constrained  him  to  suffer  the  pol- 
icy of  Louise  and  the  chancellor  to  prevail.  During  the  regency 
which  was  established  after  his  capture  at  the  battle  of  Pavia,  her- 
etics were  burned  in  Paris  and  in  the  provinces.  It  was  only  the 
sudden  return  of  Francis  from  Spain  which  saved  Louis  de  Ber- 
quin,  an  accomplished  scholar  and  a  favorite  courtier,  from  the 
flames.  Even  in  this  case  the  theologians  were  successful  in  their 
second  attack,  and  Berquin  perished.  Nor  did  they  stop  there. 
They  even  ventured  to  lampoon  the  king's  sister  in  a  scholastic 
comedy,  throwing  out  charges  of  heresy  against  her.  This  insult 
to  the  royal  household  aroused  the  anger  of  Francis.  He  did  not 
rest  content  with  the  mere  j)unishment  of  the  offenders,  but  au- 
thorized Gerard  Roussel  to  preach  freely  in  Paris,  and  imprisoned 
Beda,  who  raised  an  outcry  against  his  sermons.  At  this  time 
(1534)  when  the  Teutonic  portion  of  Christendom  was  already  lost 
to  the  papacy,  and  when  Protestantism  was  winning  many  adhe- 
rents even  in  Italy  and  Spain,  the  action  of  the  French  king  was 
awaited  with  eager  curiosity  and  solicitude.  The  Landgrave  of 
Hesse  came  to  negotiate  with  him  in  person.  But  Fi'ancis  was  in 
reality  opposed  to  any  reformation  which  struck  at  the  foundations 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  system.  He  had  no  sympathy  with  attacks 
on  the  sacraments  and  the  hierarchical  body.  He  would  not  coun- 
tenance movements  that  involved  a  religious  division  in  his  king- 
dom.    He  prized  the  old  maxim,  "  One  king,  one  law,  one  faith." 


1517-1648.]  THE  REFORMATION  IN  FRANCE.  333 

The  papal  party  sought  in  every  way  to  persuade  him  to  espouse 
their  cause.  They  busily  instilled  into  his  mind  the  idea  that  a 
civil  revolution  would  inevitably  follow  a  religious  change.  But  it 
was  not  their  arguments  which  finaUy  induced  the  king  to  perse- 
cute the  Protestants,  It  was  the  inconsiderate  zeal  of  certain  rad- 
ical reformers  who,  in  October,  1534,  posted  on  the  walls  along  the- 
The  placards ;  strccts  of  Paris,  and  even  on  the  door  of  the  royal  bed- 
persecution.  chamber  at  Amboise,  placards  denouncing  the  mass. 
The  rage  of  the  Parisians  was  hardly  greater  than  that  of  the  king. 
He  forthwith  showed  his  devotion  to  the  Catholic  religion  by  join- 
ing in  solemn  religious  processions,  and  in  the  burning,  with  cir- 
cumstances of  atrocious  cruelty,  of  eighteen  heretics.  Neverthe- 
less he  did  not  break  off  his  negotiations  with  the  Germans. 
He  even  urged  Melanchthon  to  come  to  Paris  to  take  part  in  a  re- 
ligious conference.  He  claimed  that  those  who  had  suffered  death 
were  fanatics  and  seditious  people  whom  regard  for  the  safety  of 
the  State  rendered  it  necessary  to  destroy.  But  although  he  con- 
tinued to  assist  the  cause  and  cultivate  the  friendship  of  the  Ger- 
man Protestants,  in  order  to  weaken  the  power  of  the  emperor,  his 
policy  towards  the  French  reformers  became  more  and  more  in- 
tolerant. He  approved  a  rigid  statement  of  doctrine,  which  the 
Sorbonne  put  forth  in  the  form  of  directions  to  preachers.  He 
even  did  not  interpose  to  save  his  unoffending  Waldensian  subjects 
from  massacre.  The  result  of  his  attitude  in  relation  to  the  Eef- 
ormation  was  that,  a  few  years  after  his  death,  his  country  was 
plunged  into  civil  wars,  during  which  it  became,  "not  the  arbiter 
but  the  prey  of  Europe,"  and  its  soil  "the  frightful  theatre  of  the 
battle  of  sects  and  nations."  From  such  wai-s  it  had  no  respite  until 
"his  dynasty  perished  in  blood  and  mire." 

A  few  words  may  here  be  added  respecting  the  suffering  Wal- 
densian Christians.  They  had  never  lost  the  spirit  acquired 
The  wai-  through  the  influ^ence  of  Waldo.  In  1497  they  came  into 
denses.  communication  with  the  Bohemian  brethren,  and  received 

much  light  and  quickening  from  that  source.  They  cast  away  the 
worship  of  saints  and  the  doctrine  of  purgatory.  Through  inter- 
course with  the  reformers  in  Basel  and  Strassburg,  to  whom  they  sent 
messengers,  they  were  led  to  discard  the  doctrine  of  the  seven  sacra- 
ments, and  at  a  synod,  in  1532,  to  adopt  Protestant  principles,  with- 
out openly  renouncing  the  Church  of  Rome.  It  was  the  public  pro- 
fession of  their  faith  that  provoked  the  bloody  persecution  in  Pro- 
vence in  1545,  when  twenty-two  villages  were  burned,  and  four 
thousand  persons  were  ruthlessly  massacred.     On  the  eastern  side 


334    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VIII. 

of  the  Cottian  Alps  the  Waldensian  congregations  were  persecuted, 
but  not  broken  up.  In  Calabria,  when  they  received  Protestant 
preachers,  their  congregations  were  slaughtered  without  mercy, 
such  as  survived  being  sold  as  slaves. 

Protestantism,  which  was  first  introduced  into  France  under 
the  Lutheran  form,  soon  became  Calvinistic  through  the  influence 
Influence  of  °^  Gcueva.  It  has  been  stated  on  a  previous  page  that 
Geneva.  from  the  Genevan  pi'iuting-offices  there  were  sent  forth 

Bibles  and  many  other  books.  The  reformers  received  letters  of 
counsel  and  encouragement  from  Calvin.  Preachers  educated  under 
his  direction  went  to  the  little  congregations  which  were  scattered 
all  over  the  kingdom,  and  which  were  especially  numerous  in  the 
South.  As  we  have  already  learned,  Geneva  became  more  and 
more  the  asylum  of  Frenchmen  whom  religious  intolerance  drove 
fi'om  their  country.  During  the  reign  of  Francis  I.,  Protestantism 
was  favorably  received  by  many  belonging  to  the  higher  classes  of 
society.  But  while  multitudes  of  men  and  women,  both  in  and 
out  of  the  court,  had  no  sympathy  with  Roman  Catholic  bigotry, 
they  turned  away  from  Calvinism,  demanding  as  it  did  so  radical 
an  amendment  of  life. 

Heni'y  II.,  who  succeeded  his  father  in  1547,  although  he  en- 
tered into  a  treaty  with  Maurice  of  Saxony  against  the  emperor, 
Henry  II.;  was  uo  fricud  of  Protcstautism.  But,  notwithstanding 
Protestont>  ^^^  bumiug  of  the  books  and  persons  of  its  adherents, 
i^°^-  the  nvimber  of  Protestants  steadily  increased.     In  1558 

it  was  estimated  that  they  had  two  thousand  places  of  worship. 
The  following  year  they  held  in  secrecy  a  general  sjTiod  at  Paris, 
where  they  adopted  a  Calvinistic  confession  of  faith,  and  organized 
the  church  after  the  Presbyterian  form.  But  the  king  was  by  no 
means  ready  to  permit  such  an  increase  of  heresy  in  his  kingdom. 
In  order  that  he  might  turn  his  arms  against  his  Own  subjects, 
he  concluded  a  peace  with  Philip  II.,  on  terms  humiliating  to 
France.  He  "  bought,  at  the  price  of  many  provinces,  the  rank  of 
lieutenant  of  the  King  of  Spain  in  the  Catholic  party."  He  had 
begun  the  work  of  repression  by  throwing  tfv'o  Parliamentary  advo- 

10  15^9  ^^^®^  °^  ^  milder  policy  into  the  Bastile,  when  he  was  ac- 
cidentally killed  in  a  tournament  held  in  honor  of  the 
new  marriage-alliances  with  the  Duke  of  Savoy  and  the  King  of 
Spain.  Thus  far  persecution  had  failed  of  its  design.  "  For  one 
martyr  who  disappeared  in  the  flames,  there  presented  themselves 
a  hundred  more  ;  men,  women,  and  children  marched  to  their  pun- 
ishment singing  the  psalms  of  Marot  or  the  canticle  of  Simeon : 


1517-1648.]  THE  REFORMATION  IN  FRANCE.  335 

'  Rappelez  votre  serviteur, 
Seigneur!  j'ai  vu  votre  Sauveur.'" 

"  Most  of  the  victims  died  with  the  eye  turned  towards  that  New 
Jerusalem,  that  lioly  city  of  the  Alps,  where  some  had  been  to  seek, 
whence  others  had  received,  the  word  of  God.  Not  a  preacher, 
not  a  missionary  was  condemned  who  did  not  salute  Calvin  from 
afar,  thanking  him  for  having  prepared  him  for  so  beautiful  an  end. 
They  no  more  thought  of  reproaching  Calvin  for  not  following  them 
into  France  than  a  soldier  reproaches  his  general  for  not  plunging 
into  the  melee." 

The  death  of  Henry  II.  brought  to  the  throne  his  son  Francis, 
a  boy  of  sixteen,  weak  in  mind  and  body.  He  was  completely 
under  the  control  of  his  wife,  Mary  Stuart,  and  of  her  uncles  the 
Duke  of  Guise  and  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine,  both  uncompromising 
Catholics.  The  queen-mother,  Catharine  de  Medici,  an  ambitious 
and  crafty  woman,  who  hoped  to  maintain  her  own  ascendency  by 
playing  off  one  party  against  another,  had  allied  herself  to  the 
Guises  in  order  to  break  the  power  of  the  Constable  Montmorenci 
and  his  family  connections  of  the  great  houses  of  Bourbon  and 
Chatillon.  The  result  of  this  step  was  that  the  Protestants  were 
no  longer  merely  a  persecuted  sect,  but  a  strong  polit- 
tantsapouti-  ical  party,  led  by  princes  of  the  blood  and  nobles  of 
cai  party.  ^^^^  highcst  rank.  Of  the  Bourbon  princes  one  of  the 
most  prominent  was  Anthony  of  Vendome,  King  of  Navarre  by  his 
marriage  with  Jeanne  d'Albret,  daughter  of  Margaret  of  Navarre, 
and  another  was  Louis,  Prince  of  Conde.  Of  the  house  of  Cha- 
tillon the  ablest  and  most  honored  member  was  Admiral  Coligni.  i 
All  three  of  these  men  had  espoused  the  cause  of  the  Protestants, 
although  not  with  equal  firmness  and  depth  of  conviction.  Na- 
varre was  weak  and  vacillating,  and  remained  to  the  last  a  time- 
server.  Conde  was  brilliant  as  a  soldier,  but  was  not  free  from  the 
vices  of  a  courtier.  Coligni,  one  of  the  heroic  figures  in  French 
history,  was  a  sagacious  statesman,  an  able  general,  a  man  of  jDure 
life  and  earnest  piety.  It  was  not  to  be  expected  that  these  men 
would  quietly  see  the  controlof  the  government  practically  usurped 
by  persons  whom  they  considered  upstarts  who  had  seized  on 
places  that  did  not  belong  to  them  by  the  laws  and  customs  of  the 
realm.  That  under  these  circumstances  they  should  look  to  the 
persecuted  Calvinists  for  support,  and  that  the  latter  should  seek 
deliverance  through  them,  was  natural.  They  did  not  desire  to 
throw  off  their  allegiance  to  the  king,  but  to  remove  him  from  the 


336    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VIII. 

influence  of  his  evil  counsellors.  The  only  way  of  doing  it  was  by 
vigorous  and  united  action.  A  bold  show  of  force  would  rid  the 
kingdom  of  usurpers  and  save  the  country  from  civil  war.  But 
this  remedy  it  was  impossible  to  apply.  The  abortive  conspiracy 
^      .        ,  of  Amboise,  to  which  Conde  alone  of  the  great  nobles 

Conspiracy  of  o 

Amboise,  was  privy,  terrified  Catharine  and  the  Guises,  but  only 
for  a  moment.  The  harsh  edicts  of  persecution  were 
again  renewed.  This  did  not,  however,  prevent  Coligni  from  pre- 
senting to  the  king,  in  an  assembly  of  nobles  at  Fontainebleau,  a 
petition  of  the  Protestants  for  liberty  to  meet  together  to  worship. 
The  advocates  of  a  milder  policy  towards  the  Huguenots,  as  the  Prot- 
estants about  this  time  began  to  be  called,  prevailed,  and  the  States- 
General  were  summoned  to  consider  the  affairs  of  the  kingdom. 
The  Guises  now  formed  a  plan  for  crushing  the  Huguenot  leaders 
and  forcing  a  rigid  conformity  to  Catholicism  on  the  States-General, 
and  on  all  officials  and  pastors  throughout  the  land.  The  King  of 
Navarre  and  Conde  were  enticed  to  the  court  at  Orleans.  Conde 
was  arrested  and  sentenced  to  death  for  complicity  in  the  Amboise 
conspiracy,  and  Navarre  was  surrounded  by  guards  and  spies.  The 
cause  of  Protestantism  seemed  lost,  when  suddenly  (in  December, 
1560)  the  young  king  died,  and  the  control  of  the  government 
passed  into  the  hands  of  Catharine  de  Medici  and  of  Navarre,  the 
Charles  IX  •  guardians  of  Henry's  second  son,  Charles  IX.,  who  was 
Catharine  de  still  iu  his  minority.  Had  Anthony  of  Navarre  been  a 
courageous,  or  even  a  self-respecting  prince,  he  would 
have  demanded  the  regency,  and  would  have  seized  on  this  grand 
opportunity  for  introducing  a  wiser  and  more  humane  policy  towards 
the  persecuted  Huguenots.  But  he  baselj'  surrendered  all  his  au- 
thority into  the  hands  of  Catharine.  And  yet  the  early  years  of  the 
reign  of  Charles  were  marked  by  a  greater  degree  of  toleration  and 
by  an  evident  desire  on  the  part  of  the  queen-mother  and.  her  lib- 
eral-minded chancellor,  L'Hospital,  to  heal  the  religious  dissensions. 
In  the  last  few  years  Protestantism  had  made  progress  not  only 
among  the  lower  orders,  but  also  among  the  wealthy  merchants  and 
the  nobles.  Its  largest  support  was  from  the  intelligent  middle  class, 
the  ai-tisans  in  the  cities.  In  spite  of  the  opposition  of  the  Duke 
of  Guise,  who  was  now  joined  by  Montmorenci,  and  of  the  intrigues 
of  the  pope  and  of  the  King  of  Spain,  the  hopes  of  religious  union 
Colloquy  at  contiuucd  to  grow  brighter.  A  conference  was  held  at 
poissy.  Poissy,  in  the  autumn  of  1561,  between  the  representa- 

tives of  both  confessions.  In  the  great  refectory  of  the  Benedic- 
tines the  young  king  sat  in  the  midst  of  the  aristocracy  of  France, 


1517-1648]  THE  REFORMATION  IN  FRANCE.  337 

Catharine  de  Medici,  the  King  of  Navarre,  the  Prince  of  Conde,  and 
the  great  lords  and  ladies  of  the  court.  The  Catholics  were  repre- 
sented by  cardinals,  bishops,  abbots,  and  doctors  of  the  Sorbonue. 
Before  this  brilliant  assembly  Theodore  Beza  and  several  of  the 
most  distinguished  of  the  Huguenot  preachers  appeared,  to  set  forth 
Beza,  1519-  ^^^  doctrincs  of  the  reformers.  Beza  was  a  man  of  noble 
1605.  birth,  of  fine  wit,  and  polished  manners,  and  had  already 

won  the  respect  of  many  of  the  court  whom  he  had  met  in  social 
intercourse  prior  to  the  public  conference.  Bat  the  breach  which 
separated  Catholic  and  Protestant  was  too  wide  to  be  bridged  over 
by  learning  and  controversial  skill.  No  agreement  could  be  reached 
on  the  eucharist.  The  colloquy,  whatever  may  have  been  its  moral 
effect,  failed  to  bring  about  a  compromise.  Early  in  the  following 
Edict  of  St  y®^^  ^^®  Edict  of  St.  Germain  was  issued,  which  granted 
Germain,  a  mcasurc  of  tolcration.  The  Protestants  were  to  show 
respect  to  Catholic  rites  and  ceremonies,  were  to  sur- 
render the  churches  of  which  they  had  taken  possession,  and  were 
to  build  no  more.  But  they  might  hold  their  meetings  in  the  open 
country  and  enjoy  the  protection  of  the  police.  This  concession 
was  welcomed  by  the  Huguenots  and  by  Calvin  himself.  They 
hoped  to  be  able, under  its  shield,  to  convert  the  nation,  since  all  such 
edicts  had  been  given  a  broad  construction.  But  the  Catholic  party 
were  not  ready  to  yield  even  this  limited  toleration.  They  seduced 
the  weak  King  of  Navarre  into  a  desertion  of  the  Protestant  cause. 
Thus  the  union  of  the  princes  of  the  blood  and  the  queen-mother 
was  broken,  and  the  success  of  L'Hospital's  tolerant  policy  rendered 
impossible. 

At  this  juncture  the  massacre  of  unoffending  Huguenot  worship- 
pers at  Vassy,  by  the  soldiers  of  the  Duke  of  Guise,  and  under  the 
Massacre  at  ©yes  of  the  dukc,  plunged  the  country  into  civil  war. 
Vassy,  1562.  ijjjg  Protcstauts  throughout  France  regarded  that  outrage 
as  a  wanton  and  atrocious  violation  of  the  religious  peace,  and  flew  to 
arms.  The  Duke  of  Guise  and  his  associates  obtained  possession 
of  the  king  and  of  Catharine,  in  oi'der  to  give  the  action  of  their 
adversaries  the  appearance  of  rebellion.  Thus  began  the  civil  wars, 
which  only  ended  with  the  accession  of  Henry  IV.  to  the  throne. 
The  Huguenots  acted  in  self-defence.  It  was  not  until  the  govern- 
ment had  proved  itself  powerless  to  keep  its  solemn  pledges,  and 
had  countenanced  the  wholesale  murder  of  innocent  people,  that 
they  rose  in  rebellion.  And  even  then  CoUgni  took  up  arms  with 
extreme  reluctance,  and  only  persuaded  by  the  tears  and  entreaties 
of  his  wife.  In  the  midst  of  the  war,  when  the  CathoHcs  seemed 
22 


338    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.    [Period  VHI. 

about  to  be  victorious,  the  Duke  of  Guise  was  assassinated  by  a 
Huguenot,  wlio  was  moved  to  this  deed,  not  by  the  counsel  of  the 
leaders  of  his  party,  but  of  his  own  accord,  in  the  hope  of  ridding 
the  country  of  its  chief  enemy.  This  first  civil  war  was  ended  by 
Edict  of  Am-  ^^^  Edict  of  Amboisc,  whose  terms  were  more  favorable 
boi8e,i563.  ^Q  ^jjg  nobles  than  to  the  people.  Coligni  refused  to 
sanction  its  provisions,  and  was  equally  opposed  to  Conde's  action 
in  concluding  the  peace  of  Longjumeau  at  the  close  of  the  second 
war,  in  1568. 

Philip  n.  had  for  several  years  been  endeavoring  to  persuade 
Catharine  to  adopt  the  repressive  measures  which  had  crushed  out 
Protestantism  in  Spain,  and  seemed  to  be  working  towards  the  same 
end  in  the  Netherlands.  The  Catholic  counter-reformation  was  in 
progress,  and  the  Jesuit  preachers  inflamed  the  anger  of  the  Cath- 
olic population.  The  queen-mother  would  not,  however,  risk  her 
own  ascendency  by  unreservedly  espousing  the  cause  of  either 
party.  The  treachery  of  the  Catholic  leaders  brought  on  the  third 
civil  war,  during  which  the  brave  Conde  was  slain  in  the 
battle  of  Jarnac.  But  in  spite  of  the  continual  reverses 
which  befell  the  Protestant  cause,  Coligni  was  able  to  keep  together 
his  troops  and  to  renew  hostilities.  With  him  were  the  young 
princes  of  Navarre — Anthony  was  dead — and  of  Conde.  At  this 
time  the  ambitious  schemes  of  Philip  11.  excited  the  alarm  of  the 
French.  They  felt  that  he  was  taking  part  in  the  war  against  the 
Huguenots  simply  to  promote  his  own  selfish  interests.  The  court, 
therefore,  notwithstanding  the  advantages  which  had  been  gained 
Peace  of  St.  <^"^®^'  ^^^  Protestauts,  concludcd  with  them  the  peace  of 
Germain,  1570.  g{._  Qermaiu,  which  renewed  the  peace  of  Amboise,  and 
left  four  fortified  towns  in  their  hands  as  a  guarantee  that  the 
stipulations  of  the  treaty  would  be  fulfilled.  Thus  France  became 
divided  against  itself.  For  a  time  it  seemed  as  if  Catharine  would 
Fluctuating  adopt  an  anti-Spanish  policy.  Proposals  were  made  for 
policy.  ^]j0  marriage  of   one  of    her  sons  to  Queen  Elizabeth 

of  England.  A  second  plan  proved  more  successful.  Prince 
Henry  of  Navarre  was  to  marry  Margaret,  the  daughter  of  Cath- 
arine, and  Conde  was  to  marry  a  princess  of  the  house  of  Cleve. 
So  ardent  were  the  hopes  of  the  Protestants  that  Coligni  himself 
came  to  the  court  and  was  cordially  received  by  Catharine.  But 
Massacre  of  ^'^^^^  good  feeling  was  not  of  long  duration.  She  saw 
St.  Barthoio-  that  the  king  was  attracted  by  the  noble  character  of 

mew.  "  *' 

Coligni,  and  already  listened  to  him  with  an  almost  filial 
docility.     Coligni  urged  a   declaration  of  war   against   the  King 


1517-164S.]  THE  REFORMATION  IN  PRANCE.  339 

of  Spain,  and  -when  Catharine  opposed  this  measure  warm  words 
passed  between  them.  She  feared  that  Ehzabeth  would  recall 
her  troops  from  the  Netherlands.  She  could  prevent  the  war  by 
destroying  the  Huguenot  chief.  His  implacable  enemies,  the 
Guises,  and  the  Duke  of  Anjou,  afterward  Henry  IH.,  eagerly 
Augusts^  entered  into  the  plot.  But  an  attempt  to  assassinate 
1572.  Coligni  failed.     He  was  wounded,  but  not  dangerously. 

The  anger  of  the  king  was  kindled  by  this  act  of  perfidy,  and  he 
visited  the  wounded  veteran.  Coligni  called  him  to  his  bedside 
and  cautioned  him  against  the  counsels  of  Catharine  and  against 
the  faction  to  M'hich  she  had  allied  herself.  The  queen-mother 
herself,  who  was  present,  could  not  hear  the  conversation,  which 
was  carried  forward  in  a  low  tone,  but  prevailed  upon  Charles 
afterwards  to  tell  her  what  Coligni  had  said.  She  now  resolved  upon 
the  general  massacre  of  the  Huguenots,  many  of  whom  had  been 
invited  to  Paris  to  attend  the  wedding  festivities.  The  conspirators 
filled  the  mind  of  the  king  with  stories  of  plots  of  the  Protestants 
for  his  overthrow.  When  at  last  he  gave  way  and  consented  to  the 
murder  of  Coligni,  he  demanded,  in  a  frantic  tone,  that  all  the 
Huguenots  should  be  struck  down,  so  that  none  might  be  left  to  cry 
out  against  the  deed.  In  the  night  of  August  24th  the  massacre 
began.  Coligni  and  other  prominent  Huguenots  were  first  slain  by 
the  Duke  of  Guise  and  his  associates.  Then  one  of  the  great  bells 
of  the  city  rang  out  the  signal  to  the  other  conspirators.  The 
bigoted  Catholic  populace  were  urged  on  to  the  work  of  blood. 
None  were  spared  ;  men,  women,  and  children  were  murdered  with- 
out mercy.  The  very  seeds  of  heresy  must  be  destroyed.  Couriers 
were  sent  through  the  country,  and  in  other  towns  the  same  fright- 
ful scenes  were  enacted.  Not  less  than  two  thousand  were  killed 
in  Paris,  and  as  many  as  twenty  thousand  in  the  rest  of  France. 
Navarre  and  Conde  were  obliged  to  conform  to  the  Catholic  Church 
to  save  their  lives.  When  the  news  of  this  massacre  reached  Kome, 
the  pope  ordered  a  Te  Deum  to  be  sung.  It  caused  a  like  tumult 
of  joy  at  Madrid.  But  in  all  other  countries,  both  Catholic  and 
Protestant,  the  atrocious  crime  was  regarded  with  horror  and  its 
perpetrators  with  execration.  If  its  object  was  to  crush  the  Prot- 
estants, it  was  a  failure.  They  only  gathered  new  determination 
The"Pou-  from  their  sufferings.  The  liberal  Catholics,  or  "  Poli- 
Cathoiic  *^^  tiques,"  separated  from  their  fanatical  brethren  and  ad- 
League,  1576.  yocated  a  poHcy  of  toleration.  Such  was  the  power  of 
this  combined  party  that,  in  1576,  Henry  HL,  who,  two  years  before, 
had  succeeded  to  the  throne,  gi'anted  complete  religious  toleration 


340    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VIII. 

outside  of  Paris,  and  equality  of  rights.     The  Guise  faction,  with 
the  aid  of  Spain,  now  formed  the  Catholic  League  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  the  Catholic  religion  and  the  extirpation  of  Protestantism. 
Under  its  influence  the  worthless  king  abandoned  his  policy  of 
toleration.     Civil  war  again  raged  in  France,     After  the  death  of 
the  Duke  of  Alenyou,  Henry  of  Navarre  became  heir  to 
the  throne.     The  league,  supported  by  Spain  and  Eome, 
determined  that  he  should  never  wear  the  crown.     In  1586  a  third 
war,  that  of  the  "Three  Henries,"  broke  out.     The  king,  wearied 
of  the  domination  of  the  Guises,  at  length  caused  both 

1588. 

the  duke  and  the  cardinal  to  be  assassinated.  The 
hatred  of  the  Catholics  was  aroused  to  such  fury  by  this  act  that 
Assassination  ^^  ^^^  obliged  to  take  refugc  in  the  camp  of  Henry  of 
of  Henry  III.  Navarre.  But  even  here  he  was  not  safe.  He  was  slain 
(August  1,  1589)  by  a  fanatical  priest,  who  made  his  way  into  the 
camp. 

Henry  IV,  was  now  King  of  France  by  right  of  inheritance,  but 
the  power  of  the  league  stood  between  him  and  the  throne.  Even 
after  its  schemes  of  union  with  Spain  had  fallen  through,  and  its 
March  14,  army  had  been  defeated  by  the  king  at  Ivry,  the  obstacle 
1590.  q£  religion  still  remained.     Many  of  the  liberal  Catholics 

who  had  supported  Henry's  cause  would  never  consent  to  his  wear- 
ing the  crown  until  he  conformed  to  the  religion  of  his  fathers.  In 
their  minds  Catholicism  and  the  monarchy  were  bound  up  together. 
There  was  much  to  induce  Henry  to  yield  to  their  wishes.  Only 
thus  could  he  put  an  end  to  the  calamities  under  which  his  country 
was  groaning.     He,  moreover,  believed  that  as  king  he  could  shield 

the  Protestants  from  persecution.  Influenced  by  such 
of  Henry  IV,    considerations  he  went  into  the  church  of  St.  Denis,  and, 

kneeling  before  the  Archbishop  of  Bourges,  declared  that 
he  would  live  and  die  in  the  Catholic  Church,  which  he  promised  to 
protect  and  defend.  His  views  underwent  no  change.  He  refused 
to  sign  specific  articles  of  faith.  His  act  was  simply  one  of  out- 
ward conformity.  To  Coligni  such  a  surrender  of  principle  would 
have  been  impossible  ;  but  to  Henry,  brought  up  in  the  camp  and 
not  free  from  its  vices,  and  with  no  deep  religious  convictions,  it 
might  seem  even  meritorious.  The  Protestants  were  thi'own  into 
consternation  by  this  step,  which  seemed  to  them  a  betrayal  of 
The  Edict  their  cause.  But  Henry  was  sincere  in  his  purpose  to 
of  Nantes.  protect  them.  By  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  in  1598,  they 
were  granted  that  measure  of  religious  freedom  for  which  they  had 
contended,  and  several  fortified  cities  were  left  in  their  hands  as  a 


1517-1648.]     THE  REFORMATION  IN  THE  NETHERLANDS,  341 

guarantee  for  their  security.  In  Henry's  foreign  wars  their  chief 
enemies,  the  pope  and  the  King  of  Spain,  were  humbled,  as  well 
as  the  ancient  boundaries  of  the  realm  restored.  But  although 
Protestantism  thus  enjoyed  comparative  security,  it  ceased  to  make 
progress.  Its  adherents  were  no  longer  animated  by  a  purpose  to 
conquer  the  whole  country  to  their  faith.  They  became  a  defen- 
sive party,  burdened  with  the  necessity  of  maintaining  a  political 
and  a  military  establishment  as  a  protection  against  their  enemies. 


CHAPTER    V. 

THE  REFORMATION  IN  THE  NETHERLANDS. 

In  the  Netherlands,  which  were  nearly  co-extensive  with  the 
territory  at  present  included  in  Belgium  and  Holland,  and  which 
formed  a  most  valuable  portion  of  the  great  realm  of  Charles  V., 
Protestantism  spread  rapidly,  in  spite  of  the  persecutions 
of  Protestant-  to  which  its  adherents  were  early  subjected.  The  spirit 
'*™'  and  occupations  of  the  people,  the  whole  atmosphere  of 

the  country,  were  singularly  favorable  to  the  reception  of  the  evan- 
gelical doctrine.  They  were  sober,  industrious,  and  liberty-loving. 
Their  intelligence  was  so  remarkable  that  common  laborers,  even 
fishermen  who  dwelt  in  the  huts  of  Friesland,  could  read  and  write, 
and  discuss  the  interpi'etation  of  Scripture.  The  nearness  of  the 
Low  Countries  to  Germany,  to  England,  and  to  France,  facilitated 
the  introduction  of  the  new  opinions.  "  Nor  did  the  Rhine  from 
Germany,  or  the  Meuse  from  France,"  to  quote  the  regretful  lan- 
guage of  the  Jesuit  historian  Strada,  "  send  more  water  into  the 
Low  Countries,  than  by  the  one  the  contagion  of  Luther,  and  by 
the  other  that  of  Calvin,  was  imported  into  the  same  Belgic  prov- 
inces." As  the  number  of  Protestants  increased,  and  the  influence 
of  France  and  of  Geneva  began  to  be  felt,  the  Lutheran  type  of 
Calvinism ;  teaching  gave  way  to  Calvinism.  Anabaptists  and  other 
persecution,  liceutious  and  fanatical  sectaries  were  numerous,  and 
their  excesses  afforded  a  plausible  pretext  for  punishing  with  se- 
verity all  who  departed  from  the  ancient  faith.  But  the  first  edict, 
or  "  placard,"  for  the  suppression  of  heresy  in  the  Netherlands,  and 
several  of  those  which  followed,  were  imperfectly  executed  on  ac- 
count of  the  lenient  disposition  of  the  regents  to  whom  Charles  del- 
egated the  government  during  his  protracted  absence.  In  1550, 
however,  the  country  was  alarmed  by  the  issuing  of  another  "pla- 


342    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.   [Period  VIH. 

card,"  not  only  renewing  the  former  edicts,  but  containing,  besides, 
a  reference  to  inquisitors  of  the  faith,  as  well  as  to  the  ordinary 
judges  of  the  bishops.  The  people  feared  that  the  terrible  Span- 
ish Inquisition  was  to  be  introduced.  Foreign  merchants  prepared 
to  leave  Antwerp,  prices  fell,  and  trade  was  to  a  great  extent  sus- 
pended. At  the  intercession  of  the  regent  the  emperor  substituted 
"  ecclesiastical  judges  "  for  inquisitors  of  the  faith.  Although  the 
persecuting  edicts  were  not  carried  out  during  the  long  reign  of 
Charles  with  all  the  severity  which  their  provisions  demanded, 
many  thousands  were  put  to  death  as  heretics. 

In  1555  the  government  of  the  Netherlands  devolved  upon 
Philip  n.,  who  had  succeeded  his  father  on  the  throne  of  Spain. 
„^.,.  ^^        The  main  article  of  the  new  monarch's  creed  was  politi- 

Philip  II.  ^ 

cal  and  religious  absolutism.  He  was  inexorably  hostile 
to  all  deviations  from  the  established  faith.  He  valued  the  inter- 
ests of  the  Church  of  Kome  above  everything  except  objects  of  his 
own  selfish  ambition.  In  the  Netherlands  he  was  as  much  disliked  as 
his  father  had  been  loved.  Charles  had  been  careful  to  refrain  from 
any  direct  attack  on  the  ancient  jDrivileges  of  the  Belgic  provinces, 
but  Philip  resolved  to  introduce  the  same  ai'bitrary  system  there 
which  had  crushed  the  liberties  of  Spain.  By  his  obstinate  at- 
tempt to  carry  out  this  plan  he  raised  up  new  allies  for  the  cause 
of  the  persecuted  reformers,  and  brought  on  the  revolt  of  the  Neth- 
erlands, out  of  which,  in  the  North,  arose  a  new  Protestant  state. 
The  spirit  of  His  choice  of  a  regent  irritated  the  aristocracy,  and  espe- 
resistance.  ^^^^11^  jj-g  leaders,  Couut  Egmout  and  William  of  Orange. 
Both  these  men  had  rendered  distinguished  services  to  the  em- 
peror, and  to  the  king  himself,  which  gave  them  a  claim  on  Philip's 
gratitude.  Egmont  was  a  nobleman  of  brilliant  qualities ;  the 
Prince  of  Orange,  the  future  liberator  of  his  country,  was  a  saga- 
cious statesman.  Philip  not  only  passed  over  them  and  chose 
Margaret  of  Pai-ma,  his  half-sister,  as  regent,  but  placed  the  chief 
conduct  of  affairs  in  the  hands  of  Granvelle,  an  ecclesiastic  who  was 
devoted  to  his  policy,  and  who,  in  1561,  was  made  cardinal.  Not 
long  afterwards,  the  people  as  well  as  the  nobles  became  disaf- 
fected because  of  the  continued  presence  of  Spanish  troops  in  the 
land,  and  because  of  the  creation  of  several  new  bishoprics.  The 
latter  measure,  although  it  was  justified  to  some  extent  by  the 
smallness  of  the  number  of  bishops  to  whom  the  ecclesiastical  af- 
fairs of  the  counti-y  were  committed,  was  evidently  a  pai-t  of  the 
machinery  to  be  employed  for  tightening  the  cords  of  Church  dis- 
cipline, and  for  the  extermination  of  heresy.     This  policy  was  re- 


1517-1648.]     THE  REFORMATION  IN  THE  NETHERLANDS.  343 

pugnant  to  the  general  feeling  of  the  people — even  of  the  Catholic 
population.  Public  opinion  was  on  the  side  of  freedom  and  against 
the  forcible  suppi-ession  of  religious  dissent.  It  was  the  spirit  of 
patriotism  far  more  than  personal  ambition  which  induced  the  great 
nobles,  like  Egmont  and  William  of  Orange,  to  resist  the  political 
and  ecclesiastical  tyranny  of  Philip. 

Notwithstanding  the  wide  acceptance  which  Protestantism  had 
gained,  and  the  profound  dissatisfaction  which  the  persecuting 
Eenewed  policy  of  Charles  had  stirred  up,  the  former  edicts  were 
persecution,  j^q^^  renewed  in  all  their  rigor.  It  was  declared  hereti- 
cal for  a  layman  to  read  even  the  Bible.  Every  incentive  was  held 
out  to  informers  to  practise  their  iniquitous  business.  Interces- 
sion in  behalf  of  the  accused  was  visited  with  severe  penalties.  The 
Inquisition  which  Charles  had  established,  and  Philip  confirmed, 
in  order  that  these  measures  might  be  enforced,  was  not  only  inde- 
jDendent  of  the  clergy,  but  had  jurisdiction  over  them,  from  the 
highest  to  the  lowest.  The  indignation  of  the  people  at  the  con- 
tinued beheading,  burning,  and  burying  alive  of  multitudes  of  their 
fellow-countrymen,  directed  itself  against  Granvelle,  the  king's 
minister.  But  even  after  his  removal  the  work  of  the  Inquisition 
was  pushed  forward  with  still  more  relentless  zeal.  The  nobles  who 
were  members  of  the  council,  powerless  though  they  were,  felt  that 
they  were  in  part  answerable  for  these  cruelties  ;  and  when  Philip 
determined  to  promulgate  the  decrees  of  Trent,  the  Prince  of  Or- 
ange startled  the  council  by  a  powerful  speech  upon  the  unrighte- 
ous and  dangerous  policy  which  the  government  was  pursuing. 
Egmont  went  to  Spain,  only  to  be  deceived  by  the  vain  promises  of 
the  king.  Many  of  the  nobles  now  resolved  upon  a  more  ojDen  re- 
sistance. About  five  hundred  of  them  united  in  an  agreement 
'•  The  Com-  Called  the  Compromise,  to  withstand  the  Spanish  tyranny 
promise."  g^j^^  ^^^  Inquisitiou.  Although  the  great  lords  stood 
aloof,  Count  Louis  of  Nassau,  who  was  more  radical  than  his 
brother,  "William  of  Orange,  joined  the  league.  Its  members  called 
themselves  "  the  beggars,"  a  name  which  had  been  contemj^tuously 
applied  to  them  by  one  of  the  counsellors  of  the  regent.  At  this 
time  great  crowds,  protected  by  armed  men,  began  to  assemble  in 
the  open  country  to  hear  the  Calvinist  preachers,  and  to  worship 
according  to  their  own  preference.  Margaret  found  herself  power- 
less to  resist  the  popular  movement.  Even  the  king  seemed  about 
to  relax  the  obnoxious  edicts,  but  only  that  he  might  lull  the  peo- 
ple into  a  false  security  while  he  should  more  stealthily  prepare 
the  way  for  their  final  subjugation. 


344    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Peeiod  VTII. 

Wliile  the  country  was  in  this  excited  state,  in  the  summer  of 
1566  a  storm  of  icouoclasm  raged  from  one  end  of  the  land  to  the 

other.     Mobs,   exasperated  by  persecution,  bi-oke  into 

cathedrals  and  churches,  and  destroyed  pictures  and  im- 
ages, and  everything  which  ministered  to  what  they  thought  the 
idolatries  of  the  Catholic  worship.  This  image-breaking  was  de- 
nounced by  Px'otestant  ministers,  and  by  the  Prince  of  Orange,  and 
other  leaders  of  the  liberal  party.  It  could  not  but  alienate  the 
sympathies  of  many  earnest  Catholics  who  had  hitherto  supported 
the  patriotic  cause.  Although  the  country  was  soon  reduced  to 
quiet,  through  the  efforts  of  Prince  William  and  Count  Egmont, 
Philip  resolved  to  take  vengeance  upon  all  who  had  in  any  way  hin- 
dered the  restoration  of  the  authority  of  the  Church.  He  sent  to 
Cruelties  of  ^^^  Netherlands,  at  the  head  of  ten  thousand  soldiers, 
"^^*-  the  Duke  of  Alva,  a  skilful  general,  and  a  man  of  the 

same  crafty  and  merciless  nature  as  the  king  himself.  It  was  his 
purpose  to  crush  the  spirit  of  resistance  in  the  Netherlands  by  de- 
stroying the  great  nobles.  William  had  wisely  retired  to  his  ances- 
tral estates,  but  Counts  Egmont  and  Horn,  blind  to  their  danger, 
still  remained.  They  were  thrown  into  prison,  and  soon  after  were 
beheaded.  Alva  erected  a  "  Council  of  Disturbances,"  which  the 
people  more  appropriately  named  the  "Council  of  Blood."  The 
executioners  were  busy  from  morning  till  night.  Victims  were 
especially  sought  among  the  rich,  that  the  coffers  of  the  king  might 
be  filled.  When  the  counsellors  grew  weary  of  sentencing  individ- 
uals, so  great  was  the  number,  they  finally,  on  February  16,  1568, 
condemned  to  death  as  heretics  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  Nether- 
lands, with  a  few  exceptions  that  were  named.  But  after  it  was 
found  that  Alva's  policy,  in  spite  of  his  successes  in  the  field,  did 
not  accomplish  its  purpose,  counsels  of  lenity  began  to  prevail. 
In  1570  an  act  of  amnesty  was  solemnly  proclaimed  at  Antwerp, 
which,  although  it  left  all  the  edicts  in  force,  ordained  that  those 
against  whom  nothing  was  to  be  charged  should  go  unpunished, 
provided  within  a  definite  time  they  should  sue  for  grace  and  ob- 
tain absolution  from  the  Church. 

The  struggle  went  on.     The  Prince  of  Orange  labored  unceas- 
ingly to  defend  the  cause  of  his  people.    In  1572  Briel  was  captured 

by  the  "sea-beggars,"  as  the  hardy  seamen  of  Holland 
Dutch  Re-      and  Zealand  were  called,  and  the  foundations  of  the 

Dutch  Republic  were  laid  through  the  adojjtion  of  a  free 
constitution  by  these  provinces  in  accordance  vfith.  the  suggestions 
of  William  of  Orange.     Philip,  however,  was  still  in  form  recog- 


1517-1648.]     THE  REFORMATION  IN  THE  NETHERLANDS.  346 

nized  as  king.  The  hatred  against  Alva  grew  daily  more  intense.  In 
1573  he  was  succeeded  by  Requesens,  whose  conciliatory  temper 
was  more  dangerous  to  the  liberties  of  the  Netherlands  than  the 
bloody  deeds  of  Alva  had  been.  But  the  success  of  the  new  regent 
was  confined  to  the  South,  where  Catholicism  had  at  length  pre- 
vailed. At  his  death  a  frightful  revolt  of  his  soldiers  led  the  nobles 
of  Flanders  and  Brabant  to  seek  a  union  with  the  Northern  prov- 
inces in  the  Pacification  of  Ghent.  Don  John,  the  successor  of 
Requesens,  was  obliged  to  acquiesce  in  this  arrangement.  But 
William,  dissatisfied  with  the  limited  measure  of  toleration  which 
it  granted  and  distrusting  Spanish  promises,  refused  to  accept  its 
terms.  War  broke  out  again.  As  usual,  the  Spaniards  were  victo- 
rious in  the  field  under  Don  John,  and  Alexander  of  Parma,  who 
followed  him  in  the  regency.  Nevertheless,  in  January,  1579,  the 
seven  Northern  provinces  formed  the  Utrecht  Union,  which  was  the 
germ  of  the  Dutch  Republic.  Philip,  the  next  year,  declared  Will- 
iam an  outlaw  and  set  a  price  upon  his  head.  After  six  attempts 
had  failed,  a  fanatical  Catholic  assassinated  him  on  the  18th  of  July, 
1584.  But  William's  work  was  done.  He  had  delivered  his  fellow- 
countrymen  from  the  Spanish  yoke.  Although  the  Southern  pro- 
vinces, after  the  Utrecht  union,  accepted  the  terms  of  Alexander, 
and  agreed  that  the  Protestants  must  either  leave  the  country 
within  two  years  or  become  Catholics,  the  Republic  which  William 
had  created  in  the  North  continued  to  increase  in  strength  and  pros- 
perity. Under  Philip  HE.,  Spain  was  obliged  to  conclude  a  truce 
with  it,  and  finally,  in  the  Peace  of  Westphalia  (1648),  was  com- 
pelled to  acknowledge  its  independence. 

The  Calvinists,  although  themselves  the  subjects  of  bitter  perse- 
cution, did  not  give  up  the  doctrine  that  heresy  should  be  punished 
,  , ,  bv  the  magistrate.     The  question  on  which  they  and 

Intolerance  •'  o  ^  t        i    n        j 

of  Protest-  Philip  were  divided  was  how  heresy  was  to  be  defined. 
But  they  were  incapable  of  exercising  such  inhuman 
cruelty  as  it  was  his  constant  delight  to  practise.  To  the  Prince 
of  Orange  and  a  part  of  his  followers  belongs  the  distinction  of 
having  demanded  an  equal  toleration  towards  all,  even  towards  the 
Anabaptists.  And  the  Calvinists  themselves,  in  the  last  years  of 
their  struggle  with  the  King  of  Spain,  learned  that  "  by  reason  of 
their  sins  they  could  not  all  be  reduced  to  one  and  the  same  reli- 
gion." 

The  relation  of  the  church  to  the  civil  authority  was  a  question 
which  caused  divisions  in  the  reformed  party.  Some  were  for  main- 
taining the  Genevan  idea  that  the  Church  is  independent  of  the 


346    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VIII. 

State.  Others,  and  among  them  was  William  of  Orange,  beheved 
Chinch  and  that  the  civil  authority  should  have  power  in  the  appoint- 
state.  ment  of  ministers  and  in  the  administration  of  the  Church. 

The  result  of  the  conti'oversy  was  that  the  Church  was  limited  to  a 
provincial  organization,  the  provinces  being  subdivided  into  classes, 
and  each  congregation  being  governed  according  to  the  Presbyteri- 
an order. 


CHAPTER  yi. 

THE  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND  AND  SCOTLAND. 

The  Reformation  in  England — especially  in  its  earlier  stages — 

compared  with  the  Reformation  on  the  Continent,  was,  in  the  large 

,     ^    sense  of  the  term,  of  a  political  charactei*.     It  was  the 

Character  of  i        c 

the  English  severance  of  the  English  monarchy  from  its  connection 
with  the  Church  of  Rome.  The  ecclesiastical  changes 
that  took  place  were  such  as  would  naturally  result  from  this  declara- 
tion of  national  independence.  At  the  outset,  they  touched  neither 
dogma  nor  rite,  and  affected  polity  only  to  a  limited  extent.  In 
shaping  the  new  system,  the  personal  authority,  the  j^olicy  and 
preferences,  of  the  Tudor  sovereigns  had  a  predominant  influence. 
Theological  principles,  however,  were  involved  from  the  start,  and 
we  find  that  doctrinal  and  religious  elements  mingled,  with  an 
ever-growing  efficiency,  in  the  process  which  gradually  transformed 
Eno^land  into  a  Protestant  nation.     No  definite  agency 

Its  causes.  o        J 

can  be  attributed  to  the  Lollards,  although  yve  read  of 
groups  meeting  in  secret  to  read  together  the  Gosjpels  in  English.  It 
is  clear  that  the  seed  sown  by  Wyclif  had  not  ceased  to  bear  fruit, 
in  particular  among  the  rustic  population  in  the  North  of  England. 
There  remained,  as  an  effect  of  his  labors,  a  greater  acquaintance  of 
the  people  with  the  contents  of  the  Bible.  The  new  learning  pre- 
pared the  ground  for  distinctively  Protestant  opinions  to  spring  up, 
and  to  spread  in  the  educated  class.  The  younger  Humanists  did  not 
halt  at  the  point  to  which  they  had  been  led  by  Colet  and  More ; 
and  the  liberal  patronage  extended  to  scholarship  by  Wolsey  paved 
the  way  for  radical  departures  from  the  mediseval  creed.  The 
writings  of  Luther  early  found  approving  readers  among  young 
men  at  Oxford  and  Cambridge.  William  Tj-ndale,  who 
studied  at  both  universities,  conceived  the  design  to  give 
to  the  common  people  the  Bible  in  their  own  tongue.  "  If  God 
spare  my  life,"  he  said  to  a  polemical  divine,  "  I  will  cause  a  boy 


1517-1648.]  THE  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND  AND  SCOTLAND.       347 

that  drive th  the  plough  shall  know  more  of  the  Scripture  than  thou 
dost."  He  lived  long  enough  to  fulfil  his  purpose.  Another  young 
man,  John  Frith,  having  taken  his  degree  at  Cambridge, 
was  invited  by  Wolsey  to  Cardinal  College  (now  Christ 
Church),  at  Oxford.  He  was  imprisoned  as  a  heretic,  but  was  i-e- 
leased  by  Wolsey,  escaped  to  the  Continent,  and  joined  Tyndale  at 
Antwerp,  which  for  a  while  was  a  place  of  rendezvous  for  a  few 
young  English  scholars  whose  hearts  were  bent  on  planting  the 
Lutheran  doctrine  in  their  native  countr3^  Both  Tyndale  and 
Frith  were  destined  to  die  for  the  cause  for  which  they  labored. 

"  A  young  king,  about  eighteen  years  of  age,  for  stature, 
strength,  making,  and  beauty,  one  of  the  goodliest  j)ersons  of  his 
time.  And  although  he  were  given  to  pleasure,  yet  he 
^^^^  '  was  likewise  desirous  of  glory  ;  so  that  there  was  a  pas- 
sage open  in  his  mind  by  glory  for  virtue.  Neither  was  he  unen- 
dowed 'with  learning,  though  therein  he  came  short  of  his  brother 
Arthur."  These  are  the  words  of  Lord  Bacon  respecting  Heni-y 
Vni.,  who,  in  1509,  succeeded  his  father,  the  seventh  Henry,  by 
whose  marriage  to  the  daughter  of  Edward  IV.  the  houses  of  Lan- 
caster and  York  had  been  united.  His  son  was  "  the  first  heir  of 
the  white  and  of  the  red  rose."  At  that  time  everything  fa- 
vored royal  authority.  The  civil  wars  had  thinned  the  ranks 
and  brought  down  the  strength  of  the  nobility.  The  young 
monarch,  besides  the  personal  advantages  which  made  him  popu- 
lar with  his  subjects,  inherited  the  treasure  which  his  father  had 
accumulated.  He  brought  to  the  throne  an  unbounded  self-will, 
an  obstinacy  of  character  on  which  arguments  and  entreaties  were 
as  feathers  falling  on  a  rock.  It  was  natural  that  he  should  look 
across  the  channel,  and  crave  for  himself  an  absolute  power  such 
as  he  saw  exercised  by  Francis  I.  He  owed  his  crown  to  the  early 
death  of  his  brother  Ai'thur,  whose  widow,  Catharine  of  Ai-agon, 
the  daughter  of  Ferdinand,  and  consequently  the  aunt  of  Charles 
v.,  Henry  was  enabled  to  marry  through  a  dispensation  obtained 
by  Heniy  VH.  from  Pope  Julius  U. — marriage  with  the  wife  of  a 
deceased  brother  being  forbidden  by  the  laws  of  the  Church. 
Henry  was  in  his  twelfth  year  when  the  marriage  was  concluded, 
but  it  was  not  consummated  until  the  death  of  his  father.  In  the 
rivalship  between  Spain  and  France,  the  two  great  competitors  for 
power  and  dominion  in  Europe,  Henry  was  drawn,  by  the  prompt- 
His  foreign  ^^S^  of  ambition,  as  well  as  by  hereditary  antagonism  to 
poucy.  France,  to  the  side  of  Charles  V. ;  and  from  this  position 

he  was  not  decoyed  by  the  splendid  festivities  of  the  "  Field  of  the 


348    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VIH, 

Cloth  of  Gold,"  where,  in  June,  1520,  he  passed  three  weeks  in  the 
company  of  the  French  king.  Wolsey,  raised  to  the  cardinalate 
by  the  agency  of  Charles,  and  encouraged  by  him  in  his  ambitious 
hope  to  succeed  to  the  papacy,  was  strongly  interested  to  maintain 
the  alliance.  But  in  the  wars  that  ensued  between  Charles  and 
Francis  the  Enghsh  gradually  discerned  that  they  were  expending 
their  blood  and  money  with  no  substantial  gain.  The  promotion 
to  the  papacy,  first  of  Adrian  VI.  and  then  of  Clement  VII,,  was  one 
principal  cause  that  moved  Wolsey  to  withdraw  his  master  from  an 
ally  who  made  to  neither  of  them  any  compensation  for  their  ser- 
vices. In  1527  Henry  and  Francis  agreed  to  combine  for  the  ex- 
pulsion of  the  imperialists  from  Italy.  The  question  of  Henry's 
The  divorce  divorcc  from  Catharine  soon  became  a  subject  of  discus- 
question.  gion,  and  the  effort  to  procure  the  annulling  of  the  mar- 
riage from  the  pope  was  prosecuted  for  a  number  of  years.  Henry 
professed,  and  perhaps  with  sincerity,  that  he  had  long  been 
troubled  with  doubts  of  the  vaHdity  of  the  marriage,  as  being  con- 
trary to  the  divine  law,  and  therefore  not  within  the  Hmit  of  the 
pope's  dispensing  power.  The  death  of  a  number  of  his  children, 
leaving  only  a  single  daughter,  Mary,  had  been  interpreted  by  some 
as  a  mark  of  the  displeasure  of  God.  At  the  same  time  the  English 
people,  in  the  fresh  recollection  of  the  long  dynastic  struggle,  were 
anxious  on  account  of  the  lack  of  a  male  heir  to  the  throne.  On 
the  queen's  side  it  was  asserted  that  it  was  competent  for  the  pope 
to  authorize  a  marriage  with  a  brother's  widow,  and  that  no  doubt 
could  possibly  exist  in  the  present  case,  since,  according  to  her 
testimony,  her  marriage  with  Arthur  had  never  been  completed. 
The  eagerness  of  Henry  to  procure  the  divorce  increased  with  his 
growing  passion  for  Anne  Boleyn.  The  negotiations  with  Rome 
dragged  slowly  on.  Catharine  was  six  years  older  than  himself, 
and  had  lost  her  charms.  He  was  enamored  of  this  young  English 
girl,  fresh  from  the  court  of  France.  He  resolved  to  break  the 
marriage  bond  with  the  Spanish  princess  who  had  been  his  faith- 
ful wife  for  nearly  twenty  years.  It  was  not  without  reason  that 
the  king  became  more  and  more  incensed  at  the  dilatory  and  vacil- 
lating course  of  the  pojDe.  The  latter  was  naturally  loath  to  con- 
demn the  act  of  his  predecessor,  and  thereby  at  the  same  time  to 
curtail  the  papal  prerogative,  and  was  equally  reluctant  to  offend  the 
emperor.  When  the  pope  was  at  variance  with  Charles,  Cardinal 
Campeggio  was  appointed,  in  conjunction  with  Wolsey,  who  was 
possessed  of  legatine  authority,  to  judge  of  the  matter  in  England. 
Campeggio  made  delays  in  the  hearing  of  the  case,  and  the  recon- 


1517-1648.]  THE  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND  AND  SCOTLAND.       349 

ciliation  of  Charles  with  Clement  was  followed  by  the  avocation  of 
the  cause  to  Rome.  This  proceeding  exhausted  the  king's  patience. 
Henry  determined  to  lay  the  question  of  the  validity  of  his  mar- 
riage before  the  universities  of  Europe,  and  this  he  did,  making  a 
free  use  of  bribery  abroad  and  of  menaces  at  home.  Meantime,  he 
took  measures  to  cripple  the  authority  of  the  pope  and  of  the 
clergy  in  England.  In  these  proceedings  he  was  sustained  by  a 
popular  feeling,  the  growth  of  centuries,  against  foreign  ecclesias- 
tical interference  and  clerical  control  in  civil  affairs.  The  fall  of 
Wolsey  was  the  effect  of  his  failui'e  to  procure  the  divorce,  and  of 
the  enmity  of  Anne  Boleyn  and  her  family.  Even  Campeggio's 
artful  delays  had  been  wrongfully  imputed  to  his  associate.  In  or- 
der to  convict  of  treason  this  minister,  whom  he  had  raised  to  the 
highest  pinnacle  of  power,  the  king  did  not  scruple  to  avail  himself 
of  the  ancient  statute  oi  2)rcemunire,  which  Wolsey  was  accused  of 
having  transgressed  by  acting  as  the  pope's  legate  in  England — 
it  was  dishonestly  alleged,  without  the  royal  license.  Early  in 
1531  the  king  charged  the  whole  body  of  the  clergy  with  having 
incurred  the  penalties  of  the  same  law  by  submitting  to  "Wolsey  in 
Submission  ^^^  Icgatiuc  character.  Assembled  in  convocation,  they 
of  the  clergy,  -^g^.g  obliged  to  implore  his  pardon,  and  obtained  it  only 
in  return  for  a  large  sum  of  money.  In  their  petition  he  was 
styled,  in  obedience  to  his  dictation,  "The  Protector  and  Supreme 
Head  of  the  Church  and  Clergy  of  England,"  to  which  was  added, 
after  long  debate,  at  the  suggestion  of  Archbishop  Wai-ham — "  as 
far  as  is  permitted  by  the  law  of  Christ."  The  Church,  pros- 
trate though  it  was  at  the  feet  of  the  despotic  king,  showed  some 
degree  of  self-respect  in  inserting  this  amendment.  Parliament 
Anti-papal  forbadc  the  introduction  of  papal  bulls  into  England, 
measures.  rpj^g  j.^.^g  ^^^^  authorized,  if  he  saw  fit,  to  withdraw  the 
annats — first-fruits  of  benefices — from  the  pope.  Appeals  to  Rome 
were  forbidden.  The  retaliatory  measures  of  Henry  did  not  move 
the  pontiff  to  recede  from  his  position.  On  or  about  January  25, 
1533,  the  king  was  privately  married  to  Anne  Boleyn.  In  his  bat- 
tle with  the  pope,  Henry  had  been  aided  by  the  counsels  and  sup- 
port of  Thomas  Cranmer,  who  advised  the  resort  to  the  universities 
and  assured  him  that  the  authorities  at  home  were  fully  competent 
to  adjudicate  finally  the  question  of  divorce.  After  the  death  of 
Warham,  Cranmer,  on  Ilarch  30,  1533,  was  consecrated  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury.  Eleven  weeks  after  the  private  man-iage  of  Henry, 
the  new  archbishop  was  authorized  and  directed  to  pronounce  judg- 
ment on  the  matter  of  the  divorce,  without  fear  or  favor.     The 


350    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VIII. 

marriage  with  Catharine  was  declared  by  him  and  his  assessors  (in 
May,  1533)  unlawful  from  the  beginning.  In  1534  Henry  was  con- 
ditionally excommunicated  by  Clement  VII.  The  papal  decree  de- 
posing him  from  the  throne,  and  absolving  his  subjects  from  their 
allegiance,  did  not  follow  until  1538,  and  was  issued  by  Paul  IIL 
Clement's  bull  was  sent  forth  on  the  23d  of  March.  On  the  23d 
^gt  of  of  November  Parhament  passed  the  Act  of  Supremacy, 

Supremacy,  -^thout  the  qualifying  clause  which  the  clergy  had  at- 
tached to  their  vote.  The  king  was,  moreover,  clothed  with  full 
power  and  authority  to  repress  and  amend  all  such  errors,  heresies, 
and  abuses  as  "  by  any  manner  of  spiritual  authority  or  jurisdic- 
tion ought  or  may  lawfully  be  reformed."  Thus  a  visitatorial 
function  of  vast  extent  was  recognized  as  belonging  to  him.  In  1532 
convocation  was  driven  to  engage  not  "to  enact  or  promulge  or  put 
in  execution"  any  measures  without  the  royal  license,  and  to  prom- 
ise to  change  or  to  abrogate  any  of  the  *•'  provincial  constitutions  " 
which  he  should  judge  inconsistent  with  his  prerogative.  The  clergy 
were  thus  stripped  of  all  power  to  make  laws.  A  mixed  commis- 
sion, which  Parliament  ordained  for  the  revision  of  the  whole  canon 
law,  was  not  appointed  in  this  reign. 

The  dissolution  of  the  king's  marriage  thus  dissolved  the  union 
of  England  with  the  papacy.  Such  a  revolution  could  not  have  been 
effected  had  not  Henry  been  backed  by  a  strong  na- 
thrking's*  tional  feehng.  Yet  the  overmastering  will  of  the  mon- 
Eupremacy.  ^^.^-j^  scems  to  have  cast  a  spell  on  all  orders  of  men,  and 
to  have  paralyzed  whatever  spirit  of  resistance  might  naturally  have 
been  evoked.  Parhament  was  quick  to  formulate  whatever  de- 
mands he  chose  to  make  for  the  expansion  of  his  authority.  The 
clergy  were  reduced  to  abject  submission,  and  helplessly  surren- 
dered all  power  of  independent  action.  It  is  to  the  credit  of  con- 
vocation that  it  ventured  to  qualify  its  assent  to  the  king's  suprem- 
acy over  the  Church,  and  managed  to  hinder  a  complete  abolition 
of  the  existing  canon  law.  Cowed  as  the  clergy  were  after  the 
disgrace  of  Wolsey,  the  measures  by  which  the  Anglican  hierarchy 
were  separated  from  Kome  flowed  from  the  concurrent  action  of 
convocation  and  Parliament.  It  is  not  the  less  true,  however,  that 
the  clergy  acted  under  compulsion.  That  the  civil  ruler  might  be 
supreme  over  the  "  spiritualty  "  as  well  as  the  "  temporalty,"  over 
clergy  as  well  as  laity,  was  a  mode  of  settling  the  controversy  be- 
tween the  empire  and  the  papacy  which  had  been  suggested  in 
contests  in  the  middle  ages.  At  first,  Cranmer,  and  numerous 
'ecclesiastics  with  him,  pushed  the  conception  of  the  king's  head- 


1517-164S.]  THE  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND  AND  SCOTLAND.       351 

ship  so  far  as  to  express  the  opinion  (in  1540)  that  appointment  by 
a  Christian  ruler,  without  ordination,  is  all  that  is  necessary  to 
qualify  a  clergyman  for  the  exercise  of  his  spiritual  functions.  But 
the  government,  in  passing  the  Act  of  Supremacy,  drew  up  a  docu- 
ment in  which  that  act  is  declared  to  signify  that  the  sovereign 
has  only  "  such  power  as  to  a  king  of  right  appertaineth  by  the  law 
of  God  ;  and  not  that  he  should  take  any  spiritual  power  from  spir- 
itual ministers  that  is  given  to  them  by  the  gospel."  Under  Eliz- 
abeth (in  1559),  it  was  expressly  proclaimed  that  the  possessors  of 
the  crown  do  not  "  challenge  authority  and  power  of  ministry  of 
divine  service  in  the  Church."  This  is  substantially  the  view  pre- 
sented in  both  of  the  publications  issued  by  authority  for  the  in- 
1536.  struction  of  the  people,  the  "  Institution  of  a  Christian 

^^''^-  Man,"  and  the  "  Necessary  Doctrine  and  Erudition  of  a 

Christian  Man."  The  king's  authority  empowers  the  clergy  to 
perform  acts  within  his  realm  for  which  the  Church  has  qualified 
them.  In  the  making  of  Church  laws,  convocation,  nominally  at 
least,  retained  its  power,  subject  to  his  permission  to  exercise  it, 
and  to  his  ratification  of  what  was  done.  Bishops,  nominally 
chosen  by  the  chapters,  were  really  appointed  by  the  king ;  and  no 
check  was  now  to  be  feared  from  any  source  upon  the  exercise  of 
this  prerogative.  There  is  no  doubt  that  Henry  himself  was  dis- 
posed to  give  as  wide  as  possible  an  extension  to  the  powers  con- 
ferred on  him  in  relation  to  the  spiritualty.  Stubbs,  in  his  learned 
work  on  the  "  Constitutional  History  of  England,"  refers  to  the 
dialogue  between  Reginald  Fitz  Urse  and  Thomas  a  Becket  just 
before  his  murder.  In  reply  to  the  question  from  whom  he  had 
the  archbishopric,  Thomas  answered,  "  The  spirituals  I  have  from 
God  and  my  lord  the  pope,  the  temporals  and  possessions  from  my 
lord  the  king."  "Do  you  not,"  asked  Reginald,  "acknowledge 
that  you  hold  the  whole  from  the  king?"  "  No  "  was  the  prelate's 
answer,  "  Ave  have  to  render  to  the  king  the  things  that  are  the 
king's,  and  to  God  the  things  that  are  God's."  "  The  words  of  the 
archbishop  embody  the  commonly  received  idea  ;  the  woixls  of  Regi- 
nald, although  they  do  not  represent  the  theory  of  Henry  H.,  contain 
the  germ  of  the  doctrine  which  was  formulated  by  Henry  VIH." 
Henry  VEH.,  it  is  worth  while  to  add,  not  only  pillaged  the  magnifi- 
cent shrine  of  Becket,  but  had  him  accused  as  a  rebel,  cited  to  appear, 
condemned,  his  bones  burnt,  and  the  ashes  thrown  into  the  air.  The 
theories  brought  forward  as  the  basis  for  the  headship  of  the  king 
lose  their  appearance  of  novelty  to  one  acquainted  with  the  writings 
of  the  school  of  Occam,  especially  the  works  of  Marsilins  of  Padua. ' 


352    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VIIL 

In  two  conspicuous  instances  there  was  a  disapprobation  of  the 
king's  final  rupture  with  the  papacy.  In  May,  1532,  the  chancellor, 
warham's  ^^^  Thomas  More,  pleading  weakness  of  health,  resigned 
protest.  jjjg  office.     Warham,  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  just 

before  his  death,  when  he  was  too  ill  to  use  a  pen^  dictated  a  j)rotest 
against  all  the  acts  of  Parliament  in  derogation  of  the  rights  of  the 
pope,  or  limiting  the  rights  of  the  Church  or  of  his  own  see.  The 
king,  in  his  purpose  to  absorb  in  himself  all  that  allegiance  which 
the  clergy  had  rendered  in  times  past  to  the  pope,  had  a  competent 
and  willing  servant  in  Thomas  Cromwell,  whom  he  made 
romwe  .  yicar-geueral,  a  title  soon  changed  to  "  vicegerent "  in 
ecclesiastical  affairs.  Cromwell  advanced  with  rapid  strides  to  the 
highest  honors  in  the  State.  His  early  histoi-y  is  not  well  ascer- 
tained. Even  the  precise  year  of  his  birth  is  not  known.  He  had 
been  much  in  different  countries  on  the  Continent,  sometimes  as  a 
trader,  and  for  a  while  as  a  soldier.  He  sojourned  in  different 
places  in  Italy.  Finally,  he  entered  the  service  of  Wolsey,  and  did 
efficient  work  for  him  in  gathering  in  the  property  of  the  confis- 
cated monasteries,  with  which  the  munificent  cardinal  endowed  his 
coUeges.  He  won  praise  by  not  deserting  his  master  at  his  down- 
fall, although  it  is  not  certain  that,  under  the  circumstances,  he 
really  incurred  risk  by  anything  that  he  did  at  this  crisis.  Henry 
found  in  him  an  able  man,  as  subservient  as  he  was  energetic,  on 
whom  he  could  rely  in  the  task  of  bringing  the  Church  and  the 
clergy  into  helpless  subjection  to  his  will,  as  Parliament  had  al- 
ready been  reduced  to  servile  obedience. 

England  stood,  in  the  religious  controversy  of  the  age,  in  an 
intermediate  position.  There  were  two  parties,  side  by  side,  in  the 
bishoprics  and  in  the  council.  Tyndale's  noble  trans- 
wopa  les.  j^|.^Qj^  q£  ^Yie  New  Testament,  the  basis  of  subsequent 
Protestant  English  versions,  was  issued  in  a  fifth  edition  in  1529, 
and  his  translation  of  the  Pentateuch  was  printed  in  1530.  In 
spite  of  legal  prohibitions,  very  numerous  copies  of  Tyndale's  New 
Testament  were  brought  into  England.  There  was  an  eager,  wide- 
spread desire  among  the  people  to  obtain  and  to  read  the  Scriptures. 
By  such  influences  the  new  party — the  party  in  favor  of  doctrinal 
changes  in  the  direction  of  Lutheranism — Avas  becoming  moi-e  and 
more  numerous  and  aggressive.  The  policy  of  Cromwell  made 
him,  as  far  as  such  a  course  was  judged  to  be  safe  and  prudent,  an 
cranmer.  Upholder  of  it.  Its  leader  among  the  clergy  was  the 
1489-1556.  primate,  Cranmer.  He  had  been  sent  to  Germany  to 
forward  the  cause  of  the  divorce,  and  had  there  married  a  niece 


1517-1G4S.]     THE  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND  AND  SCOTLAND.      353 

of  the  Lutheran  theologian,  Osiander.  By  a  previous  marriage 
(about  1514)  he  had  forfeited  his  fellowship  at  Jesus  College, 
which  was  restored  to  him  on  the  death  of  his  wife.  There  can 
be  but  Uttle  doubt  that  when  he  accepted — with  reluctance — 
the  archbishopric,  he  was  inclined  to  Lutheran  opinions.  Cranmer 
was  a  well-trained  theologian,  naturally  disposed  to  peace  and  com- 
promise, partly  from  a  certain  timidity  and  diffidence,  which  were 
said  to  have  been  developed  in  childhood  by  the  harsh  treatment 
of  a  school-master.  Connected  with  this  pacific  temper  was  an 
innate  pliancy  of  character  which  made  him  incapable  of  with- 
standing the  demands  of  so  imperious  a  sovereign  as  Henry  "Viil. 
When  sustained  by  the  supreme  authority,  he  could  act  with  vigor 
as  well  as  intelligence,  and  from  laudable  motives  ;  but  the  absence 
of  heroic  elements  in  his  nature  fitted  him  best,  as  Kanke  has  ob- 
served, "to  save  a  cause  in  difficult  circumstances  for  a  more 
favorable  time."  His  purpose  ran  in  one  direction,  that  of  religious 
enlightenment  and  reform.  Often  it  was  stayed  or  turned  aside  by 
a  will  that  bore  down  his  feeble  powers  of  opposition.  It  resumed 
its  course  the  moment  the  obstacle  was  removed.  'Latimer,  who 
became  Bishop  of  Worcester,  was  made  of  sterner  stuff.  He  could 
speak  with  boldness  before  the  face  of  the  king.  On  the  other 
side  was  Thomas  Gardiner,  Bishop  of  Winchester,  who  upheld  the 
king's  supremacy,  but  was  a  consistent  and  resolute  adhei-ent  of 
the  old  theology,  as  he  proved  afterwards,  in  the  next  reign,  by  his 
willingness  to  suffer  for  it.  It  was  Gardiner  who  called  Erasmus 
"the  odious  bird  "  which  had  laid  the  egg  hatched  by  Luther. 

Impugners  of  the  king's  supremacy  and  deniers  of  transubstan- 
tiation  were  alike  adjudged  to  death.  The  life  of  Frith  might  have 
been  spared,  but  the  manuscript  of  a  "  lytle  treatise  "  by 
him,  on  the  sacraments,  which  was  favorable  to  the  Swiss 
doctrine,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  authorities,  and  he  was  burnt 
at  Smithfield  in  1533.  He  was  only  thirty  years  of  age.  Cranmer, 
who,  like  Cromwell,  had  previously  advocated  a  lenient  treatment 
of  him,  participated  in  this  act.  Tyndale,  whom  Henry  VHI.  had 
pursued  with  malignant  industry,  was  strangled  and  burnt  at 
Antwerp  in  1536.  On  the  other  hand,  Carthusian  monks  were 
dragged  from  the  Tower  to  Tyburn,  and  hanged  in  their  robes. 
Thomas  Mm-e,  who  had  caused  the  arrest  of  Frith,  and  the  ven- 
erable Bishop  Fisher,  were  sent  to  the  block  as  guilty  of  high  trea- 
son, although  they  simply  refused  to  swear  to  the  preamble  of  the 
statute  under  which  they  were  condemned,  and  thus  to  affirm  the 
invalidity  of  the  king's  marriage  with  Catharine.     The  execution 


354    THE  REPOEMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VHI. 

of  a  man  so  eminent  for  his  virtues  as  More,  made  the  impression, 
at  home  and  abroad,  that  the  English  ruler  was  resolved  not  to 
spare  the  most  moderate  opponents  of  his  system,  even  if  it  were 
required  to  introduce  a  reign  of  terror.  More  was  beheaded  in 
1535.  At  just  this  time,  the  king  inclined  towards  the  Protestant 
party.  He  felt  the  need  of  standing  in  friendly  relations  with 
the  German  Protestant  powers,  who,  in  anticipation  of  a  struggle 

with  Charles  v.,  had  entered  into  the  Smalcaldic  League, 
the  Germans.  More  than  once  he  invited  Melanchthon  to  England. 
After  continued  efforts  of  Cranmer,  seconded  by  Cromwell,  in  1539 
"The  Great  ^^^  English  Bible  was  issued,  having  on  the  title-page  the 
Bible."  inscription,  issuing  from  the  king's  mouth  :  "Thy  word 

is  a  lantern  unto  my  feet."  It  was  the  result  of  a  revision  of  a 
Bible  printed  in  1537,  by  John  Kogers,  under  the  name  of  T.  Mat- 
thew. It  was  in  fact  Coverdale's  re\ision  of  his  own  Bible  and  that 
of  Tyndale.  Thus  Henry,  three  years  after  he  had  procm-ed  the 
,death  of  Tyndale,  scattered  broadcast  over  England  the  work  which 
had  cost  the  martyr  his  life.  More,  who,  as  Lutheranism  spread, 
had  grown  more  and  moi*e  conservative  and  intolerant,  had  written 
against  Tyndale.  More  complained  that  he  had  put  "  congre- 
gation"  for  "church,"  "love"  for  "charity,"  and  "seniors"  for 
"priests."  But  the  last  rendering  he  himself,  before  More's  ob- 
jection was  heard,  amended  by  using  the  word  "elders."  These 
peculiai'ities  in  Tyndale's  work  helped  to  excite  wrath  against  it  and 

afrainst  its  author.     In  1536  ten  doctrinal  articles  were 

The  Ten  Ar-        ° 

tides.  laid  before   the  Southern  convocation,  adopted  by  that 

body,  and  sent  by  the  king's  order  as  a  guide  to  all  parties  in  their 
teaching.  The  Bible  and  the  three  ancient  creeds  were  made  the 
standard  of  doctrine.  Salvation,  it  was  declared,  is  by  faith  and 
without  human  merit  ;  but  there  is  a  necessity  for  good  works. 
The  sacrament  of  the  altar  is  cautiously  defined,  but  in  terms  which 
Luther  would  not  have  rejected.  The  use  of  images,  and  various 
other  ceremonies,  auricular  confession,  and  the  invocation  of  saints, 
are  approved,  but  cautions  are  inserted  against  the  abuse  of  these 
practices.  The  existence  of  purgatory  is  recognized,  but  the  power 
of  the  pope  to  deliver  souls  from  it,  and  kindred  superstitions,  are 
denied.     The  two  great  acts  for  the  supDression  of  the 

SnppresRion  "^  ^  -^ 

of  themon-     monasteries,  the  first  in  1535,  and  the  second  four  years 

Rsteries.  ,  ,  -  _  .     ,   .     ,  •         i        /-i 

later,  were  planned  and  earned  into  execution  liy  Crom- 
well. They  placed  an  immense  amount  of  ecclesiastical  property  at 
the  disposition  of  the  monarch.  A  minor  portion  was  devoted  to 
the  endowment  of  new  bishoprics  and  of  cathedrals.     Tlie  nobles 


1517-1648.]    THE  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND  AND  SCOTLAND.      355 

and  gentry  acquired  a  vast  accession  of  landed  property  at  cheap 
rates,  and  were  thus  put  under  bonds  to  stand  by  the  newly  estab- 
lished royal  supremacy.  The  coifers  of  the  king  were  replenished  ; 
but,  fortunately  for  English  liberty,  the  treasure  thus  gained  by  the 
crown  was  swiftly  squandered,  so  that  parliamentary  government 
in  later  times  could  not  be  dispensed  with.  The  mitred  abbots 
were  excluded  from  the  Upper  House,  and  the  ascendency  in  that 
body  was  left  in  the  hands  of  the  lay  lords.  These  measures  stim- 
ulated a  Catholic  reaction.  A  rebellion  in  the  Norfcli  was  suppressed ; 
but  the  king  was  turning  now  in  favor  of  the  Anti-Protestant  party. 
Against  the  earnest  wishes  of  Cranmer  and  of  Ci-omwell,  the  Six 
The  Six  Arti-  Articles  were  framed  into  a  statute.  These  decreed  tran- 
cies.  substantiation,  the  needlessness  of  communion  in  both 

kinds,  the  celibacy  of  the  clergy,  the  obligation  of  vows  of  chastity, 
the  necessity  and  value  of  private  masses,  and  of  auricular  confes- 
sion. Latimer  declined  to  accept  the  Articles,  and  was  placed  in 
confinement.  The  primate  bowed  to  the  storm,  and  sent  his  wife, 
whom  he  had  with  him  at  Lambeth,  to  Germany.  He  had  been 
bold  in  objecting  to  the  new  creed,  but  he  made  no  further  resist- 
ance when  it  was  passed,  and  he  did  not  forfeit  the  king's  favor. 
The  fall  of  Cromwell  soon  followed.  He  had  governed  England, 
subject  to  his  royal  mastei',  with  absolute  authority.  He  had  sent 
abbots  and  monks,  as  well  as  civilians  of  the  highest  rank,  to  the 
scaffold.  His  scheme  had  been  to  combine  all  the  Protestant  powers 
and  France,  with  England  at  the  head,  in  a  grand  league  against 
the  emperor  and  the  pope.  In  the  furtherance  of  this  plan  he  had 
pursued  negotiations — at  times  without  the  knowledge  of  Henry — 
with  German  princes.  At  length  he  led  the  king  into  a  contract  of 
marriage  with  Anne  of  Cleves,  the  sister-in-law  of  the  Elector  of 
Saxony,  who,  on  her  arrival  in  England,  proved  to  be  so  unlike  Hol- 
bein's portrait,  and  so  distasteful  to  him  in  her  looks  and  person, 
that  he  soon  obtained  from  convocation  an  annulling  of  the  marriage 
bond.  The  wrath  of  the  king  at  the  deceit  which,  as  he  conceived, 
had  been  practised  on  him  in  this  matter,  turned  the  scales  in  favor 
of  Gardiner  and  the  numerous  enemies  of  the  minister.  Cron>well 
Fall  of  crom-  ^^^  arrcsted  for  high  treason  on  the  10th  of  June,  1540, 
^'^"-  and,  notwithstanding  the  intercession  of  Cranmer,  and 

his  own  passionate  supplications  for  mercy,  was  beheaded  on  the 
28th  of  the  following  Jul}'.  His  character  remains  an  unsolved 
problem.  By  one  class  of  historians  he  is  made  to  be  an  unscru- 
pulous knave  ;  by  another  he  is  credited  with  religious  sincerity, 
and  a  broad,  statesmanlike  policy.     To  the  close  of  the  reign,  al- 


356    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VIII. 

tbouoli  the  king  and  the  persecuting  faction  were  not  directly  re- 
sisted, Crannier  labored  to  do  what  he  could  to  promote  the  in- 
struction of  the  clergy  and  the  improvement  of  worshij).  The  years 
that  intervened  between  the  execution  of  Cromwell  and  the  death 
of  Henry  were  eventful  in  the  history  of  Protestantism.  In  1541 
the  Conferences  took  place  in  Germany,  which  were  efforts  for  the 
reunion  of  the  churches.  Charles  V.,  for  the  time,  was  driven  by 
the  political  situation  to  what  seemed  a  middle  position  between 
Lutheranism  and  the  extreme  demands  of  the  papacy.  The  fall  of 
Cromwell  may  have  been  connected  with  such  hopes  of  reunion  in 
the  minds  of  Heni-y  and  of  his  conservative  counsellors — a  reunion 
which,  it  was  expected,  would  include  no  practical  relinquishment 
of  the  royal  supremacy.  The  death  of  James  V.  of  Scotland  opened 
a  prospect  of  union  between  the  crowns  of  England  and  Scotland. 
A  treaty  was  made  for  the  marriage  of  the  infant,  Mary  Stuart,  with 
Edward,  the  king's  son.  This  i^lan  was  overthrown  by  Cardinal 
Beaton  and  the  partisans  of  France  in  Scotland.  The  result  was  an 
alliance  with  Charles  V.,  and  an  attack  by  England  on 
Scotland  and  France.  Charles,  alarmed  at  the  rapid 
progress  of  Protestantism,  made  war  on  the  Smalcaldic  League, 
which  had  preferred  an  alliance  with  France  to  the  alliance  offered 
in  1545  by  Henry,  who  saw  in  the  proceedings  of  the  Council  of 
Trent  no  course  open  to  him  but  to  fall  back  on  the  foreign  policy 
of  Cromwell.  He  considered  political  independence  (including 
his  own  absolute  authority)  and  religious  uniformity  as  the  two 
things  to  be  secured  at  all  hazards.  He  looked  upon  England 
Last  years  of  i^  liis  last  days,  and  saw  the  ferment  of  inquiry  and  de- 
Henry  VIII.  |^j^|.g  -^yiiicii  the  reading  of  the  Bible  and  the  great  con- 
troversy of  the  age  had  produced.  Shortly  before  he  died,  Ih  an 
address  to  Parliament,  he  complains,  not  without  a  touch  of  pathos, 
that  "  there  never  was  more  dissension  and  lack  of  love  between 
man  and  man,  the  occasions  whereof  are  opinions  only  and  names 
devised  for  the  countenance  of  the  same."  The  remedy,  strange 
as  may  seem  the  prescription  from  such  a  source,  is  declared 
to  be  charity.  "  Therefore,"  he  says — no  doubt  with  sincerity — 
"be  in  charity  one  with  another  like  brother  and  brother.  "  "I 
am  very  sorry,"  he  adds,  "  to  know  and  hear  how  unreverendly  that 
precious  jewel,  the  word  of  God,  is  disputed,  rimed,  sung,  and 
jangled  in  every  alehouse  and  tavern."  In  the  reaction  after  Crom- 
well's death,  certain  restrictions  had  been  laid  on  the  reading  of  the 
Scriptin-es,  which  had  proved  so  fruitful  of  contention,  and,  it  was 
maintained,  of  irreverence. 


1517-1648.]     THE  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND  AND  SCOTLAND.      357 

,  Edward  VI.  was  less  than  ten  years  old  at  his  accession  in  1547, 
but  as  an  example  of  mental  precocity  he  has  seldom,  if  ever,  been 
„ ,     ^  „^      surpassed.     He  was  piously  attached  to  the  Protestant 

Edward  VI.       j.   -A  mi         i- 

laith.  ihe  force  of  Henrys  character,  his  favorable 
situation  in  relation  to  foreign  powers,  the  enormous  wealth  gained 
by  the  suppression  of  the  rehgious  houses,  and  the  support  of  the 
numerous  class  who  were  zealous  for  neither  of  the  clashing  creeds, 
enabled  him  to  maintain  a  Church  which  was  neither  Catholic  nor 
Protestant  Pi'otestant.  To  hold  the  two  parties  under  this  restraint 
'^"^''-  was  no  longer  possible.     Somerset,  the  king's  maternal 

uncle,  made  his  way  to  supreme  control  in  the  regency,  and  was 
appointed  protector  and  governor  of  the  realms.  The  spoliation  of 
Church  property  for  the  profit  of  individuals,  in  which  he  was  con- 
spicuous, gave  just  offence.  Anxious  to  carry  out  the  scheme  of 
Henry  VIH.,  for  the  marriage  of  the  young  Queen  Mary  of  Scotland 
to  Edward,  and  desirous  of  uniting  the  two  countries  in  one  great 
Protestant  power,  he  invaded  Scotland;  but,  though  his  arms  were 
successful,  the  antipathy  of  the  Scots  to  English  rule  was  too  strong 
to  be  overcome,  and  Mary  was  taken  to  France,  ther.e  to  be  mar- 
ried to  the  Dauphin.  A  Catholic  rebellion  broke  out  in  Cornwall 
and  Devonshire,  and  there  was  another  revolt  near  Norwich.  The 
insurrections  were  suppressed ;  but  the  hostility  to  Somerset, 
which  was  aggravated  by  his  agency  in  bringing  his  brother,  as 
guilty  of  treason,  to  the  block,  brought  upon  him  the  same  fate. 
Warwick,  who  was  made  Duke  of  Northumberland,  his  principal 
enemy,  now  stood  at  the  head  of  affairs.  He  concluded  a  treaty 
with  France,  in  which  the  project  of  a  marriage  of  Edward  with 
Mary  was  virtually  renounced.  The  misrule  of  Northumberland 
was  not  even  attended  with  the  religious  sincerity  which  had  been 
a  merit  of  Somerset.  "  The  system  of  despotism  which  Cromwell 
built  up  had  been  seized  by  a  knot  of  adventurers,  and  with  Gei-- 
man  and  Italian  mercenaries  at  their  disposal,  they  rode  roughshod 
over  the  land."  Not  only  among  the  adversaries  of  Protestantism, 
but,  also,  in  the  nation  at  large,  there  was  an  irritation  which  noth- 
ing but  the  terror  inspired  by  the  oligarchy  of  new  nobles  that  held 
the  reins  of  power,  prevented  from  breaking  forth  in  open  rebellion. 
It  was  during  this  season  of  peril  and  confusion  that  the  formu- 
laries of  the  Protestant  Church  of  England  were  framed.  The  Six 
y^^  .  Articles  were  repealed.     The  hands  of  Cranmer,  who 

the  formu-       was  uow  ready  to  avow  the  distinct  Protestantism  into 

which  he  had  drifted,  were  strengthened  by  foreign 
theologians  from  the  continent,  whom  he  hospitably  received  at 


358    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OP  WESTPHALIA.   [Period  VHI. 

Lambeth.  He  brought  over  Peter  Martyr  and  Ochino,  the  first  of 
whom  was  made  professor  of  theology  at  Oxford  iu  1549.  Martin 
Bucer  was  called  to  the  same  office  at  Cambridge.  The  counsels 
and  presence  of  Melanchthon — wlio,  after  Bucer's  death,  was  invited 
to  fill  the  chair  of  divinity  at  Cambridge — were  sought  in  earnest 
letters  of  the  primate.  It  was  remarked  as  a  sign  of  the  new  order 
of  things  that  Ci'anmer  ate  meat  openly  in  his  dining-hall  during 
Lent.  Pictures  and  images  were  ordered  to  be  taken  out  of  the 
churches.  Homilies  were  appointed  to  be  read  in  the  churches  on 
Sunday.  Positive  laws  enforcing  celibacy  were  repealed.  Con- 
vocation and  Parliament  directed  that  the  communion  should  be 
administered  iu  both  kinds.  The  formal  abandonment  of  transub- 
stantiation,  the  second  great  step  in  the  English  Reformation,  was 
soon  to  take  place.  A  new  "  Order  of  Communion  "  was  issued, 
The  Prayer  which  was  Superseded,  in  1548,  by  the  "Book  of  Com- 
Book.  j^QQ  Prayer."      Thenceforward  Latin  services  were   to 

cease.  The  basis  of  this  manual  of  worship  was  the  old  service- 
books,  especially  those  of  Salisbury  (Sarum).  There  wei'e  addi- 
tions from  Protestant  sources,  including  passages  from  the  order 
of  service  prepared  by  Melanchthon  and  Bucer  for  Hermann,  Arch- 
bishop of  Cologne  ;  and  some  aid  was  derived  from  the  liturgies  of 
the  French  and  German  refugees  in  England.  It  was  not  long 
before  changes  iu  the  Prayer  Book,  to  give  it  a  more  decidedly 
Protestant  stamp,  were  demanded.  The  influence  of  the  foreign 
divines  was  cast  in  this  direction.  The  simple  forms  of  the  foreign 
congregations,  which  were  permitted  to  have  their  own  mode  of 
worship  in  England,  were  not  without  effect.  The  king  was  urgent 
for  such  alterations.  The  Prayer  Book,  in  the  revised  form,  with- 
out being  submitted  to  convocation,  was  issued  in  1552,  when  the 
use  of  consecrated  oil,  j^rayers  for  the  dead,  and  auricidar  confession 
The  Articles  wcrc  aboHshcd.  In  the  same  year  the  Articles  were 
of  Rehgiou.  framed,  at  first  forty-two  in  number.  The  main  source 
of  the  Articles  was  the  Augsburg  Confession ;  but  the  Lutheran 
doctrine  of  the  Eucharist  was  abandoned.  Among  Protestants  the 
Lord's  Supper  was  the  one  engrossing  theme  of  inquiry  and  con- 
troversy. In  Switzerland,  on  this  subject,  Bullinger,  the  successor 
of  Zwingli,  and  a  moderate  and  sensible  theologian,  and  the  other 
Zwinglian  pastors,  came  to  an  agreement  with  Calvin,  which  was 
expressed  in  the  Zurich  Confession.  The  earlier  extreme  state- 
ments of  Zwingli  had  been  somewhat  quahfied  by  himself  in  later 
additional  explanations.  The  Swiss  doctrine  now  stood  opposed 
to  the  Lutheran  opinion.     In  the  interval  between  the  fi-aming  of 


1517-1648]    THE  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND  AND  SCOTLAND.     359 

the  Prayer  Book  and  its  revision,  the  primate  himself  had  passed 
over  to  the  distinct  adoption  of  the  Swiss  view.  Referring  back  to 
the  beginning  of  Edward's  reign,  he  himself  says  :  "I  was  in  that 
error  of  the  real  presence  " — that  is,  the  Lutheran  opinion — "  as  I 
was  many  years  past  in  divers  other  errors,  as  transubstantiation." 
"  Bucer,"  he  says,  "  dissenteth  not  from  Qiicolampadius  and  Zwin- 
glius."  A  catechism  promulgated  by  King  Edward,  for  all  school- 
masters to  use,  is  definitely  anti-Lutheran.  It  is  not  strange, 
therefore,  that  the  Articles  of  1552  contained  a  formal  repudiation 
of  the  doctrine  of  the  local  presence  of  Christ's  body  in  the  sacra- 
ment. 

The  movements  of  the  Protestant  reformers  were  too  fast  for 
the  general  sense  of  the  nation.     The  opposition  thus  excited,  and 

the  misgovernment  under  Northumberland,  destroyed  all 
^^'  hope  of  successful  opposition  to  the  accession  of  Mary. 

He  had  persuaded  Edward  to  thrust  aside  the  order  of  succes- 
sion to  the  throne,  which  had  been  fixed  by  Henry  VTTT.  and  Par- 
liament, and  to  allot  the  crown  to  Lady  Jane  Grey,  whom  Northum- 
berland had  married  to  his  son.  Mary  was  narrow,  possessed  the 
obstinate  will  of  her  father,  and  was  superstitiously  attached  to 
the  faith  of  her  mother.     Her  affinities  in  religion,  as  in  race,  w^ere 

Spanish.  She  proceeded  as  expeditiously  as  her  more 
tionof  cathoi-  prudent  advisers — of  whom  Charles  V.,  and  his  son  Philip 
iciam.  ^£  Spain,  were  the  chief — would  permit,  to  I'estore  the 

old  system,  and  to  undo  the  work  of  the  two  preceding  reigns. 
Gardiner  was  released  from  prison,  and  took  his  place  as  chan- 
cellor in  the  queen's  council.  The  deposed  bishops  were  brought 
back  to  their  sees.  Latimer  and  Cranmer  were  sent  to  the  Tower. 
The  mass  was  restored,  and  the  form  of  service  which  had  been 
ordained  by  Henry  VlJi.  was  re-established  by  Parliament.  Had 
the  queen  stopped  here,  the  bulk  of  the  nation  might  have  sup- 
ported her.  But  the  proposition  to  give  up  the  royal  supremacy, 
and  to  bring  England  once  more  under  the  pope,  was  unwel- 
come. It  involved  an  abandonment  of  Henry's  system,  to  which, 
notwithstanding  the  conversion  of  Gardiner  and  others  from  their 
adherence  to  it,  was  popular.  For  this  reason  there  was  opjDOsi- 
tion  to  the  marriage  of  Mary  to  Philip,  which  she  desired  on  per- 
sonal grounds,  and  for  the  political  reason  that  her  throne  needed 
protection  against  the  pretensions  of  Mary  Stuart,  whom  there 
was  more  reason  to  fear  since  her  marriage  with  the  heu'  of  the 
French  crown.  The  failure  of  the  rebellion,  of  which  the  rising 
under  Wyat  was  a  branch,  and  one  object  of  which  was  the  placing 


360    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VIII. 

of  Lady  Jane  Grey  on  the  throne,  caused  her  execution,  and  the 
death,  as  traitors,  of  her  husband,  her  father,  and  her  uncle.  The 
marriage  of  the  queen  with  PhiHp  followed.  But  Parliament  re- 
fused to  change  the  order  of  succession,  which  made  Ehzabeth  the 
next  heir  to  the  crown,  and  refused  to  abrogate  the  Act  of  Suprem- 
acy, without  a  guarantee  that  the  abbey  lands  should  remain  with 
their  possessors.  Reginald  Pole,  who  was  made  legate  of  the  Pope 
in  1554,  and  was  to  succeed  Cranmer  in  the  archbishopric,  was  the 
queen's  spiritual  counsellor.  Now  began  the  persecution  which 
Persecution  of  ^^^  caused  the  epithet  "  bloody  "  to  be  affixed  to  the 
Protestants,  ^rjn^g  ^f  Mary,  as  a  popular  designation,  and  which  did 
more  than  all  other  measures  together  to  plant  in  the  English  mind 
a  hatred  of  "  poj)ery,"  and  to  send  the  roots  of  Protestantism  deep 
into  the  soil.  Not  less  than  eight  hundred  Englishmen,  whose 
lives  were  in  danger,  fled  to  Germany  and  Switzerland,  to  find 
an  asylum  among  their  Protestant  brethren.  Not  far  from  three 
hundred,  who  remained  at  home,  are  known  to  have  perished  as 
victims  of  the  persecution.  The  noble  fortitude  with  which  the 
bishops — Hooper,  Latimer,  Eidley — and  numerous  other  martyrs, 
endured  the  fire,  consecrated  the  cause  for  which  they  laid  down 
their  hves.  It  broke  down  the  popularity  of  Mary,  even  with  a 
multitude  who  were  attached  to  the  old  religion,  but  felt  a  distaste 
for  Spanish  bigotry,  and  could  appreciate  the  virtues  of  the  suf- 
ferers. John  Rogers,  canon  of  St.  Paul's — who  had  assisted  Tyn- 
dale  in  translating  the  Scriptures — when  he  was  led  out  to  Smith- 
field,  was  received  by  the  people,  who  were  touched  by  his  constancy, 
with  cheers.  He  bathed  his  hands  in  the  flame,  "as  if  it  was  cold 
water."  "  Hooper  limped  cheerfully  along  with  a  stick  " — he  was 
lame  from  sciatica — "and  smiled  when  he  saw  the  stake."  "Play 
the  man.  Master  Ridley,"  said  Latimer,  as  he  stood  in  the  flames  ; 
"we  shall  this  day  light  up  such  a  candle,  by  God's  grace,  in  Eng- 
land, as  I  trust  shall  never  be  put  out."  The  burning  of  Ridley  and 
Latimer  took  place  at  Oxford,  on  a  spot  where  Cranmer  could  see  it 
from  the  prison-tower  in  which  he  was  confined.  From  this  time,  his 
spirit,  partly  from  physical  exhaustion  and  partly  from  native  timid- 
ity, appeared  to  give  way  altogether.  On  the  accession  of  Mary  he 
had  refused  to  fly,  and  he  had  deported  himself  with  firmness  and 
dignity.  But  he  was  plied  with  arguments,  entreaties,  and  with 
promises  that  were  meant  to  delude  him  with  a  hope  of  saving  his 
life,  until  he  was  prevailed  on  to  affix  his  name  to  a  series,  six  iu 
number,  of  abject  and  humiliating  recantations.  Then  he  was  led 
to  St.  Mary's  Church,  on  his  way  to  the  stake ;  but  there  he  disap- 


1517-1648.]     THE  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND  AND  SCOTLAND.     361 

pointed  his  enemies  and  judges  by  recalling  the  denials  of  bis 
Death  of  isiUh.  wbicli  had  been  extorted  from  his  weakness  and 
cranmer,  fgg^^.^  jjj^^j  ]^y  professing  anew  the  Protestant  convictions 
for  which  he  had  contended.  His  penitence  was  as  genuine  as  that 
of  Peter,  whom,  if  he  did  not  equal  in  courage,  he  had  resembled 
in  a  presumptuous  confidence  in  his  strength  to  endux-e  temptation. 
His  right  hand,  with  which  he  had  signed  the  denials  of  his  faith, 
he  held  out  in  the  flames  until  it  was  consumed.  The  lofty  sta- 
tion of  Cranmer,  the  associations  that  clustered  about  a  prelate  who 
had  stood  at  the  bedside  of  two  kings  of  England,  to  impart  to 
them  the  last  consolations  of  religion,  his  kind  and  gentle  ways  in 
daily  life,  which,  as  even  Pole  testifies  in  the  letter  Avritten  to  sj^read 
before  him  his  alleged  iniquities,  had  drawn  to  him  the  esteem  of 
the  people  ;  his  quiet  and  pathetic  dignity  in  his  last  hours  ;  the 
atrocious  cruelty  with  which  he  was  treated — a  man  now  venerable 
in  years — conspired  to  produce  an  impression  of  abhorrence  for 
the  authors  of  these  inhuman  proceedings.  Yet  it  is  necessary  to 
remind  the  reader  that  Cranmer  himself  was  no  advocate  of  religious 
toleration.  He  had  taken  part  in  such  acts  as  the  condemnation  of 
Frith,  in  1533,  for  denying  the  coi*poral  jDresence  of  Christ  in  the 
sacrament,  the  same  doctrine  as  the  Articles  of  1552  likewise  de- 
nied ;  he  had  participated  in  the  execution  of  Jean  Boucher,  or  Joan 
of  Kent,  who  was  called  an  Anabaptist,  and  was  burned  under 
Edward  for  an  heretical  opinion  respecting  the  incarnation  ;  and, 
in  the  last  days  of  Edward,  he  and  his  associates  were  engaged  in 
revising  the  canon  law,  and  in  shaping  provisions  for  the  punish- 
ment of  believers  in  doctrines  which  ho  had  not  long  before  held 
himself,  and  for  rejecting  which  he  had  afterwards  condemned  Frith 
and  others  to  the  flames.  There  was  no  taint  of  natural  cruelty  in 
his  temper,  but  he  had  been  completely  under  the  sway  of  the  idea 
that  the  will  of  the  sovereign  is  the  law  for  his  people,  as  regards 
professions  of  faith  and  methods  of  worship,  and  that  uniformity 
on  these  points  is  to  be  secured  by  pains  and  penalties. 

The  martyrdom  of  Cranmer  has  been  called  "  the  death-blow  to 
Catholicism  in  England."  But  other  events  helped  to  make  the 
Catholic  queen  unpopular,  Caraffa,  the  bigoted  and  resolute 
divisions.  champion  of  the  Catholic  reaction,  was  elevated  to  the 
papacy,  taking  the  name  of  Paul  IV.  He  would  be  content  with 
nothing  short  of  the  restoration  of  the  abbey-lands  to  their  old 
ecclesiastical  owners,  and  the  revival  of  monasticism  in  England. 
Mary  was  herself  willing  to  comply  with  such  impracticable  de- 
mands, but  she  could  not  carry  Parliament  with  her.     Contrai-y  to 


362    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.   [Period  VHI. 

the  wishes  of  the  nation,  and  of  lier  own  chosen  counsellors,  she 
lent  the  help  of  England  to  Philip  in  his  war  with  France,  when 
Spanish  victories  could  only  tend  to  make  the  house  of  Austria 
supreme  in  Western  Europe.  English  pride  was  mortified  by  the 
loss  of  Calais.  In  Ireland  the  restoration  of  the  mass  did  not  pre- 
vent warfare  between  the  EngHsh  settlers  and  the  septs  which  they 
had  displaced.  There  were  troubles  from  the  alliance  of  France 
with  Scotland,  where  Protestantism  was  rather  aided  than  hindered 
by  the  domination  of  Catholicism  in  England,  and  its  union  with 
Spain.  Paul  IV.,  with  all  his  fanatical  hostility  to  Protestantism, 
hated  Spain,  and  had  no  liking  for  Pole,  who  had  been  in  sympathy 
Avith  the  more  moderate  theology  of  Contarini  and  his  school. 
The  queen,  whose  whole  soul  was  bound  up  with  the  cause  of  the 
Catholic  Church,  was  forced  to  witness  the  antagonism  of  the  pope 
to  her  husband,  and  to  see  the  primate,  her  principal  adviser  in 
religious  affairs,  deprived  of  the  legatine  office.  She  died  on  No- 
vember 17,  1558.     The  next  night  Cardinal  Pole  died. 

The  nation,  which  had  before  greeted  Mary,  now  welcomed  Ehz- 
abeth  to  the  throne.  She  was  twenty-five  years  of  age,  and  at  that 
Character  ^i^©  comely  in  person.  Her  life  had  been  in  peril  at  the 
of  Elizabeth,  accession  of  Mary  ;  at  the  rebellion  of  Wyat,  of  which 
she  was  supposed  to  have  had  some  previous  knowledge  ;  and  after 
the  hope  that  an  heir  would  be  born  to  Maiy  was  disappointed. 
She  had  been  educated  under  the  tuition  of  Eoger  Ascham,  and 
was  a  good  Greek  and  Italian  scholar.  She  had  conformed  to  the 
Catholic  rites,  bvit  her  inclinations  to  Protestantism  were  no  secret. 
At  the  outset  she  made  no  pi-ecipitate  changes  ;  but  soon  she  ban- 
ished the  mass  from  her  chapel,  and  the  I'estoration  of  the  royal 
supremacy  followed,  although  she  relinquished  the  title  of  "Head 
of  the  Church,"  and  chose  to  be  called  its  "  Governor."  She  notified 
Paul  IV.  of  her  election,  but  he  haughtily  replied  that  she  was  ille- 
gitimate, and  must  submit  her  claims,  as  against  the  pretensions  of 
Mary  Stuart,  to  his  decision.  Afterwards  Pius  IV.  offered  to  make 
important  concessions,  such  as  the  allowance  of  the  cup  to  the  laity 
and  the  use  of  the  English  liturgy  ;  but  his  ovei-tures  came  too  late. 
In  truth,  Elizabeth's  title  to  the  crown  was  too  closely  connected 
with  the  validity  of  the  divorce  of  Henry  VIH.  to  permit  her,  had 
she  been  so  disposed,  to  forsake  the  Protestant  religion.  She 
studied  the  Scriptures  and  read  the  fathers,  especially  Augustine. 
"If  she  chanced,"  says  Lord  Bacon,  "even  in  common  talk,  to 
speak  of  God,  she  almost  always  both  gave  him  the  title  of  her 
Maker  and  composed  her  eyes  and  countenance  to  an  expression 


1517-1648.]    THE  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND  AND  SCOTLAND.      363 

of  humility  and  reverence,  a  thing  which  I  have  myself  often  ob- 
served." Yet,  although  she  showed  in  remarkable  emergencies 
that  she  had  a  sense  of  religion,  this  was  less  obvious  in  her  ordi- 
nary life.  She  lacked  womanly  delicacy,  was  mendacious,  profane, 
fond  of  flattery,  and  parsimonious  to  an  extreme  that  put  in  jeop- 
ardy  the  most  important  undertakings.  Bat  she  was  fearless,  full 
of  energy,  with  the  strong  will  of  her  father,  and  delighting  in  the 
splendor  and  show  of  royalty.  She  had  the  public  virtue  becom- 
ing the  sovereign  of  a  nation,  chose  the  ablest  advisers,  of  whom 
Cecil,  Lord  Burleigh,  was  chief,  and  controlled  her  own  wishes — as 
in  abstaining  from  a  marriage  with  Leicester — when  they  clashed 
with  the  welfare  of  the  kingdom.  She  Avas  a  Lutheran  in  her  the- 
ology, and  was  not  averse  to  ceremonies.  On  the  altar  of  lier  own 
private  chapel  stood  a  crucifix  and  a  burning  candle.  With  her 
conservative  tendencies,  and  her  high  ideas  of  regal  authority,  she 
had  no  sympathy  with  Calvinism,  which  was  fast  gaining  ground 
in  her  own  kingdom.  Yet  the  political  situation  was  such  that  she 
was  not  only  compelled  to  render  aid  to  Calvinists  abroad,  but  to 
Calvinists,  in  revolt  against  their  sovereigns — the  Huguenots  in 
France,  the  Protestants  in  the  Netherlands,  and  the  followers  of 
Knox  in  Scotland. 

An  interference  of  this   sort  was  first  called  for  in  Scotland. 
There  the  spirit  of  feudalism  had  not  been  reduced,  and  the  feel- 

ing  of  clanship  was  fervent.  The  aristocracy  were  ex- 
mation  in       trcmely  rough  in  their  ways,  except  in  the  few  instances 

where  their  manners  were  somewhat  softened  by  inter- 
course with  France.  Under  James  V.  the  king  and  the  clergy  were 
united  by  a  common  desire  to  curb  the  turbulent  nobility.  There 
was  nowhere  a  greater  need  of  a  religious  reformation.  The  clergy 
were  ignorant  and  profligate.  They  profited  by  the  forfeitures  and 
penalties  inflicted  on  the  aristocracy.  The  lay  gentry  saw  what 
Henry  VHL  had  done  in  England,  and  looked  with  covetous  eyes 
on  the  vast  estates  of  their  clerical  rivals.  The  principal  agent  in 
carrying  forward  the  government  of  James  was  Cardinal  Beaton,  a 
man  of  dissolute  character,  but  of  much  ability,  and  a  resolute  up- 
holder of  the  French  interest.  He  proved  himself  competent  to 
thwart  the  efforts  of  Henry  to  move  his  nephew  to  imitate  him  by 
breaking  off  connection  with  Eome.  War  with  England  ensued. 
The  army  of  James  was  defeated  in  1542  by  the  English  at  Solway 
Moss,  and  he  died  soon  after.  He  left  the  kingdom  in  the  midst 
of  disorder  from  contending  factions,  with  an  infant  daughter, 
Mary  Stuart — the  niece,  on  the  mother's  side,   of  the   Duke  of 


364    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.    [Period  VIH. 

Guise — as  the  heir  of  the  crown.  The  Earl  of  Arran,  iu  spite  of 
the  efforts  of  Beaton  to  take  the  supreme  power  into  his  hands, 
was  made  regent.  Here  and  there  an  earnest  religious  Protestant- 
ism manifested  itself.  As  early  as  1528,  Patrick  Hamilton,  who 
had  been  a  student  at  Marburg,  was  put  to  death  as  a  heretic.  Of 
him  it  has  been  said  that  the  smoke  of  his  heresy  "  had  infected  all 
on  whom  it  blew."  In  1543,  George  Wishart,  w^ho  had  been  a 
student  at  Cambridge,  and  a  schoolmaster,  and  had  preached  the 
evangelical  doctrine  in  various  parts  of  Scotland,  was  burnt  at  St. 
Andrew's,  by  order  of  Beaton,  who  from  a  window  was  a  sjjectator 
of  his  anguish,  and  of  the  courage  with  which  he  bore  it.  We  first 
John  Knox  ^^^ar  of  John  Knox,  the  leader  iu  the  Scottish  Eeforma- 
1505-1572.  ^Jqj^^  jj^g  r^  comj)anion  of  Wishart,  for  the  defence  of  whom, 
when  he  preached,  Knox  bore  a  two-handed  sword.  It  was  from 
the  preaching  of  Wishart  that  he  received  his  deep  religious  im- 
jDressions.  Little  is  known  of  his  parentage,  which  was  obscure. 
He  studied  at  Glasgow,  where  he  had  among  his  teachers  John 
Mair,  a  doctor  of  the  Sorbonne,  who  had  brought  home  with  him 
from  France  the  Galilean  theory  of  church  govez'nment,  with  demo- 
cratic ideas  as  to  the  origin  of  kingly  i^ower  and  the  virtue  of  tyran- 
nicide. What,  if  any,  influence,  however,  he  exerted  on  the  thoughts 
of  his  pupil  respecting  these  matters,  is  not  known.  Knox  was  prob- 
ably ordained  as  a  priest  when  he  was  about  twenty-five  years  old. 
•  After  Wishart's  death  he  became  a  private  tutor  of  boys.  Beaton 
was  assassinated,  in  1516,  by  conspirators  moved  by  hatred  of  his 
cruelty  and  resentment  for  private  injuries,  or  by  political  animos- 
ity. Knox  had  no  part  in  this  deed  of  blood,  but  had  no  sorrow  to 
express  for  it.  The  enemies  of  Beaton  took  i-efuge  in  the  castle  of 
St.  Andrew's.  After  some  time  Knox  joined  them,  with  the  pupils 
he  was  then  instructing.  There  he  was  called  to  preach,  and  re- 
luctantly complied  with  the  almost  imperative  summons  of  his 
brethren.  The  castle  was  taken  by  the  French,  he  Avas  cai'ried  to 
France  as  a  captive,  and  was  compelled  to  row  in  the  galleys. 
After  his  release,  in  1549,  he  was  cordially  received  by  Cranmer, 
preached  in  the  North  of  England,  but  was  not  well  enough  satis- 
fied with  the  ecclesiastical  system  of  Edward  to  accept  a  bishopric 
that  was  offered  to  him.  Dui-ing  the  reign  of  Mary  he  was  an  exile, 
first  at  Frankfort,  where  he  was  the  leader  of  the  party  who  were 
opposed  to  the  use  of  the  English  Prayer  Book.  The  most  of  this 
period  he  spent  at  Geneva,  iu  the  society  of  Calvin  and  of  the  other 
preachers  associated  with  him.  There  he  published  his  "  First 
Blast  of  the  Trumpet  against  the  Monstrous  Eegiment  of  Women," 


1517-1048.]     THE  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND  AND  SCOTLAND.      365 

which  denied  the  right  of  women  to  rule  nations,  and  was  especially 
aimed  at  "  the  bloody  Jezebel,"  as  he  afterward  called  her,  who 
then  reigned  in  England.  Mary  of  Guise,  the  widow  of  James  V., 
who  was  now  regent,  was  secretly  bent  on  subjecting  Scotland  to 
France  ;  but  her  hostility  to  Mary  of  England  and  to  Philip  caused 
her  to  make  the  country  an  asylum  even  for  her  Protestant  enemies. 
Knox  returned  in  1555,  and  preached  Avith  great  eflfect  in  different 
parts  of  the  country.  He  won  to  his  side  not  only  large  numbers 
of  the  humbler  class,  but  also  many  of  the  nobility  and  of  the  gen- 
try. He  thundered  in  the  pulpit  against  idolatry,  and  the  i)eoj)le 
responded  by  breaking  in  pieces  the  images  of  the  saints  and  pull- 
ing down  the  monasteries.  He  denounced  the  mass  as  the  Avorship 
of  a  false  god.  He  was  soon  obliged  to  leave  the  country  again, 
and  accepted  a  call  to  Geneva.  But  the  work  had  gained  such  an 
impetus  that,  under  his  inspiring  influence,  even  from  a  distance,  it 
went  foi'ward.  Lord  James  Stuart,  bastard  son  of  the  late  king, 
was  one  of  the  principal  nobles  who  joined  in  it.  In  1557  the 
The  first  "  lords  of  the  congregation  "  united  in  the  first  solemn 
covenant.  covcuant,  whcrcby  they  renounced  "  the  congregation  of 
Satan,  with  all  the  superstitious  abomination  and  idolatry  thereof," 
and  engaged  to  defend  "  the  whole  congregation  of  Christ,  and  every 
member  thereof."  Knox  returned  to  Scotland  in  1559.  In  the 
northern  kingdom  there  was  a  combination  of  subjects  against  the 
established  authority  represented  by  the  regent.  Yet  circum- 
stances obliged  Elizabeth  to  come  to  the  help  of  the  insurgents,  and 
to  strike  a  blow  in  behalf  of  Calvinism  and  rebellion,  both  of  which 
she  regarded  with  loathing.  In  the  conflict  with  the  Protestants 
Triumph  of  the  Scottish  regent  called  in  the  aid  of  French  troops. 
fsmTn  sco*^-  '^^  l^^S,  Mary  Stuart  had  married  Francis  11,  and  by  a 
land.  secret  agreement  had  given  away  her  kingdom,  in  the 

event  of  her  death  without  heirs,  to  Fi-ance.  Francis  and  Mary 
styled  themselves  king  and  queen  of  England.  Philip  of  Spain  ex- 
pected that  in  a  war  with  France,  Elizabeth  would  soon  need  his  help, 
and  that  England  would  thus  fall  under  his  power.  But  the  high- 
spirited  English  queen  believed  that  the  safest  course  was  to  bi'ave 
all  the  dangers.  She  sent  her  troops  into  Scotland.  She  was  suc- 
cessful, and,  in  15G0,  in  the  Treaty  of  Edinburgh  it  was  agreed  that 
the  French  should  withdraw,  and  that  the  government  of  Scotland 
should  be  committed  to  a  Council  of  the  Lords.  The  regent  died 
in  June  of  the  same  year.  The  Estates  convened  in  August.  By 
acts  of  the  Scottish  Parliament  Calvinistic  Protestantism  was  then 
made  the  established  religion  of  Scotland. 


366    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VIII. 

Francis  11.,  the  young  husband  of  Mary,  died  on  December  6, 
1560.  Catharine  de  Medici  now  acquired  power,  and  set  about  the 
task  of  mediating  between  the  rival  parties  in  France,  and  of  keep- 
Mary  in  ^^o  (^^own  the  ambition  of  the  Guises.  Mary  returned 
sootiand.  ^q  ]jgp  q^j^  kingdom  to  take  her  seat  on  her  throne. 
She  was  beautiful  in  person,  quick-witted,  fascinating  in  her  ad- 
dress, and  with  a  boundless  fund  of  energy.  Her  purpose  from 
the  first  was  to  restore  the  old  religion  in  Scotland  ;  but  to  attempt 
to  do  so  at  once  would  have  exposed  her  to  certain  defeat,  and  it 
would  have  defeated  another  design  that  she  never  ceased  to  cher- 
ish— that  of  securing  for  herself  the  crown  of  England.  She  left 
the  principal  direction  of  affairs  in  the  hands  of  her  half-bi'other, 
whom  she  made  Earl  of  Murray.  To  celebrate  mas3  in  her  own 
chapel  was  a  privilege  which  she  gained  with  great  difficulty,  since 
it  encountered  the  stei*n  public  condemnation  of  Knox,  who  de- 
Her  conflict  nounced  in  the  pulpit  of  St.  Giles  all  such  idolatry.  He 
v.ith  Knox.  divined  from  the  beginning  the  inmost  purposes  of  the 
queen,  and  the  jDowers  of  enchantment  which  she  exerted  effectu- 
ally on  almost  all  who  approached  her  were  lost  on  the  discerning 
and  intrepid  preacher.  His  "  History  of  the  Kef ormation  of  Re- 
ligion in  Scotland  "  presents  graphic  narratives  of  the  interviews 
which  he  had  with  her,  and  of  the  progress  of  the  conflict  in  which 
he  was  her  principal  antagonist.  She  was  careful  to  do  nothing  to 
give  a  legal  sanction  to  the  acts  which  had  established  the  Protes- 
tant religion.  After  the  civil  war  broke  out  in  France,  the  hopes 
of  Mary  rose  with  every  advantage  gained  by  her  uncles  and  the 
extreme  Catholic  faction,  of  which  they  were  leaders.  A  victory  of 
Guise  would  mean,  as  she  believed,  the  downfall  of  Calvinism  in 
Scotland,  and  then  would  follow  a  Catholic  rising  in  England  and 
the  ruin  of  Elizabeth.  But  the  hopes  of  Mary  in  this  direction 
were  wrecked  by  the  conclusion  of  peace  between  Elizabeth  and 
Catharine  de  Medici,  in  1564.  Then  she  abandoned  tlie  hope  of  a 
marriage  with  Don  Carlos,  or  some  other  powerful  prince  on  the 
continent,  and,  partly  from  an  impulse  of  love,  and  partly  from  pol- 
icy, as  a  means  of  bringing  to  her  support  the  great  earls  in  the 
Her  marriage  north  of  England,  and  the  English  Catholics  generally, 
vith  Darniey.  gj^g  g^^g  j^gj^.  i^^j^^  Iq  jigj.  cousiu  Damlcy.  He  was  the 
gi-andson  of  Margaret,  the  sister  of  Henry  VHL,  who,  after  the 
death  of  James  TV.,  had  married  the  Earl  of  Angus.  The  marriage 
with  Darniey  was  a  menace  alike  to  Protestantism  in  Scotland  and 
in  England,  and  to  the  throne  and  life  of  Elizabeth.  At  this  mo- 
ment there  was  a  dread,  which  proved  to  be  mistaken,  of  a  combi- 


1517-1648.]     THE  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND  AND  SCOTLAND.     367 

nation  of  France  and  Spain  to  crush  heresy  everywhere.  The 
worthless  character  of  Darnley  was  the  means  of  averting  gi-eat 
peril  to  the  Protestant  religion  in  Great  Britain.  His  insolence 
enraged  the  nobles  ;  his  drunkenness  and  other  low  vices  disgusted 
his  wife.  Rizzio,  an  Italian  favorite,  had  promoted  the  marriage. 
His  murder  was  the  result  of  a  conspiracy,  in  which  Darnley  and 
some  of  the  Protestant  lords,  to  whom  Eizzio  was  obnoxious,  were 
the  partners.  Even  then  the  apparent  moderation  of  Mary  in  her 
religious  policy,  in  connection  with  the  birth  of  her  child, 
afterwards  James  I.  of  England,  gave  a  brighter  color  to 
her  prospects  of  succeeding,  if  not  of  supplanting,  Elizabeth  ;  but 
the  infatuation  which  led  her  to  place  herself  under  the  influence 
of  Bothwell  was  fatal  to  her  expectations.  Whether  she  was  privy 
Her  relations  to  the  murdcr  of  her  husband  or  not,  she  married  Both- 
with  Bothwell.  ^gii^  |,y  ^i^on^  ^Ijg  jggj  ^.jjg  planned.    At  Carberry  Hill 

a  battle  was  avoided  between  the  forces  of  Bothwell  and  the  army 
collected  by  the  Scottish  lords  to  destroy  him,  by  the  surrender 
Herabdica-  ^f  Mary,  who  was  taken  as  a  prisoner  to  Lochleven. 
tion,  1507.  There  she  abdicated  the  throne,  appointing  Murray  re- 
gent during  the  minority  of  her  son.  Her  escape  from  Lochleven 
was  followed  by  the  defeat  of  her  army  at  Langside,  and  her  pre- 
cipitate flight  into  England,  where  she  threw  herself  on  the  pro- 
tection of  Elizabeth. 

After  the  coronation  of  James,  the  Parliament  of  Scotland  con- 
firmed the  acts  of  1560  for  the  establishment  of  Protestantism. 
This  result  was  secured  mainly  through  the  steadfast 

1567. 

spirit  of  Knox,  who  was  not  less  resolute  in  withstand- 
ing the  greed  and  ambition  of  the  nobles,  and  their  too  great 
readiness  for  compromise,  than  in  resisting  the  blandishments  and 
threats  of  the  queen. 

In  the  constitution  and  government  of  the  Scottish  Church  the 

lay  eldership  had  a  prominent  place.     In  1578  the  "  Second  Book 

of  Discipline  "  embodied  the  complete  Presbyterian  hier- 

Constitution  i-  .   f  .  -f 

of  the  Scottish  archy,  ascending  ironi  the  parisli  sessions  through  the 
presbyteries  and  provincial  synods  up  to  the  General 
Assembly,  which  was  supreme.  Superintendents  were  retained, 
whose  function  it  was  to  carry  out  the  measures  of  the  Assembly. 
At  Frankfort,  Knox  had  composed  a  book  of  devotion  for  public 
worship,  which  he  used  in  his  church  at  Geneva  :  "  The  Forme  of 
Prayers  and  Ministration  of  the  Sacraments,  etc.,  used  in  the  Eng- 
lish Congregation  at  Geneva,  and  approved  by  the  famous  and 
godly  learned  man,  John  Calvin."     This,  with  a  few  changes,  be- 


368    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.   [Period  VIII. 

came  the  "Book  of  Common  Order"  for  the  Scottish  Church.  It 
contains  no  form  of  absolution.  It  includes  a  confession  of  faith, 
which  differs  from  that  which  Parliament  and  the  General  Assembly 
adopted.  This  new  confession  is  derived  from  Calvin's  catechism 
relating  to  the  Apostles'  Creed.  The  doctrine  of  the  sacrament  is 
identical  with  that  of  Calvin,  as  distinguished  from  the  Lutheran 
and  the  earlier  Zwinglian  theory.  There  was  a  general  form  of 
expulsion  of  unworthy  persons  from  the  Lord's  table,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  ministration  of  the  sacrament.  This  was  called  ex- 
communication or  "  fencing  of  the  tables."  Marriages,  as  well  as 
baptisms,  were  celebrated  in  church  on  Sundays.  This  "Book 
of  Common  Order "  continued  in  use  for  about  a  hundred  years, 
when  it  was  dropped,  in  connection  with  the  contest  against  the 
English  Prayer  Book.  After  the  Presbyterian  system  had  been 
established  by  the  Assembly,  the  old  polity  of  the  Chiirch  remained 
as  a  matter  of  law.  There  were  bishops,  and  also  abbots  and 
priors  ;  these  places  being  filled,  after  1560,  by  Protestants  and 
sometimes  by  laymen.  In  1572  it  was  agreed  between  the  eccle- 
siastical and  civil  authorities  that  the  old  names  and  titles  of  arch- 
bishops and  bishops  should  continue,  although  the  incumbents 
were  to  have  no  power  greater  than  that  of  superintendents,  and 
were  subject  to  the  kirk  and  General  Assembly  in  spiritual  things, 
as  they  were  to  the  king  in  things  temporal.  The  temporalities  of 
the  sees  had  mostly  flowed  into  the  hands  of  laymen.  This  was 
what  Knox  condemned  :  the  revival  of  episcopacy,  in  the  shadowy 
form  just  described,  appears  to  have  excited  in  him  little  or  no 
opposition.  After  about  twenty  years  the  Presbyterian  system, 
pure  and  simple,  was  established,  under  the  auspices  of  Andrew 
Melville,  Subsequently  the  attempts  of  James  VI.,  to  establish  the 
royal  supremacy,  and  to  introduce  the  Anglican  polity,  began  that 
contest  between  the  throne  and  the  kirk  which  signalized  the  fol- 
lowing reign. 

The  changes  in  England  in  matters  of  religion  were  made  by 
Elizabeth  cautiously,  and  as  circumstances  prompted.  The  Prot- 
estants, if  they  were  able  and  energetic,  and  strong  in  the 
policy  of  large  towns,  still  composed  only  a  minority  of  her  subjects. 
The  clergy  in  convocation  protested  against  changes  in 
religion,  and  affirmed  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation  and  the 
supremacy  of  the  successors  of  St,  Peter.  The  oath  of  submission  to 
her  supremacy  was,  at  the  first,  not  exacted  with  any  strictness  of  the 
parish  ministers.  She  ventured  to  restore  the  Prayer  Book,  and  to 
enforce  its  use  through  an  Act  of  Uniformity  ;  but  in  the  revision  of 


1517-164S.]    THE  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND  AND  SCOTLAND.      369 

it  the  changes  were  obviously  designed,  by  the  removal  of  offensive 
passages,  to  conciliate  the  Roman  Catholics.  It  was  not  until  Mary 
Stuart  had  begun  her  plots  in  Scotland,  and  the  Guises  were  gain- 
ing power  in  France,  that  the  oath  of  supremacy  was  rigidly  exacted 
of  all  clergymen.  It  was  likewise  imposed  on  civil  officers  of  every 
grade.     At  the  same  time  (in  1563),  convocation  revised 

TtiG  Articles.     °  ,     , .    ,  ,  .    ,  ,  ,     „ 

the  Articles — which  were  reduced  from  Forty- two  to 
Thirty-nine — and  the  clergy  were  required  to  subscribe  to  them. 
These  last  measures  are  a  landmark  in  the  warfare  of  Elizabeth 
with  the  papacy. 

We  have  now  to  consider  the  use  made  of  the  powers  possessed 
by  the  queen  through  the  Act  of  Supremacy  and  the  Act  of  Uniform- 
uniformity  i^J*  ^^'^^  through  the  Court  of  High  Commission,  which 
in  religion.  ^^^  clothed  witli  ample  powers  for  carrying  these  laws 
into  effect.  Apart  from  better  motives  and  considerations  of  policy, 
her  own  religious  indifference  prevented  her  from  caring  to  pry 
into  the  opinions  of  her  subjects,  or  from  inflicting  penalties  for 
mere  belief.  What  is  called  religious  persecution,  in  her  reign, 
was  almost  exclusively  indirect.  What  was  demanded  was  com- 
pliance with  the  laws  relative  to  outward  worship,  and  the  renun- 
ciation of  allegiance  to  all  foreign  ecclesiastical  authority.  The 
government  of  Elizabeth  took  the  ground  which  was  taken  by  all 
Lutheran  Protestants,  and  was  expressed  in  Germany  by  the  max- 
im, CKJus  regio  ejus  religio :  the  religion  of  a  country  is  to  be  that  of 
the  sovereign.  Only  the  Calvinists,  who  denied  to  the  magistrate 
so  extensive  prerogatives,  rejected  this  doctrine.  Even  they,  when 
they  could  control  the  action  of  the  state,  as  in  Scotland  or  at 
Geneva,  enforced  uniformity.  It  is  to  be  remembered,  moreover, 
that  the  control  of  the  civil  authority  in  affairs  of  reHgion  was  the 
object  which  had  been  contended  for  in  the  long  battle  of  the  mid- 
dle ages  with  the  papacy,  and  against  the  usurpations  of  the  clergy. 
To  the  foregoing  remarks  it  should  be  added  that  whatever  injus- 
tice and  other  evils  grew  out  of  the  despotism  of  Henry  VHI.,  and 
the  despotism,  not  a  little  mitigated,  of  Elizabeth,  it  was  only 
through  a  strong  government  in  England,  during  this  age  of  dis- 
cord, that  the  land  was  saved  from  the  unspeakable  calamities  of  a 
civil  war,  in  which,  as  in  France,  the  hatred  natural  to  such  a  con- 
test would  have  been  rendered  doubly  intense  by  religious  ani- 
mosity. 

The  severe  measures  against  Roman  Catholics  in  this  reign 
were  due,  not  to  any  antagonism  to  their  theology,  but  to  the  po- 
litical hostiHty  which   was  often  inseparably  associated   with   it, 


370    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Pekiod  VIII. 

and  to  the  magnitude  of  the  consequent  dangers  to  which  the 
crown  and  the  kingdom  were  exposed.  The  Protestant- 
^man"""*  °^  ism  of  the  queen  was  made  the  ground  of  attack  upon  her 
Catholics.  -j^^  foreign  powers,  and  of  plots  against  her  life.  In  1569 
victory  over  the  Huguenots  in  France  was  followed  by  a  Catholic 
rebellion  in  the  North  of  England.  The  demand  was  that  Mary's 
title  to  the  succession  should  be  acknowledged.  In  1570,  Pius  V. 
promulgated  his  bull,  excommunicating  the  queen,  deposing  her 
and  releasing  her  subjects  from  their  allegiance.  The  pope  en- 
couraged the  English  Catholics  in  the  North  to  revolt,  Philip  of 
Spain  was  deterred  only  by  prudential  motives  from  sending  forces 
England  and  ^o  aid  them.  The  current  of  events  was  gradually  lead- 
Spain.  jjjg  Iq  jj  (Ju-ect  couflict  with  Spain.     For  her  own  security 

she  secretly  provided  assistance  for  the  revolted  subjects  of  Philip 
in  the  Netherlands,  which  pleased  France,  as  her  aid  to  the  Scot- 
tish rebels  had  gratified  Philij).  Covertly  she  lent  assistance,  also, 
to  the  Huguenots.  At  length,  the  desperate  condition  of  the  Prot- 
estants in  the  Netherlands  obliged  her  to  send  over  troops  openly 
for  their  succor.  Shortly  after,  Drake  appeared  before  St.  Do- 
mingo and  seized  that  island.  As  England  drifted  into  a  war  with 
Spain,  perils  thickened  at  home.  In  1568  Dr.  Allen  had  estab- 
lished a  Catholic  college  at  Douay,  for  the  education  of  priests  for 
service  in  England.  At  the  instigation  of  Gregory  XHL,  in  1576, 
they  began  their  work.  They  were  naturally  considered  by  Eliza- 
beth and  her  counsellors  as  fomenters  of  treason.  Loi-d  Bacon  de- 
scribes them  as  "  seminary  priests,  who  were  bred  in  foreign  parts, 
and  supported  by  the  purses  and  charities  of  foreign  princes,  pro- 
fessed enemies  of  this  kingdom,  and  whose  time  had  been  passed 
in  places  where  the  very  name  of  Elizabeth  was  never  heard  except 
as  that  of  a  heretic  excommunicated  and  accursed  ; "  .  .  .  and 
Avho  "had  b}'^  their  own  arts  and  poisons  depraved  and  soured  with 
a  new  leaven  of  malignity  the  whole  lump  of  Catholics,  which  had 
before  been  more  meek  and  harmless."  At  length  the  priests  were 
forbidden,  on  pain  of  death,  to  land,  and  it  was  made  treason  to 
harbor   them.      A  considerable   number  of  them  were 

1584 

seized  and  executed.  Burleigh  explained  to  the  woi-ld 
how  the  queen  had  been  driven  to  depart  from  the  merciful  and 
tolerant  polic}'  toward  the  Roman  Catholics  with  which  she  had  be- 
gun her  reign.     But  the  defences  of  this  change  in  her  course  do 

not  avail  as  an  excuse  for  the  enforcement  of  the  re- 
Mary  Stuart.  . 

pressive  laws  agamst  the  priests  at  a  later  day,  when  the 
danger  of  Spanish  invasion  was  over.     Mary  Stuart  was  the  centre 


1517-1648.]    THE  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND  AND  SCOTLAND.      371 

of  the  hopes  of  the  enemies  of  Protestant  England,  and  of  Eliz- 
abeth.    By  her  advisers  Mary's  life  was  deemed  a  perpetual  men- 
ace.    When  her  complicity  in  the  conspiracy  of  Babiugton,  which 
involved  a  Spanish  invasion,  and  the  dethronement  and  death  of 
the  queen,  was  proved,  her  death-warrant  was  signed, 
and  she  was  beheaded  at  Fotheringay,     The  sailing  of 
the  Spanish  armada  for  the  conquest  of  England  was  the  culmina- 
tion of  a  prolonged,  desultory  warfare,  mainly  on  the  ocean.     It 
was  the  supreme  effort  of  the  Catholic  reaction  to  annihilate  the 
Pi-otestant  strength.     The  destruction  of  this  mighty 
fleet  by  the  valor  of  English  seamen,  reinforced  by  the 
tempest,  was  a  mortal  blow  to  the  hopes  of  the  enemies  of  Protest- 
ant England. 

In  order  to  understand  the  Puritan  controversy  we  must  look 
more  closely  at  the  general  character  of  the  Anglican  Church,  as 
it  was  determined  after  the  accession  of  Elizabeth.  That 
controversy  did  not  arise  on  account  of  any  differences 
in  theological  doctrine.  It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  great 
question  on  which  Protestants  were  divided  was  the  Lord's  Supper. 
The  doctrine  ^^^^  adoptiou  by  the  English  reformers  of  the  Swiss 
of  the  Lord's    doctxine,  in  the  form  in  which  it  w^as  held  by  Bullinger 

Supper.  *'  ° 

and  Calvin,  established  complete  concord  between  the 
two  classes  of  theologians,  and  this  amity  was  manifested  and  kept 
up  by  constant  correspondence.  Of  Cranmer's  conversion  to  the 
Swiss  doctrine,  and  of  its  insertion  in  the  Forty-two  Articles,  we  have 
already  spoken.  In  1562,  at  the  revision  of  the  Articles,  the  pointed. 
and  emphatic  condemnation  of  the  Lutheran  view  was  omitted,  and 
the  denial  of  the  real  presence  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  was 
withdrawn  ;  but  the  statement  in  the  revised  Articles  (XXVlll. 
and  XXIX.)  is  in  exact  conformity  with  the  Calvinistic  opinion. 
Bishop  Jewel  wrote  to  Peter  Martyr  :  "As  for  matters  of  doctrine, 
we  have  pared  everything  away  to  the  quick,  and  do  not  differ  from 
your  doctrine  by  a  nail's-bi-eadth  ;  for  as  to  the  ubiquitarian  theory  " 
—  the  Lutheran  view — "there  is  no  danger  in  this  country. 
Opinions  of  that  kind  can  only  gain  admittance  where  the  stones 
have  sense."  The  explanation  of  the  doctrine  which  is  given  in 
the  homilies,  sent  forth  to  be  read  in  the  churches,  is  in  perfect 
consonance  with  Calvin's  teaching.  "  The  real  presence  of  Christ's 
body  and  blood,"  wrote  Hooker,  "  is  not  in  the  sacrament  but  in 
the  worthy  receiver."  The  rubric  at  the  close  of  the  communion 
service,  inserted  in  the  Prayer  Book  of  1552,  dropped  in  the 
Prayer  Book  of  Elizabeth,  but  restored  in  1661,  affirms  that  "  the 


372    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OP  WESTPHALIA.   [Period  VIII. 

natui-al  body  and  blood  of  our  Savioui'  Christ  are  in  heaven,  and 
not  here  ;  it  being  against  the  truth  of  Christ's  natural  body  to  be 
at  one  time  in  more  places  than  one."  At  the  same  time  the 
rubric,  as  amended  in  1661,  guards  against  the  inference  that  a 
"real  and  essential "  presence  of  Christ  is  denied. 

Nor  was  there  any  conflict  with  the  Protestant  chvirches  on  the 

Continent  on  the  subject  of  predestination.    For  a  long  period,  the 

Protestants  held  in  common  the  essential  points  of  the  Au- 

The  doctnne  /-^ 

of  predestiua-  gustinian  tenet.  The  English  reformers,  Cranmer  and 
Ridley  included,  professed  the  doctrine  of  unconditional 
election.  Cranmer — not  to  speak  of  other  proofs — indicates  his 
opinion  in  the  notes  on  the  Great  Bible.  That  is,  they  held  to 
what  was  the  main  feature  of  both  the  Augustiniau  and  Calviuistic 
systems.  This  doctrine  is  explicitly  set  forth  in  the  Seventeenth 
Influence  of  Ai'ticle.  Through  the  whole  reign  of  Edward,  Calvin's 
Calvin.  personal  influence  was  great  in  England.     It  grew  to  be 

still  greater  after  the  beginning  of  Elizabeth's  reign.  "  His  Insti- 
tutes," says  Blunt,  a  defender  of  High  Church  opinions  and  an 
opponent  of  Calvinism,  "were  generally  in  the  hands  of  the  clergy, 
and  might  be  considered  their  text-book  in  theology."  "  The  Insti- 
tutes," says  Hard  wick,  "  became  a  sort  of  oracle  and  text-book  for 
the  students  in  the  universities."  Hooker,  writing  near  the  end  of 
Elizabeth's  reign,  speaks  of  Calvin's  authority  as  having  equalled 
that  of  the  "Master  of  Sentences,"  Peter  Lombard,  in  the  flour- 
ishing period  of  scholasticism,  "  so  that  the  perfectest  divines  were 
judged  they  who  were  skilfulest  in  Calvin's  writings."  Hooker 
himself  praises  the  Institutes  and  the  commentaries  of  Calvin,  and 
has  no  contest  with  his  doctrinal  system.  He  pronounces  him 
"  incomparably  the  wisest  man  that  ever  the  French  Church  did 
enjoy,  since  the  hour  it  enjoyed  him."  Bullinger'a  writings  were 
held,  likewise,  in  the  highest  esteem  ;  so  that  as  late  as  1586, 
young  curates  not  licensed  to  preach  were  dn-ected  by  the  Southern 
Convocation  to  provide  themselves  with  a  Bible  and  Bullinger's 
Decades  in  Latin  or  English.  There  were  shades  of  difference  in 
England,  as  in  the  Reformed  churches  abroad,  on  this  subject  of 
predestination.  There  were  higher  and  more  moderate  Calvinists. 
The -Lam-  This  was  mauifcst  in  connection  with  the  "Lambeth 
beihArticieH."  ^.|.-gjgg^»  lu  which  predestination  was  set  forth  in  a 
bald  and  rigid  form.  In  them  assurance  is  declared  essential  to 
saving  faith.  They  grew  out  of  attacks  on  predestination  by  cer- 
tain individuals  in  the  university  of  Cambridge.  They  were  sub- 
scribed by  Whitgift,  then  Ai'chbishop  of  Canterbury  ;  by  Hutton, 


1517-1648.]     THE  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND  AND  SCOTLAND.      373 

Arcbbishop  of  York,  and  by  the  Bishops  of  London  and  of  Bangor. 
The  amendment  of  these  Articles  by  Hutton,  and  still  more  the 
expressions  of  Hooker  on  the  subject  of  which  they  treat,  indicate 
a  rising  disposition  to  avoid  the  more  extreme  type  of  predestina- 
rian  theology.  Yet  this  disposition  was  in  accord  with  the  vieM's 
of  Bullinger.  It  was  the  manifestation,  for  the  first  time,  of  dissent 
from  Calvinism,  that  called  out  the  Lambeth  declaration,  and  Fuller 
is  not  far  out  of  the  way  in  saying  that  it  expressed  "  the  general 
and  received  doctrine  of  England  in  that  age." 

At  the  outset,  and  for  a  long  period,  there  was  no  contro- 
versy among  the  reformers  on  the  subject  of  episcoj^acy.  The 
Church  gov-  Lutherans,  in  the  Smalcaldic  Articles,  declare  episcopacy 
ernment.  |-q  j^g  g^  human  institution,  and  assert  that  when  ordinary 
bishops  become  enemies  of  the  Church  or  refuse  to  ordain,  they 
may  be  dispensed  with.  Melanchthon  wanted  bishops,  as  a  means 
of  protecting  the  Church  from  disorder  and  from  the  apprehended 
tyranny  of  princes,  and  Luther  would  not  have  objected  to  them. 
Bishops  were  retained  by  the  Lutherans  in  Sweden,  and,  in  the 
form  of  superintendents,  in  Denmark.  Calvin  recommended  the 
King  of  Poland  to  retain  bishops,  and  felt  no  repugnance  to  the  ex- 
ercise of  a  presidency  by  a  single  minister,  who  should  be  appointed 
to  such  a  duty  by  the  Church.  When  Swiss  divines  came  to  Eng- 
land they  generally  found  many  things  which  they  wished  to  see 
reformed  ;  but  to  bishops,  as  such,  they  had  no  repugnance.  "WTien 
English  divines  went  to  Strasburg,  Zurich,  or  Geneva,  they  felt 
not  the  slightest  scruples  on  the  score  of  the  parity  of  the  clergy 
which  they  found  to  be  established  in  these  places. 

Until  we  approach  the  close  of  Elizabeth's  reign  there  are  no 
traces,  in  the  Anglican  Church,  of  the  jure  divino  idea  of  episco- 
views  of  P^cy — ^^®  doctrine  that  bishops  are  necessary  to  the  be- 
episcopacy,  j^g  ^f  ^  church,  and  that  without  episcopal  ordination 
the  functions  of  the  ministry  cannot  be  lawfully  discharged.  The 
Articles  are  obviously  drawn  up  according  to  the  prevalent  idea 
that  each  national  church  is  to  determine  its  own  i^olity  and  cere- 
monies. Episcopacy  is  not  among  the  notes  of  the  Church,  as  it  is 
defined  in  them.  "  Orders  "  are  not  allowed  to  be  called  sacra- 
ments in  the  scriptural  sense,  since  for  these  there  is  requisite 
some  "visible  sign  or  ceremony  ordained  of  God."  It  had  been 
the  common  view  in  the  middle  ages  that  the  diflference  between 
bishop  and  priest  is  one  of  office  and  not  of  order,  the  defining 
characteristic  of  "  order  "  being  power  to  perform  a  special  act,  in- 
volving a  certain  indelible  character  impressed  on  the  soul.     The 


374    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.   [Period  VIIL 

priest,  as  capable  of  performing  the  miracle  of  the  Eucharist,  was 
in  everything,  except  in  office  or  function,  on  a  level  with  the  bishop. 
This  opinion  was  held  even  by  Bellarmine.  It  prevailed  among  the 
Anglican  reformers.  It  is  taught  in  "The  Institution  of  a  Chris- 
tian Man,"  published  by  authority  in  1537.  It  is  asserted  by  Bishop 
Jewel   in  his  "Apology"  for  the   Church  of  England, 

Jewel's  doc- 

trine  iis  to  and  iu  his  "  Defence  "  of  the  "  Apology."  The  first  of 
these  works,  translated  into  English  by  the  wife  of  Sir 
Nicholas  Bacon,  Elizabeth  ordered  to  be  chained  in  every  parish 
church  in  England,  that  it  might  be  freely  read  and  consulted. 
The  Preface  to  the  Ordinal  in  the  Prayer  Book,  to  be  sure,  affirms 
that  "fi'om  the  apostles'  time  there  have  been  these  orders  of  min- 
isters in  Christ's  Church  :  bishops,  priests,  and  deacons."  Yet  the 
term  "orders"  is  used  by  Jewel,  for  example,  in  a  popular  sense, 
as  interchangeable  with  "degrees,"  and  it  is  rendered  "  degTees  " 
ia  the  translation  of  his  "Defence."  This  view,  it  may  be  re- 
marked, that  the  distinction  of  bishop  and  presbyter  is  one  of 
office,  and  not  of  order,  cannot  be  considered  a  mere  legacy  from 
the  schoolmen,  received  without  scrutiny.  It  is  held  much  later 
by  so  learned  and  celebrated  defenders  of  episcopacy  as  Dean  Field 
cianmer'8  ^ud  Arclibishop  Usshcr.  A  catechism,  approved  by 
views.  Cranmer  in  1548,  and  said  to  have  been  mainly  a  trans- 

lation of  a  Lutheran  work,  teaches  a  succession  from  the  apostles 
of  "  bishops  and  priests  "  in  the  ministry  ;  but  nothing  is  said  of 
the  relation  of  the  two  classes  of  ministers  to  one  another.  "  It 
was  not,"  says  Blunt,  "  until  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century  that 
the  distinction  between  the  orders  of  bishops  and  priests  was  as- 
serted." At  the  end  of  Edward's  reign,  Cranmer  was  writing  to 
Melanchthon,  Bullingex',  and  Calvin,  in  the  hope  of  procuring  a  gen- 
eral s}Tiod  of  the  Protestant  churches  for  the  construction  of  a 
common  basis  of  doctrine.  In  these  letters  there  is  no  hint  of  any 
important  matter  to  be  considered  as  a  ground  of  fellowship  save 
the  grand  mooted  point  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  The  statute  of  the 
loth  of  Elizabeth  made  room  for  ministers  ordained  abroad,  ac- 
cording to  other  forms  than  those  prescribed  in  the  Prayer  Book, 
to  be  admitted  to  parishes  in  England.  Such  ministers,  as  is  shown 
by  numerous  incontrovertible  proofs,  were  thus  admitted  in  con- 
siderable numbers,  through  Elizabeth's  reign,  and  even  far  into  the 
next  century.  Down  to  the  era  of  Laud  and  Charles  L,  when  the 
sacerdotal  theory  of  episcopacy  had  taken  root,  the  validity  of  the 
ordination  received  by  the  ministry  of  foreign  churches  was  not 
seriously  impugned,  nor  was  there  an  interruption  of  ecclesiastical 


1517-1648.]     THE  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND  AND  SCOTLAND.     375 

fellowship  between  them  and  the  Church  of  England.  Even  in  the 
great  reaction  after  the  restoration  of  the  Stuarts,  the  Act  of  Uni- 
formity, in  1G61,  which  required  episcopal  ordination  of  all  in- 
cumbents of  benefices,  added  the  proviso  "  that  the  penalties 
in  this  act  shall  not  extend  to  the  foreigners  or  aliens  of  the  foreign 
Reformed  churches  allowed,  or  to  be  allowed,  by  the  king's 
majesty,  his  heirs  and  successors  in  England." 

There  were  two  stages  in  the  Puritan  controversy.  In  the  first, 
the  subject  of  contention  was  the  use  of  the  vestments  of  the  clergy 
The  ritualistic  ^^^  o^  Certain  cercmonies.  In  the  second,  into  which 
controversy,  ^.j^^  ^^^^  jg^^  prelacy  and  the  relation  of  Church  to  State 
were  the  great  matters  in  debate.  From  the  beginning  there  were 
some  in  England  who  wished  to  introduce  more  radical  changes 
than  the  government — not  to  speak  now  of  the  temper  of  the  peo- 
ple— would  allow.  Their  general  aim  was  to  conform  the  Reforma- 
tion in  England  to  the  type  which  it  had  assumed  in  the  Reformed 
or  Calvinistic  churches  on  the  continent.  This  tendency  was 
strengthened  by  the  presence  of  the  eminent  foreign  divines  whom 
Cranmer  drew  about  him  in  the  reign  of  Edward.  It  acquired  a 
fresh  and  powerful  stimulus  by  the  return  of  the  exiles — eight  hun- 
dred in  number — who  had  been  inhospitably  regarded  by  the  Lu- 
therans, and  who  had  resorted  mostly  to  Zurich  and  Geneva,  or 
to  the  cities  of  the  Rhine,  where  Calvinism  was  estabhshed.  The 
vacant  bishoprics,  of  which  after  Elizabeth's  accession  there  were 
thirteen,  were  naturally  filled  with  the  stanch  defenders  of  Prot- 
estantism, who  had  preferred  exile  to  submission  to  the  papal  sys- 
tem as  restored  by  her  predecessor.  Parker,  who  had  remained  in 
England,  in  some  j^lace  of  safe  seclusion,  was  made  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury.  The  new  leaders  among  the  clergy  desired  to  cast 
aside  the  caj)  and  surplice,  and  with  them  other  peculiarities  of 
the  I'itual  which  had  been  generally  dropped  by  their  Protestant 
brethren  on  the  continent.  The  ground  of  the  objection 
thivestments,  to  thesc  things  was  that  they  were  identified  in  the  pop- 
^**''  ular  mind  with  the  notion  that  the  minister  is  a  priest. 

They  were  often  pronounced  to  be  badges  of  "popery."  When  it 
was  said  in  reply  that  the  usages  in  question  were  indifferent  in 
their  nature,  not  being  forbidden  in  the  gospel,  it  was  rejoined  that 
they  are  misleading,  and  that,  even  if  not  contrary  to  a  command- 
ment of  Scripture,  the  civil  magistrate  still  has  no  right  to  compel 
the  observance  of  them.  In  this  last  proposition  was  evidently  in- 
volved an  idea  as  to  the  royal  supremacy,  which  might  eventually 
lead  to  a  grave  conflict.     When  it  is  remembered  what  a  ferment 


376    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VIII. 

has  been  excited  in  England  recently  by  ritualistic  controversies, 
which  considering  the  present  time  in  comparison  with  the  past, 
are  of  far  less  moment,  there  need  be  no  surprise  at  the  out- 
breaking of  the  Puritan  debate,  which  related  to  themes  lying 
in  the  same  province.  In  the  framing  of  the  Prayer  Book  care  had 
been  taken  to  offend  as  little  as  possible  the  adherents  of  the  Cath- 
olic system,  and  the  people  who  had  an  inbred  attachment  to  the 
methods  of  worship  under  which  they  had  grown  up.  In 
the  conserva-  the  Prayer  Book  the  conservatives  found  a  warrant  for 
''^^'*'  their  proclivities  in  religious  thought.     Of  the  mass  of 

the  parish  priests  but  very  few  were  deprived  of  their  livings  when 
Elizabeth  came  in.  "What  would  be  the  effect  upon  the  more  than 
nine  thousand  beneficed  clergymen  who  had  so  lately  used  their 
missals  and  breviaries,  if  innovations  of  a  radical  character  in  the 
accustomed  forms  should  be  suddenly  introduced  and  imposed  by 
law?  Besides  the  consideration  of  safety  and  expediency,  there 
was  rising  among  the  clergy  a  school  of  Protestant  divines  who 
were  more  and  more  disposed  to  go  back  of  Calvin  to  Augustine, 
and  to  draw  their  theological  and  ecclesiastical  principles  from  the 
Church  of  the  first  three  centuries.  Yet  the  party  averse  to  the 
continued  use  of  the  vestments  was  strong  in  numbers,  and  still 
more  influential  from  the  ability  and  standing  of  its  members.  In 
the  reign  of  Edward,  Hooper,  when  chosen,  in  1550,  to 
the  bishopric  of  Gloucester,  at  first  refused  to  wear  the 
bishop's  apparel  at  his  consecration.  After  he  had  been  impris- 
oned the  difficulty  was  settled  by  a  compromise.  In  1555  the 
Troubles  at  trouble  spruug  up  among  the  English  exiles  at  Frankfort, 
Frankfort.  where  Kuox  was  one  of  the  leaders  of  a  party  which  de- 
manded changes  in  the  communion  sexwice  of  the  Pi'ayer  Book, 
and  other  alterations  in  connection  with  them.  When  this  party 
was  outnumbered  by  fresh  emigrants  from  England  who  attached 
themselves  to  the  other  side,  he  withdrew  to  Geneva.  At  the  be- 
ginning of  Elizabeth's  reign,  there  was  a  general  feehng  among 
her  newly-appointed  bishops  in  favor  of  the  disuse  of  the  vestments 
and  of  the  other  offensive  ceremonies,  such  as  kneehng  at  the  sac- 
rament, signing  the  cross  in  baptism,  etc.  This  was  the  wish  of 
Jewel,  who  stigmatized  the  clerical  garb  as  "a  relic  of  the  Amor- 
ites,"  and  in  his  letters  to  Peter  Martyr  rejoiced  that  in  Scotland 
the  "theatrical  dresses,"  etc.,  had  been  consigned  to  the  flames. 
With  him  agreed  Nowell,  Sandys,  afterwards  Archbishop  of  York, 
Grindal,  who  followed  Parker  as  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and 
many  other  divines.     Even  Parker,  at  the  outset,  appears  to  have 


1517-1G48.]     THE  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND  AND  SCOTLAND.     377 

looked  on  the  vestments  with  disfavor,  Burleigh,  Walsiugham, 
Leicester,  and  many  other  prominent  civilians,  wei-e  of  the  same 
Position  of  mind.  But  this  was  a  matter  on  which  the  queen  was 
the  queen.  inflexible.  The  Swiss  divines  who  were  consulted  by 
Jewel  and  his  associates,  generally  advised  a  humoring  of  her 
wishes,  rather  than  a  refusal  to  take  office  at  the  risk  of  driving 
Elizabeth  nearer  the  papal  party.  Many  of  the  clergy,  however, 
did  not  conform  to  the  obnoxious  parts  of  the  ritual.  A  sort  of 
chaos  ensued  in  the  modes  of  worship.  Elizabeth  determined  to  put 
an  end  to  this  confusion  and  to  this  disobedience  to  her  enact- 
ments. It  was  Elizabeth,  and  not  her  bishops,  who  compelled  the 
use  of  the  vestments.  Parker  was  required  to  prosecute  the  delin- 
quents. At  length  the  Puritans  began  to  organize  in  separate 
"conventicles,"  as  their  meetings  were  styled  by  their  adversaries, 
in  order  to  worship  in  the  manner  which  they  approved.  They 
were  numerous.  Their  clergy  were  learned  and  effective  preach- 
ers, and  both  clergy  and  people  were  willing  to  suffer  for  the  sake 
of  conscience.  Whatever  diversity  of  opinion  may  exist  at  the 
present  day  in  respect  to  the  merits  of  the  ritual  controversy,  there 
can  be  no  want  of  approval  of  the  zeal  of  the  Puritans  against  plu- 
ralities and  in  favor  of  a  stricter  discipline  in  the  Church,  and  of 
an  educated,  earnest  ministry  to  take  the  place  of  the  thousands  of 
unworthy  and  grossly  ignorant  clergymen. 

\fi  Hooper  was  the  father  of  Puritanism  in  its  incipient  form,  a  like 
relation  to  Puritanism,  as  a  ripe  and  developed  system,  belongs  to 
cartwright,  Tliomas  Cartwright,  Lady  Margaret's  professor  of  divin- 
1535-1603.  ^j.y  j^^  Cambridge.  Yet,  Puritanism,  by  being  associated, 
under  his  auspices,  with  Presbyterianism,  and  with  the  Presbyte- 
rian  system  as  an  exclusively  authorized  system  of  polity, 
ofPresbyte-     cooled  the  zcal  of  no  small  number  of  those  who  might 


before  have  been  counted  among  its  adherents.  The  first 
point  in  Cartwright's  system  is  that  the  Scriptures  are  not  only  the 
rule  of  faith,  but  also  the  rule  of  the  government  and  discipline  of 
the  Church.  They  prescribe,  as  he  holds,  a  system  of  polity  from 
which  the  Church  is  not  at  liberty  to  depart.  The  second  point 
is  that  the  management  of  church  affairs  belongs  to  the  Church  it- 
self and  its  officers,  and  not  to  civil  magistrates.  Thus  Calvinism 
asserted  in  England  its  doctrine  of  the  independence  of  the  Church 
of  State  control,  and  also  its  doctrine  of  the  control  of  the  State  by 
the  Church  ;  for  Cartwright  was  no  friend  of  toleration.  In  his 
view  there  must  be  uniformity  in  religion,  enforced  by  the  civil 
authority.     Moreover,  he   maintained   that  the   system  of  polity 


378    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VIII. 

which  the  Scriptures  ordain  is  the  Presbyterian,  and  that  prelacy  is, 
therefore,  unlawful. 

Against  these  views  there  rose  in  opposition  the  queen  herself, 
who  was  dis^josed  to  push  her  undefined  visitatorial  power  even  so 
far  as  to  prohibit  the  meetings  of  clergymen  for  mutual 
cart\vright's  improvement,  and,  with  her,  all  supporters  of  the  royal 
supremacy  when  it  was  kept  within  narrower  limits. 
Against  Cartwright's  views  there  were  arrayed,  moreover,  all  de- 
fenders of  the  Episcopal  system  of  church  government.  These,  in- 
cluding Whitgift,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  the  principal  opponent 
of  Cartwright's  doctrines,  even  then  were  far  from  asserting  the^itre 
divino  theory,  or  the  necessity  of  bishops,  in  the  sense  that  a  church 
cannot  exist  without  them.  They  went  no  farther  than  to  main- 
tain the  antiquity  and  expediency  of  the  EiDiscopal  organization. 
"Wherein,"  says  "Whitgift,  "  do  we  agree  with  the  papists?  or 
wherein  do  we  dissent  from  the  reformed  churches  ?  With  these 
we  have  all  points  of  doctrine  and  substance  in  common  ;  from  the 
others  we  dissent  in  the  most  part  both  of  doctrine  and  ceremo- 
nies." But  one  extreme  tended  to  beget  another.  Bancroft,  who 
Jure  divino  eventually  became  the  successor  of  Whitgift,  is  thought 
Episcopacy,  ^q  j^g^yg  bccu  tlic  first  to  propouud  the  exclusive  theory, 
which  would  cast  the  other  Protestant  churches  out  of  the  Church 
Catholic  ;  but  it  is  doubtful  whether  his  sermon  at  St.  Paul's  Cross, 
in  1589,  warrants  the  imputation.  At  the  consecration,  in  1610,  of 
the  Scottish  bishops,  who  had  received  only  Presbyterian  oi'dina- 
tion,  he  met  a  "scruple,"  or  inquiry,  of  Bishop Andrewes,  with  the 
remark  that  ordination  by  presbyters,  where  bishops  could  not  be 
had,  was  sufficient.  The  bishops  then  created  were  sent  to  preside 
over  Presbyterian  clergy. 

About  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century  a  new  turn  was  given 
to  the  Puritan  controversy  by  the  publication  of  the  work  of  Hooker, 
Richard  the  treatise  on  "  Ecclesiastical  Polity."     His  serene,  dis- 

itioo?  mf '^"  passionate  spirit,  his  vigor  and  eloquence,  seemed  to  take 
principles.  ^^p  ^|^g  coutrovcrsy  into  a  higher  atmosphere.  He  be- 
lieves in  the  apostolic  institution  of  Episcopacy,  and  admits  his 
difference  from  Jewel,  his  revered  master  and  guide,  in  holding 
that  bishops  are  a  distinct  order  from  presbyters.  But  he  enters 
into  a  discussion  of  the  nature  of  laws  and  the  origin  of  authorit}'. 
While  claiming  that  Episcopacj^  is  the  primitive  form  of  govern- 
ment, and  the  best  form,  he  affirms  that  "  the  whole  church  visible 
being  the  true  original  subject  of  all  power,"  "it  may  be  in  some  cases 
not  unnecessary  that  we  decline  from  the  ordinary  ways,"  when  led 


1517-1648.]     THE  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND  AND  SCOTLAND.    379 

thereto  by  "an  exigence  of  necessity."  Although  Episcopacy  be  of 
divine  ordination,  there  is  no  necessity,  he  tells  us,  "for  an  ever- 
lasting continuance  of  bishops."  Episcopacy  is  not  necessary,  he 
teaches,  for  the  validity  of  the  sacraments.  "There  may  be,"  he 
Vaiidit  of  concedcs,  "a  very  great  and  sufficient  reason  to  allow 
non-Episcopal  ordination  made  without  a  bishop."     Calvin,  he  thinks, 

ordination.         ^ .  ,      .        ,  ,  ,  _ 

did  the  best  he  could  m  his  church  arrangements  at 
Geneva.  Thus  Hooker  made  space  for  the  full  ecclesiastical  recog- 
nition of  the  foi'eign  Protestant  churches,  and  for  "the  numbers," 
to  quote  the  words  of  Keble,  "who  had  been  admitted  to  the  min- 
istry of  the  Church  in  England,  with  no  better  than  Presbyterian 
TheEn  lish  ordination."  Through  the  century  that  followed  the 
Church  and  Reformation  there  was  in  general  a  fraternal  recognition 
Protestant      of  the  forcigu  Protcstaut  churches.     It  may  be  sufficient 

to  refer  to  the  names  of  three  prominent  churchmen,  all 
of  them  eminent  defenders  of  Episcopacy  as  the  earliest  and  best 
Field,  1561-  method  of  church  government.  The  first  is  Richard 
1616.  Field,  Dean  of  Gloucester,  who  in  his  famous  work  on  the 

Church,  defends  the  foreign  churches  and  the  sufficiency  of  their 
Hall,  1574-  orders.  The  second  is  Bishop  Joseph  Hall,  who  wrote 
1650.  much  later,  and  at  the  request  of  Laud,  but  who  repu- 

diates with  warmth  the  charge  of  uncharitableness  in  relation  to  the 
foreign  Protestant  churches,  which,  he  says,  for  want  of  Episcopacy 
"  lose  nothing  of  the  true  essence  of  a  church."  Hall  was  one  of 
the  deputies  who  sat  in  the  SjTiod  of  Dort.     The  third  name  is  that 

of  Ussher,  the  most  learned  champion  of  Episcopacy  in 
Ussher,  1580-  that  age,  who  maintains  the  same  view.     Long  after  the 

Restoration  and  the  great  Episcopal  reaction  that  at- 
tended it,  even  until  now,  like  principles  have  been  raantaiued  by 
„,.„.  many  divines  of  high  distinction  in  the  EngHsh  Church. 

Wake,  1657-    Archbishop  Wake  in  1724  wrote  to  Courayer  :  "I  should 

be  sorry  to  affirm  that,  where  the  government  is  not 
Episcopal,  there  is  no  church,  nor  any  true  administration  of  the 
sacraments ; "  and,  in  1719,  he  wrote  to  Le  Clerc,  concerning  the 
Continental  Protestant  churches  :  "  Far  be  it  from  me  to  have  such 
an  iron  heart,  that  on  account  of  this  defect" — the  absence  of  Epis- 
copal government — "  I  should  think  that  any  of  them  ought  to  be 
cut  off  from  our  communion  ;  or,  with  some  mad  wi-iters  among  us  " 
—furiods  inter  nos  scriptorihus — "  I  should  affirm  that  they  have 
no  true  and  valid  sacraments,  and  even  that  they  are  hardly  to  be 
called  Christians." 

But  from  the  time  of  Bancroft  another  school  grew  up,  which 


380    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA   [Period  VHI 

was  disposed  to  make  Episcoimcy  essential,  not  merely  to  the  well- 
being,  but  also  to  the  being  of  a  church.  This  is  the  view  pre- 
sented in  the  writings,  on  this  subject,  of  Jeremy  Taylor.  It  is 
characteristic  of  the  school  of  Hammond  and  of  Laud.  Its  growth 
is  partly  to  be  ascribed  to  the  feelings  engendered  by  the  Puritan 
assaults  upon  prelacy,  and  the  assertion  by  Presbyterians  of  the 
exclusive  right  of  their  system  ;  partly  to  an  alienation,  on  doctri- 
nal and  other  grounds,  from  the  German  Lutherans,  and  the  spread 
of  Arminianism  in  England,  by  which  the  bond  of  sympathy  with 
the  Calvinistic  churches  abroad  was  weakened  ;  and  partly  to  the 
decrease  of  danger  from  the  side  of  the  Eoman  Catholic  party, 
which  rendered  the  union  of  Protestants  in  England  with  one 
another  and  with  their  brethren  abroad  a  less  imperative  necessity. 
But  beyond  these  specific  causes  of  the  growth  of  High  Church 
doctrine,  we  must  not  overlook  an  increasing  influence,  not  spring- 
ing wholly  from  these  agencies,  of  what  have  been  called  "  the 
primitive  and  Catholic  elements,"  which,  along  with  the  Protestant 
elements,  from  the  beginning  entered  into  the  Anglican  system. 
There  had  been  less  disposition  than  existed  elsewhere  to  isolate 
any  single  doctrine,  or  to  give  to  it  an  exclusive  prominence.  Above 
all,  there  had  been  from  the  outset  what  may  be  termed  a  patristic 
spirit — a  desire  to  follow,  as  far  as  might  be,  the  teachings  of  the 
early  Fathers,  and  the  models  of  church  organization  in  the  first 
centuries.  The  habit  of  quoting  the  Fathers  for  the  sujDport  and 
illustration  of  doctrines  is  exemplified  in  a  striking  way — to  give 
but  one  instance— in  the  homilies  appointed,  under  Elizabeth,  to 
be  read  in  the  churches. 

The  Presbyterian  principles  of  Cartwright,  and  the  intolerant 
theories  which  he  coupled  with  them,  made  it  easier  for  Elizabeth 
Progress  of  ^o  resist  the  increasing  demand  for  changes  in  the  ritual. 
Puritanism,  ygj.  jt^q  progTcss  of  Puritanism  in  its  essential  spirit  was 
steady  during  all  the  years  of  the  mortal  conflict  of  England  with 
Spain,  and  down  to  the  end  of  her  reign.  The  influence  of  Cal- 
vinism was  seen  in  the  growing  courage  and  independence  of  her 
parliaments.  She  saw  when  it  was  necessary  to  give  way  to  their 
requirements,  and  on  such  occasions  was  prudent  enough  to  yield. 
In  the  Church  itself,  Puritanism  made  an  equal  progress.  "  At 
the  very  outset  of  her  reign,"  writes  Mr.  Green,  "the  need  of  I'e- 
placing  the  Marian  bishops  by  stanch  Protestants,  forced  her  to 
fill  the  English  sees  with  men  whose  creed  was,  in  almost  eveiy 
case,  Calvinistic.  The  bulk  of  the  lower  clergy,  indeed,  were  left 
without  change  ;  but  as  the  older  parsons  died  out  their  places 


1517-1648.]     THE  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND  AND  SCOTLAND.     381 

were  mostly  filled  by  Puritan  successors.  The  universities  fur- 
nished the  new  clergy,  and,  at  the  close  of  Elizabeth's  reign,  the 
tone  of  the  universities  was  hotly  Puritan.  Even  the  outer  uniform- 
ity on  which  the  queen  set  her  heart  took  a  Puritan  form.  The 
use  of  the  Prayer  Book,  indeed,  was  enforced  ;  but  the  asj^ect  of 
English  churches,  and  of  English  worship,  tended  more  and  more 
to  the  model  of  Geneva.  The  need  of  more  light  to  follow  the  ser- 
vice in  the  new  Prayer  Books  served  as  a  pretext  for  the  removal 
of  stained  glass  from  the  church  windows.  The  communion  table 
stood  almost  everywhere  in  the  midst  of  the  church.  If  the  sur- 
plice was  generally  worn  during  the  service,  the  preacher  often 
mounted  the  pulpit  in  a  Geneva  gown.  We  see  the  progress  of 
this  change  in  the  very  chapel  of  the  primates  themselves.  The 
chapel  of  Lambeth  House  was  one  of  the  most  conspicuous  among 
the  ecclesiastical  buildings  of  the  time  ;  it  was  a  place  '  whither 
many  of  the  nobility,  judges,  clergy,  and  persons  of  all  sorts,  as 
well  strangers  as  natives,  resorted.'  But  all  pomp  of  worship  grad- 
ually passed  away  from  it.  Under  Cranmer  the  stained  glass  was 
dashed  away  from  its  windows.  In  Elizabeth's  time  the  com- 
munion table  was  moved  into  the  middle  of  the  chapel,  and  the 
credence  table  destroyed.  Under  James,  Archbishop  Abbot  put 
the  finishing  stroke  on  all  attempts  at  a  high  ceremonial.  The 
cope  was  no  longer  used  as  a  special  vestment  in  the  communion. 
The  primate  and  his  chaplains  forbore  to  bow  at  the  name  of  Christ, 
The  organ  and  choir  were  alike  abolished,  and  the  service  re- 
duced to  a  simplicity  which  would  have  satisfied  Calvin." 

There  were  two  classes  of  dissenters  against  whom  the  Act  of 
Uniformity  was  enforced  without  mercy.  The  first  was  the  Inde- 
independents  peudcnts,  of  whose  Origin  we  shall  speak  hereafter.  The 
and  Baptists,  other  was  the  Baptists,  who  were  unjustly  confounded 
with  the  Anabaptist  preachers  of  anarchy  in  Germany,  and  who 
furnished  the  only  martyrs  who  in  this  reign  were  burnt  at  the 


A  sketch  of  the  Reformation  in  Great  Britain  would  be  incom- 
plete without  some  notice  of  the  attempts  to  plant  Protestantism 
in  Ireland.     Ireland,  one  of  the  last  of  the  countries  to 
mationi'jr"      become  fully  subject  to  Holy  See,  has  been  equalled 
Ireland.  ^^  ^^^^  .^^  .^^  dcvotion  to  the  Eomau  Church  ;  although 

the  independence  of  the  country  was  wrested  from  it  under  the 
warrant  of  a  bull  of  Adrian  IV.,  which  gave  it  to  Henry  H.  Prot- 
estantism was  associated  with  the  hated  domination  of  foreigners, 


382    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VIII. 

and  was  propagated  according  to  methods  recognized  in  that  age 
as  lawful  to  the  conqueror.  Invaders  who  were  engaged  in  an  al- 
most perpetual  conflict  with  a  subject  race,  the  course  of  which 
was  marked  by  horrible  massacres,  could  hardly  hope  to  convert 
their  enemies  to  their  own  religious  faith.  Henry  "VlLl.,  having 
made  himself  the  head  of  the  English  Church,  proceeded  to  estab- 
lish his  religious  supremacy  in  the  neighboring  island.  This  was 
ordained  by  the  Irish  Parliament  in  1537,  but  was  resisted  by  a 
great  part  of  the  clergy,  with  the  Archbishop  of  Armagh  at  their 
head.  George  Browne,  a  willing  agent  of  the  king,  who  had  been 
provincial  of  the  Augustine  friars  in  England,  was  made  Archbishop 
A  Protestant  o^  Dubliu.  The  Protcstant  hierarchy  was  constituted, 
hierarchy.  |j^{.  ^]^g  people  remained  Catholic.  The  mistaken  policy 
of  seeking  to  Anglicize  the  country  was  pursued,  and  the  sei-vices 
of  religion  were  conducted  in  a  tongue  which  they  did  not  under- 
stand. The  Prayer  Book,  which  was  introduced  in  1551,  was  not 
rendered  into  Irish,  but  was  to  be  x'endered  into  Latin,  for  the 
sake  of  ecclesiastics  and  others  who  were  not  acquainted  with  Eng- 
lish !  On  the  accession  of  Mary,  the  new  fabric  which  had  been 
raised  by  Henry  VIH.  and  his  son  fell  to  pieces  without  resistance. 
As  the  Catholic  reaction  became  organized  in  Europe,  and  began 
to  wage  its  contest  with  Queen  Elizabeth,  the  Ii-ish,  who  had  to 
some  extent  attended  the  English  service,  generally  deserted  it. 
Protestantism  had  no  footing  outside  of  the  Pale,  or  where  English 
soldiers  were  not  present  to  protect  it  or  force  it  upon  the  people. 
The  Episcopal  Church  in  Ireland  wore  a  somewhat  Puri- 
Epfscopai  tanic  cast,  and  in  its  formularies  set  forth  prominently 
Church.  ^^g  Calvinistic  theology.  The  Ai'ticles  of  Faith— which 
were  superseded  by  the  Thirty-nine  Articles — were  composed  in 
1615,  probably  by  Archbishop  Ussher,  then  Professor  of  Divinity 
in  Dublin.  They  incorporate  for  substance  the  Lambeth  Articles 
on  predestination.  The  doctrine  of  the  Lord's  supper  is  set  forth 
very  distinctly,  according  to  the  Calvinistic  conception.  The  Irish 
Articles  were  the  chief  soiu'ce  from  which  were  drawn  the  creeds 
of  the  Westminster  Assembly.  The  New  Testament  was  not  trans- 
lated into  Irish  until  1602  ;  and  the  Prayer  Book,  though  trans- 
lated earlier,  was  not  sanctioned  by  public  authority,  and  was  little 
used.  Among  various  wise  suggestions  in  Lord  Bacon's  tract, 
written  in  1601,  entitled  "  Considerations  touching  the  Queen's  Ser- 
vice in  Ireland,"  is  a  recommendation  to  take  care  "  of  the  versions 
of  Bibles  and  catechisms,  and  other  books  of  instruction,  into  the 
Ii-ish  language."     With  equal  sagacity  and  good  feeling,  he  counsels 


1517-1648.]       THE  REFORMATION  IN  ITALY  AND  SPAIN.  383 

the  establishmeut  of  colonies  or  plantations,  the  sending  out  of  fer- 
vent, popular  preachers,  and  of  pious  and  learned  bishops,  and  the 
fostering  of  education.  He  recommends  mildness  and  toleration 
rather  than  the  use  of  the  temporal  sword.  But  the  policy  Avliich 
the  great  pliilosopher  and  statesman  marked  out  was  very  imper- 
fectly followed. 


CHAPTER  VIL 


THE  REFORMATIO-N-  IN  ITALY  AND  SPAIN :  THE  CATHOLIC  COUN- 
TER-REFORMATION. 

Protestantism  was  not  confined  to  Northern  and  Central  Eu- 
rope.   It  early  extended  across  the  Alps  and  the  Pyrenees  into  Italy 

and  Spain.     But  here  forces  were  gradually  orcranized 
Italian  judg-        1  .  1  ,  ,    ,,  ^  .,  .      .   f 

ments  of  the  wliicn  Were  to  arrcst  the  progress  of  its  principles,  and 
papacy.  ^^^^  ^^  diivc  them  out  of  lands  in  which  they  had  appar- 

ently gained  a  firm  foothold.  It  was  natural  that  the  cause  of  the 
Reformation  should  find  adherents  among  the  Italians.  Upon  their 
country  the  temporal  ambition  of  the  popes  had  brought  untold 
evils.  They  were  familiar,  as  nations  more  distant  from  Rome 
could  not  be,  with  corruptions  in  the  papal  government  of  the 
Church.  The  vices  of  the  clergy,  the  arrogance  and  venality  of  the 
Roman  court,  had  been  exposed  by  their  greatest  writers,  begin- 
ning with  Dante.  From  the  minds  of  cultivated  Italians,  through 
the  influence  of  the  new  learning,  superstition,  and  even  moderate 
reverence  for  ecclesiastical  authority,  had  well-nigh  vanished.  But 
while  these  circumstances  were  favorable  to  the  introduction  of 
Protestantism,  there  were  other  circumstances,  equally  important, 
which  stood  in  the  way  of  its  final  success.  The  Italians  looked 
upon  the  papacy  as  a  national  institution.  On  this  account  they 
were  jealous  of  all  attempts  from  abroad  to  curtail  its  prerogatives. 
To  multitudes  of  them  it  brought  high  position,  wealth,  and  influ- 
ence. The  ancient  spirit  of  liberty  and  j)atriotism  had  given  place 
to  the  desire  of  personal  aggrandizement.  Even  those  whose  minds 
had  been  emancipated  from  the  sway  of  medievalism  by  their  hu- 
manistic studies  were  often  either  skeptical  or  indifferent,  and  far 
from  being  inclined  to  make  sacrifices  for  the  sake  of  their  opin- 
ions. There  were,  moreover,  here  as  in  other  countries,  many  who 
clung  with  unyielding  tenacity  to  every  part  of  the  traditional 
system. 


384    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.   [Pehiod  VIII. 

The  principles  of  Protestantism  were  first  introduced  into  Italy 
through  writings  of  Luther  and  of  the  other  reformers,  which,  un- 
der fictitious  names,  were  widely  circulated,  and  were  for 
Protestw^tism  a  time  read  without  suspicion  even  in  the  Vatican  itself, 
in  Italy.  Hauy  Italians,  attracted  by  the  fame  of  Melanchthon,  who 
was  held  in  esteem  by  scholarly  men  everywhere,  travelled  to  Wit- 
tenberg and  there  learned  the  new  doctrines.  Others  heard  them 
from  the  Lutheran  soldiers  who  poured  into  Italy  during  the  cam- 
paign of  Charles  V.  against  the  pope.  Protestantism  was,  never- 
theless, not  strong  enough  to  avow  itself  without  being  instantly 
smothered.  The  Httle  companies  of  those  who  were  in  full  sym- 
pathy with  its  ideas  could  exist  only  as  secret  societies  ;  for,  although 
there  was  no  central  government  to  enforce  throughout  the  penin- 
sula measures  of  repression,  and  as  yet  no  effective  Inquisition,  the 
different  states  were  thoroughly  under  the  influence  of  Catholic 
traditions  and  of  the  Roman  see.  Those  who  favored  the  move- 
ment for  reform  did  not  all  have  the  same  objects  in  view.  Some 
sought  merely  to  put  an  end  to  the  abuses  which  hindered  the 
proper  administration  of  the  Church.  Others  cherished  the  view 
of  justification  advocated  by  the  reformers,  but  yet  clung  to  the 
hierarchical  organization  as  well  as  to  the  prevailing  forms  of  wor- 
ship. Protestantism  in  Italy  was  thus  a  thing  of  degrees,  and  in 
its  earlier  stages  developed  itself  in  conjunction  with  tendencies 
which  eventually  diverged  into  the  reactionary,  defensive,  and  ag- 
gressive force  to  which  the  Catholic  Church  owed  its  restoration. 

Even  before  the  death  of  Leo  X.,  the  skeptical  and  epicurean 
tone  of  society,  which  had  been  so  prevalent  in  Italy  from  the  be- 
ginning of  the  Renaissance,  began  to  give  way  to  a  more 

The  Oratory      *=  f       T     •  •    -i.        r?-n  ■    l  •  t-     1 

of  Divine  camcst  rcligious  spirit.  Fifty  or  sixty  persons  united 
in  Rome  in  what  they  called  the  Oratory  of  Divine  Love, 
and  held  meetings  for  worship  and  mutual  edification.  Among 
their  number  were  Caraffa,  Contarini,  and  Sadolet,  who  were  sub- 
sequently made  cardinals.  Although  such  men  as  Caraffa  and 
Contarini  were  drawn  together  by  their  common  desire  for  the 
removal  of  ecclesiastical  abuses  and  for  the  moral  reformation  of 
the  Chui'ch  in  head  and  members,  they  were  destined  to  stand  far 
apart  in  their  attitude  towards  Protestantism.  Contarini  was  to  ad- 
vocate views  of  justification  closely  allied  to  those  of  the  reformers, 
and  to  take  the  lead  in  the  celebrated  conference  at  Ratisbon  ; 
while  Caraffa  was  to  found  anew  the  Inquisition,  and,  as  Paul  IV., 
to  be  the  very  embodiment  of  the  Catholic  reaction.  A  few  years 
later  there  were  associated  with  Contarini,  at  Venice,  besides  his 


1517-1648.]       THE  REFORMATION  IN  ITALY  AND  SPAIN.  385 

former  friends,  several  others  who  sympathized  with  his  evangelical 
ideas.  Among  them  were  Flaminio  the  poet,  Brucioli,  the  Floren- 
tine translator  of  the  Scriptures,  and  Reginald  Pole,  the  English 
ecclesiastic  who  had  refused  to  countenance  the  revolutionary  meas- 
ures of  Henry  Vm.  in  relation  to  the  Church.  Their  doctrine  of 
justification,  bringing  with  it  a  greater  or  less  inclina- 
protestant  tiou  to  othcr  doctriual  changes,  spread  among  the  intel-  ^ 
oc  niie.  ligent  classes  throughout  Italy.  It  was  protected  and 
fostered  at  the  court  of  Eenee,  Duchess  of  Ferrara,  which  Calvin 
visited,  and  where  Clement  Marot,  the  French  poet,  found  a  refuge. 
It  was  taught  for  a  while  at  the  university  of  Bologna,  and  de- 
fended in  the  academy  at  Modena.  Such  was  its  curi'ency  in  the 
latter  place  that  the  bishop.  Cardinal  Morone,  who  had  been  absent 
in  Germany  on  missions  from  the  pope,  wrote  in  1542,  "  'Wherever 
I  go,  and  from  all  quarters,  I  hear  that  the  city  has  become  Lu- 
theran." In  Venice,  where  the  book  trade  flourished,  and  where  the 
internal  police  was  less  severe,  many  embraced  Protestantism. 
Here  labored  Pietro  Carnesecchi,  who  afterward  died  for  his  faith. 
At  Naples  the  evangelical  doctrine  found  an  earnest  and  influen- 
tial supporter  in  Juan  Valdez,  the  secretary  of  the  viceroy  of 
Charles  V.  Among  the  distinguished  Italians  who  were  in  sym- 
pathy with  it  were  Vittoria  Colonna,  and  several  other  remarkable 
women  ;  Bernai'dino  Ochino,  the  greatest  preacher  of  the  day,  whose 
venerable  appearance  and  eloquent  speech  enchained  the  attention 
of  the  crowds  who  came  to  hear  him  ;  and  Peter  Martyr  Vermigli, 
who,  though  not  so  powerful  an  orator  as  Ochino,  was  a  much 
abler  theologian.  Hardly  a  prominent  city  in  Italy  but  possessed 
a  circle  of  cultivated  people  who  cherished  the  new  opinions.  In 
Venice  and  Naples  churches  were  organized  with  pastors,  and 
meetings  were  held  in  secret.  The  books  of  the  reformers  were 
eagerly  purchased.  "Whole  libraries,"  says  Melanchthon,  in  a  let- 
ter written  probably  in  1540,  "  have  been  carried  from  the  late  fair 
into  Italy."  A  little  treatise  on  the  "Benefits  of  Christ,"  which  for- 
merly was  incorrectly  ascribed  to  Aouio  Paleario,  was  circulated  in 
thousands  of  copies.  So  great  had  been  the  success  of  Protestant- 
ism thus  far  that  Caraffa  was  led  to  say  to  Paul  m.,  that  "the 
whole  of  Italy  was  infected  with  the  Lutheran  heresy,  which  had 
been  extensively  embraced  by  both  statesmen  and  ecclesiastics." 
But  the  forces  of  the  counter-reformation  and  of  the  Catholic  reac- 
tion were  already  at  work. 

Paul  HI.,  who  succeeded  Clement  VH.  in  1534,  combined  in  his 
person  and  in  his  policy  characteristics  both  of  the  papacy  of  the  past 
35 


386    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.   [Period  VHI. 

and  of  that  of  the  future.     He  had  been  raised  to  the  cardinalate 
by  Alexander  VI.,  and  like  him  had  children  whom  he 
IndT)^!irtl  sought  to  endow  with  wealth  and  high  station.     But,  on 
parties.  ^-^^  other  hand,  he  was  friendly  to  the  Catholic  reforming 

party.  One  of  his  first  acts  was  to  make  Contariui  cardinal,  and  at 
his  suggestion  to  elevate  to  the  same  rank  Caraffa,  Pole,  Sadolet, 
and  others  of  like  character.  He  requested  them  to  draw  up  a 
statement  of  such  reforms  as  they  deemed  advisable.  Their  "  con- 
silium," or  opinion,  was  approved  by  him,  and  commissions  of  re- 
form were  appoined  whose  business  it  was  to  remove  the  abuses 
in  the  papal  curia.  Not  long  after  occurred  the  conference  at 
Katisbon,  which  was  an  attempt  by  the  evangelical  Catholics,  tinder 
the  leadership  of  Contarini,  to  restore  by  compromise  the  unity  of 
the  Church.  The  failure  of  the  conference  was  due  in  no  small 
measure  to  the  influence  of  Caraffa,  and  of  men  of  similar  views, 
who,  while  they  were  anxious  to  infuse  a  spirit  of  strict,  and  even 
ascetic  purity  and  zeal  into  the  hierarchy,  were  inflexibly  hostile  to 
all  changes  in  the  dogmas  and  organization  of  the  Church.  It  was 
this  party  who  revived  the  tone  of  the  Catholic  Church,  rallied  its 
scattered  forces,  and  turned  upon  its  adversaries  with  a  renewed 
and  formidable  energy.  To  accomplish  their  object  they  main- 
tained the  Inquisition  in  Spain  and  reorganized  it  in  Italy,  reared 
^  a  bulwark  of  Eomanism  in  the  decrees  of  Trent,  and  created  re- 
ligious orders,  especially  the  Society  of  Jesus. 

As  in  previous  ages  of  the  Church,  the  revival  of  zeal  was  signal- 
ized by  new  developments  of  the  monastic  spirit.  A  fraternity  called 
the  Theatins  was  organized  by  Caraffa  and  his  friend 
Thiene.  Its  principal  aim  was  the  reform  of  the  clergy. 
The  members  were  priests  with  monastic  vows.  They  devoted  them- 
selves to  preaching,  administering  the  sacraments,  and  caring  for 
the  sick.  But  their  importance,  as  well  as  that  of  other  similar 
societies,  was  soon  overshadowed  by  the  more  renowned  and  influ- 
ential order  of  the  Jesuits.  The  founder  of  the  Society  of  Jesus 
Loyola,  "^^s  Ignatius  Loyola,  a  Spaniard  of  noble  birth.    In  early 

1491-1556.  manhood  he  had  been  severely  wounded  while  fighting 
against  the  French  at  the  siege  of  Pampeluna.  During  the  illness 
which  followed  he  began  to  dream  of  chivalrous  adventures,  not  in 
the  service  of  his  king  and  his  lady,  but  in  that  of  Christ  and  the 
Virgin.  He  exchanged  the  romance  of  "  Amadis  "  for  the  lives  of 
the  saints.  The  glory  of  Dominic  and  Francis  charmed  his  imagina- 
tion. Upon  his  recovery  he  hung  up  his  stiield  and  lance  before 
an  imaffe  of  the  Virgin,  and  then  retired  to  a  convent,  there  to 


1517-1648.]        THE  REFORMATION  IN  ITALY  AND  SPAIN.  387 

surrender  himself  to  a  life  of  ascetic  severity.  His  soul  was  aflflicted 
with  torments  which  allowed  him  no  peace  until  he  cast  them  out 
as  inspirations  of  the  evil  spirit.  He  turned  his  back  upon  ascet- 
icism, but  retained  that  insatiable  yearning  for  rapturous  experi- 
ences which  often  accompanies  it.  At  Paris,  where  in  1528  Ignatius 
went  to  study  theology,  he  brought  the  minds  of  two  companions, 
The  Society  Faber  and  Francis  Xavier,  completely  under  the  influ- 
of  Jesus.  g^(.g  q£  j^-g  ijej^g^  Ti^e  little  society  which  was  formed 
in  a  cell  of  the  College  of  St.  Barbara  was  soon  enlarged  by  the  ad- 
dition of  seven  new  members.  They  took  the  monastic  vows  and 
pledged  themselves  to  spend  their  lives,  if  possible,  in  Jerusalem, 
in  the  care  of  Christians  or  in  efforts  to  convert  the  Saracens  ;  or, 
if  this  should  not  be  permitted  them,  they  jiromised  to  offer  them- 
selves  to  the  poj)e  to  be  employed  in  the  service  of  the  Church 
as  he  should  direct.  In  Venice  they  were  ordained  priests,  and 
here  they  learned  that  the  most  formidable  adversaries  against 
whom  they  were  to  contend  were  in  Europe,  and  not  in  Palestine. 
Their  order  was  sanctioned  by  Paul  HI.  in  1540  ;  in  1543,  uncon- 
ditionally. They  chose  Ignatius  for  their  president.  The  labors 
to  which  the  new  order  gave  itself  were  principally  preaching,  hear- 
ing confessions,  and  directing  individual  consciences,  and  especially 
the  education  of  the  young.  With  the  proper  accomplishment  of 
these  duties  no  monastic  austerities  were  allowed  to  interfere.  The 
inward  life  of  the  members  was  moulded  by  the  study  of  the  "  Spir- 
itual Exercises "  of  Ignatius.  This  manual  set  forth  a  course  of 
severe  and  prolonged  introspection,  and  of  forced,  continuous  at-^ 
tention  to  certain  themes,  taken,  for  the  most  i^art,  from  the  Gos- 
pels ;  the  design  of  the  whole  being  to  detach  the  soul  from  «very 
object  of  earthly  desire,  to  excite  and  at  the  same  time  to  enslave 
the  imagination,  and  to  bind  the  will  immovably  in  the  path  of  re- 
ligious consecration.  Four  weeks  was  the  time  generally  spent,  at 
the  outset,  in  this  spiritual  drill.  The  society,  with  its  four  classes 
of  members — the  novices,  the  scholastics,  the  coadjutors,  and  the 
professed — was  so  compactly  organized  that  even  the  general,  not- 
withstanding his  almost  unlimited  power,  was  under  as  strict  over- 
sight as  the  humblest  novice,  and  could,  for  adequate  reasons,  be  de-  ' 
posed.  Every  member  was  bound  to  yield  unquestioning  obedience 
to  his  superior.  He  might  be  ordered  to  visit  a  tribe  of  savages 
in  the  remotest  part  of  the  globe,  but  he  must  depart  instantly  and 
without  a  murmur.  It  was  this  organization,  guided  by  a  single  will 
and  devoted  to  the  service  of  the  Roman  see,  which  not  only  with- 
stood the  advance  of  Protestantism,  but  carried  the  Catholic  doc- 


388    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OP  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VIIL 

trines  into  new  lands,  and  even  reconquered  territory  which  was 
well-ni""h  lost  to  the  Church.  In  the  capacity  of  teachers  or  con- 
fessors, they  gained  access  to  the  courts  of  princes,  and  were  able 
to  exert  much  influence  in  political  affairs.  To  the  instruction  of 
the  young  they  devoted  themselves  with  a  just  sense  of  the  im- 
portance of  this  work.  But  the  literary  achievements  of  the  Jesuits 
have  been  chiefly  in  the  departments  of  antiquarian  research  or  of 
exact  science,  and  not  in  the  directions  where  freedom  of  intellect- 
ual movement  or  the  play  of  imagination  ai'e  essential  to  success. 

Strange  as  it  may  seem,  a  general  council,  so  long  the  dread  of 
the  jDOpes,  was  the  second  great  agency  in  the  restoration  of  the 
Church  of  Rome.     After  the  failure  of  the  Conference 
of  Trent°°      at  Ratisbou,  Paul  m.  acceded  to  the  wishes  of  the  em- 
llttti,  peror,  and  issued  the  summons  for  the  Council  of  Trent. 

1562-63.  j^  ^g^g  ^j^g  only  way  of  preventing  Charles  from  attempt- 

ing himself  to  adjust  the  religious  difficulties  in  Germany  through 
a  diet.  The  papal  legates  opened  its  sessions  in  December,  1545, 
and  soon  acquii-ed  so  complete  a  control  over  the  assembly  that 
nothing  was  undertaken  without  the  pope's  sanction.  It  was  de- 
termined that  the  members  should  vote  as  individuals,  and  not 
as  nations — a  point  not  gained  without  the  distribution  of  money 
among  poor  bishops.  The  legates  were  to  determine  the  subjects 
of  discussion,  and  select  the  congregations,  or  committees,  for  the 
consideration  of  them.  The  reactionary  party,  represented  by  Ca- 
raffa  and  the  Jesuits,  triumphed  over  the  evangelical  Catholics. 
The  council  first  took  up  the  consideration,  not  of  reforms,  but  of 
dogmas.  It  affirmed  that  tradition,  as  a  source  of  knowledge,  is  of 
equal  authority  with  the  Scriptures.  Emboldened  by  the  success 
which  Charles  V.  was  gaining  in  the  Smalcaldic  "War,  it  proceeded 
to  assert  the  old  doctrines  with  scarcely  any  modification.  There 
were  heated  debates  on  the  subject  of  justification.  A  party  with  a 
good  degree  of  sympathy  with  the  evangelical  doctrine  made  itself 
heard,  but  the  opposite  view  was  affirmed  in  the  definitions.  The 
council  asserted  transubstantiation  and  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass. 
Its  labors,  having  been  twice  interrupted,  were  finally  brought  to 
an  end  in  1563,  during  the  pontificate  of  Pius  IV.  Every  attack 
on  the  papal  j)ower  was  skilfully  turned  aside.  The  conflicts  at 
Trent  left  the  Roman  see  stronger  than  before.  The  "  Professio 
Fidei,"  or  the  brief  formula  of  subscription  to  the  Tridentine 
creed,  to  which  aU  teachers  and  ecclesiastics  were  required  to  give 
their  assent,  contained  a  promise  of  obedience  to  the  pope.  But 
the  council  accomplished  a  positive  woi'k  for  the  education  of  the 


1517-1G48.]       THE  REFORMATION  IN  ITALY  AND  SPAIN.  389 

clergy  and  the  better  organization  and  discipline  of  the  Church. 
It  provided  for  the  publication  of  a  catechism,  breviary,  missal,  and 
an  authorized  edition  of  the  Vulgate.  The  creed  of  Trent  set  forth 
clearly  and  concisely  the  distinguishing  points  of  the  Catholic  faith, 
and  thus  furnished  a  standard  of  orthodoxy  far  more  satisfactory 
than  the  voluminous  and  often  conflicting  writings  of  the  Fathers. 
The  council,  both  by  its  doctrinal  formulas  and  by  its  reformatory 
canons,  contributed  very  much  to  the  consolidation  of  the  Church 
in  a  compact  body. 

But  the  leaders  of  the  Catholic  reaction  were  not  content  with 
merely  fixing  the  stigma  of  heresy  upon  Protestantism  by  the  au- 
The  inqui-  thority  of  a  general  council.  They  were  resolved  to  eradi- 
"'^'°'^-  cate  Protestantism  by  force.     Even  prior  to  the  meeting 

of  the  assembly  at  Trent,  the  Inquisition  had  been  reorganized,  on 
the  recommendation  of  Caraffa,  who  was  to  become  its  head,  and, 
as  Paul  IV.,  was  to  be  its  chief  patron.  It  was  modelled  after  the 
Spanish  Inquisition.  The  Holy  Office  had  been  set  up  in  Spain  un- 
der Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  in  the  first  instance  for  the  purpose 
of  discovering  and  punishing  the  converts  from  Judaism  who  re- 
turned to  their  former  creed.  But  it  proved  to  be  so  useful  an 
engine  of  secular  as  well  as  of  ecclesiastical  tyi-anny  that  Ferdi- 
nand and  his  successors  defended  its  obnoxious  proceedings  even 
against  the  objections  and  complaints  of  the  pope.  The  atrocities 
of  which  it  was  guilty  under  Torquemada  and  the  inquisitors-gen- 
eral who  followed  him,  form  a  dark  and  repulsive  page  of  Spanish 
history.  It  gained  such  a  hold  upon  the  bigoted  and  fanatical 
populace  as  to  be  almost  able  to  defy  the  pope,  and  even  the  king 
himself.  The  Italian  Inquisition  was  similar  to  it  in  being  an  in- 
dependent ecclesiastical  tiibunal,  with  its  own  peculiar  methods  of 
procedure,  but  it  was  more  dii*ectly  dependent  upon  the  will  of 
the  pope,  and  was  less  characterized  by  the  gloomy  spirit  of  re- 
ligious frenzy.  Six  cardinals  were  made  inquisitors-generals,  with 
power  to  constitute  inferior  tribunals,  and  with  authority  on  both 
sides  of  the  Alps  to  imprison  and  to  try  all  suspected  persons,  of 
whatever  rank  or  order.  The  terrible  machinery  of  this  court  was 
gi'adually  set  in  motion  in  all  the  states  of  Italy.  The  open  pro- 
fession of  Protestantism  was  instantly  suppressed.  Fugitives  be- 
gan to  stream  across  the  Alps.  Ochino  and  Peter  Martyr  had  al- 
ready gone.  In  1548  amazement  was  occasioned  by  the  flight  of 
Vergerio,  Bishop  of  Capo  d'  Istria,  who  had  been  employed  in  im- 
portant embassies  by  the  pope.  Those  who  did  not  escape  were 
subjected  to  torture,  imprisonment,  and  death.     Among  the  dis- 


390    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VIII. 

tino-uished  men  who  suffered  for  their  faith  were  Paleario  and 
Carnesecchi.  The  Inquisition  sought  to  destroy  the  books  as  well 
as  the  persona  of  the  Protestants.  In  many  places  the  book-trade 
was  almost  ruined.  So  vigilant  were  the  officers  of  the  Inquisition 
that  of  the  thousands  of  copies  of  the  book  on  the  "  Benefits  of 
Christ "  but  few  survived,  and  these  have  only  been  brought  to 
light  within  recent  years.  The  "  Index,"  which  Caraffa 
The  Index.  ^^^^  iutroduced,  contained  the  names  of  prohibited 
books,  and  a  list  of  more  than  sixty  printers  all  of  whose  publica- 
tions were  condemned.  Caraffa  was  so  anxious  to  keep  the  faithful 
sons  of  the  Church  from  everything  which  had  in  it  the  slightest 
taint  of  heresy  that  he  put  upon  the  Index  the  very  "  Consili- 
um "  in  which  he,  together  with  Sadolet  and  others,  had  advised 
Paul  III.  to  check  certain  glaring  ecclesiastical  abuses.  Later,  un- 
der the  auspices  of  Sixtus  V.,  the  "  Index  Expurgatorius  "  appeared, 
which  condemned,  not  entire  works,  but  particular  passages  in  per- 
mitted books.  The  sweeping  persecution  which  was  undertaken 
by  the  reactionai-y  party  did  not  spare  the  evangelical  Catholics. 
Even  Cardinal  Pole,  the  stanch  defender  of  the  unity  of  the  Church, 
died  in  disgrace,  and  Cardinal  Morone  was  imprisoned  until  the 
death  of  the  inflexible  Paul  IV.,  in  1559,  set  him  free.  Such  was 
the  fierce  bigotry  which  stamped  out  the  sparks  of  heresy  in  Italy. 
Protestantism  was  not  without  adherents  even  in  Spain  itself, 
the  home  of  the  Inquisition  and  of  religious  fanaticism.  Spanish 
Protestantism  ecclcsiastics  and  noblemen  who  attended  Charles  V.  in 
iu  Spain.  Germany,  and  were  present  at  the  Diet  of  Augsburg,  or 
who  sojourned  in  England  after  the  marriage  of  Philip  11.  to  Mary, 
became  familiar  with  the  Protestant  doctrines,  and  not  a  few  were 
inclined  to  adopt  them.  Luther's  writings,  and  translations  of  the 
Bible  into  Spanish,  were  covertly  introduced  into  Sp)ain.  Those 
who  held  the  reformed  opinions  were  especially  numerous  at  Se- 
ville and  Valladolid,  and  were  there  organized  into  secret  churches. 
The  most  eminent  preachers  of  Seville,  Dr.  John  Egidius,  and  Con- 
stantine  Ponce  de  la  Fuente,  who  had  been  chaplain  of  the  emperor, 
enlisted  in  the  new  movement.  In  Valladolid,  likewise,  the  Prot- 
estants possessed  a  distinguished  leader  in  the  person  of  the  im- 
perial chaplain,  Augustine  Cazalla.  In  fact,  the  movement  was 
confined,  for  the  most  part,  to  men  of  rank  and  learning.  The 
discovery  of  these  secret  associations  at  ScNdlle  and  Valladolid  stim- 
ulated the  Inquisition  to  redouble  its  vigilance.  The  flight  of  some 
facilitated  the  detection  of  those  who  remained  behind.  The  dun- 
geons were  soon  filled,  and  horrible  implements  of  torture  were 


1517-1648.]       THE  REFORMATION  IN  ITALY  AND  SPAIN.  391 

used  to  extort  confessions,  not  only  from  men  but  from  delicate 
and  refined  women.  The  autos  da  fe,  or  "acts  of  faith,"  which 
were  held,  in  1559  and  1560,  in  the  two  cities  where  heresy  had 
taken  root  the  most  firmly,  were  arranged  with  a  view  to  strike 
terror  into  the  hearts  of  the  sufferers  themselves,  and  of  the  great 
throngs  that  gathered  to  watch  the  scene.  The  condemned,  clad 
in  a  san  henito,  a  coarse  yellow  frock  upon  which  were  worked  in 
red,  crosses,  flames,  and  devils,  were  burned  alive  unless  they  would 
accept  the  ofifices  of  a  priest,  in  which  case  they  had  the  privile<Te 
of  being  strangled  before  the  fii'e  was  lighted.  The  king,  the  royal 
family,  and  the  great  personages  of  the  court  were  present  to  give 
countenance  to  these  inhuman  spectacles.  Similar  "  acts  of  faith" 
took  place  in  other  cities.  The  highest  ecclesiastics  of  the  land  did 
Carranza,  i^ot  escapo  persccutiou.  Bartolome  de  Carranza,  Arch- 
1503-1576.  bishop  of  Tolcdo,  aud  primate  of  Spain,  was  an  evangeli- 
cal Catholic,  a  friend  of  Pole,  Morone,  Flaminio,  aud  other  eminent 
Italians.  He  had  advocated  the  doctrine  of  gratuitous  justifica- 
tion at  the  Council  of  Trent,  and  at  the  bedside  of  the  dying  em- 
peror, Charles  V.,  had  held  up  the  crucifix,  exclaiming  :  "Behold 
him  who  answers  for  all.  There  is  no  more  sin  ;  all  is  forgiven." 
He  was  accused  before  the  Holy  Office,  and  from  that  time  until  his 
death,  eighteen  years  after,  was  under  some  species  of  confinement. 
The  pretext  for  the  accusation  was  a  catechism  from  his  pen  which 
a  commission  of  the  Tridentine  Council  had  approved.  Bishops 
and  doctors  of  theology  who  were  suspected  of  holding  similar 
views  were  likewise  arraigned  and  compelled  to  make  some  re- 
traction or  to  submit  to  public  humiliation.  It  was  thus  that 
Protestant  opinions  were  extirpated.  Spain  fell  a  victim  to  its 
own  religious  fanaticism.  Centuries  of  intellectual  bondage  and 
lethargy  were  the  heavy  penalty  paid  for  intolerance. 

So  vital  was  the  force  of  the  Catholic  reaction  that  it  went  for- 
ward, notwithstanding  the  jealousy  which  for  a  time  subsisted  be- 
Paui  IV..  tween  those  who  were  its  natural  leaders.  When  Caraf- 
1555-1559.  fg^^  ^^  j.]^g  g^gg  qI  seventy-nine,  ascended  the  papal  chair, 
his  strongest  passion  seemed  to  be  hatred  of  Charles  V.  and  the 
Spaniards.  In  oi-der  to  drive  them  out  of  Italy,  this  stern  apostle 
of  reform  conferred  offices  and  principalities  on  his  unworthy 
nephews,  enlisted  German  Protestants  in  his  army,  and  even  im- 
plored the  Turk  to  come  to  his  assistance.  It  was  only  the  pious 
reverence  of  Philip  II.  for  the  head  of  the  Church  which  saved 
Rome  from  being  again  sacked,  and  Paul  IV.  from  suflfering  a  hu- 
miliation at  the  hands  of  the  Spanish  monarch  like  that  which 


392    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OP  WESTPHALIA,  [Period  VHL 

Charles  had  inflicted  upon  Clement.  The  pope  now  gave  all  his 
energies  to  the  extermination  of  heresy  and  the  purification  of  hia 
court.  He  drove  his  unprincipled  relatives  in  disgrace  from 
his  presence,  and  thus  put  an  end  to  the  nepotism  which  had  so 
long  been  one  of  the  worst  evils  of  papal  rule.  The  people  sig- 
nalized the  death  of  the  intolerant  reformer  by  breaking  into  the 
dungeons  of  the  Inquisition,  liberating  the  jDrisoners,  and  setting 
fire  to  the  buildings.  But  the  spii'it  of  the  reaction  outlived  its  en- 
ergetic leader.  It  continued  to  pervade  the  Koman  court,  although 
Pius  IV.,  Paul's  successor,  Pius  IV.,  possessed  little  relish  for  the 
1559-1565.  subtle  distinctions  of  orthodoxy,  and  did  not  sympathize 
with  the  Inquisition.  By  his  skilful  negotiations  with  the  different 
sovereigns,  the  papacy  emerged  from  the  Council  of  Trent  without 
the  loss  of  any  of  its  valued  prerogatives.  The  presence  of  his 
nephew,  Carlo  Borromeo,  at  the  Roman  court,  gave  it  a  tone  of  so- 
briety which  Pius  could  not  himself  have  imparted  to  it.  Although 
of  noble  birth,  Borromeo  had  resisted  the  temptations  which  lay 
in  his  path,  and  had  devoted  himself  to  the  religious  life  with  un- 
wavering fidelity.  He  faithfully  performed  the  duties  of  the  great 
offices  which  the  pope  thrust  upon  him,  and  more  than  fulfilled  the 
requirements  of  his  archbishopric  at  Milan.  Upon  the  death  of 
his  uncle  he  did  not  put  forth  his  own  claims  to  the  pontificate, 
Pius  v.,  ^^^  procured  the  election  of  Pius  V.,  a  rigid  adherent  of 

1566-1572.  orthodoxy,  and  equally  zealous  for  the  reformation  of  the 
papacy  and  the  destruction  of  heretics.  Pius  V.  symj)athized  and 
co-operated  with  Spain  in  its  warfare  with  Protestantism  in  the 
Netherlands,  in  France,  and  in  England.  The  bull  in  ccena  Domini, 
which  was  first  framed  in  1370,  but  did  not  grow  to  its  complete 
form  until  1627,  was  issued  in  1567,  in  a  new  edition,  by  Pius, 
who  ordered  it  to  be  read  in  the  Catholic  churches  in  all  lands ; 
but  in  several  countries  his  command  was  not  obeyed.  In  this 
famous  bull,  the  anathema  is  pronounced  on  all  classes  of  heretics 
and  assailants  of  papal  prerogatives.  On  the  list  of  the  cursed, 
after  Lutherans,  Calvinists,  etc.,  and  before  Saracens  and  Turks, 
are  the  pirates  infesting  the  sea  bordering  on  the  Pontifical  state. 

Meanwhile  a  striking  change  had  taken  place  in  the  intellect- 
science  and  ual  life  of  Italy.  The  old  passion  for  antiquity  gave  way 
literature.  ^^  ^  ^eal  for  independent  investigation,  especially  in 
natural  science,  until  that  study  in  turn  was  checked  and  repressed 
by  the  ecclesiastical  rulers.  Even  reverence  for  ancient 
buildings  was  supplanted — in  the  mind  of  Sixtus  V.,  for 
example — by  the  desire  to  rear  edifices  that  might  rival  them. 


1517-1648.]       THE  REFORMATION  IN  ITALY  AND  SPAIN.  393 

Poetry,  painting,  and  music  were  pervaded  by  the  religious  temper 
of  society,  and  by  a  spirit  of  loyalty  to  the  Church. 

This  change  was  largely  brought  about  through  the  influence 
of  the  Jesuits,  into  whose  hands  the  education  of  youth,  especially 
Influence  of  thosc  of  higher  rank,  had  quickly  fallen.  Their  labors 
the  Jesuits.  ^gj,g  j^q(.  confined  to  Italy.  They  established  themselves 
in  Spain  and  Portugal,  and  in  their  colonies.  From  the  two  penin- 
sulas this  great  standing  army  of  the  pope  advanced  into  the  other 
comitries  of  Europe  to  restore  the  power  of  Catholicism.  It  gained 
control  over  the  University  of  Vienna  ;  Cologne,  Ingolstadt,  and 
Prague  were  centres  from  which  its  members  worked  with  great 
success  in  the  Austrian  dominions,  the  Bhenish  provinces,  and  in 
other  parts  of  Germany.  They  persuaded  the  Catholic  princes  to 
help  forward  the  reactionary  movement.  It  was  mainly  through 
their  labors  that  in  the  last  quarter  of  the  sixteenth  century  the 
tide  was  turned  against  Protestantism  in  Southern  Germany,  in  Bo- 
hemia, Moravia,  Poland,  and  Hungary,  countries  in  which  it  had, 
on  the  whole,  gained  the  ascendency.  Wherever  they  did  not  pre- 
vail, they  drew  the  lines  of  distinction  between  the  two  confessions 
more  sharply,  and  intensified  their  mutual  antagonism. 

It  may  seem  strange  that  Protestaiiism,  which  at  first  advanced 
so  rapidly,  and  which  seemed  about  to  spread  over  all  Europe, 
should  suddenly  be  brought  to  a  standstill,  and  even  be 
check  of  prot.  thrust  back  from  lands  in  which  it  had  already  gained  a 
n  ism.  foothold.  Protcstantism  was  a  movement  of  reform 
arising  within  the  Church.  Multitudes  were  at  the  outset  not  de- 
cided what  course  to  adopt  in  regard  to  it.  But  as  the  ferment 
cooled  down,  men  began  to  take  sides,  and  when  once  the  spmt  of 
party  was  awakened,  it  formed  an  obstacle  to  the  further  progress 
of  the  new  opinions.  Still  other  barriers  were  erected  by  political 
arrangements.  In  Germany  it  was  the  application  of  the  maxim 
"  cujus  regio  ejus  religio,"  and  the  "  ecclesiastical  reservation  "  ; 
in  France,  the  division  of  the  people  into  two  warring  factions, 
Catholic  and  Huguenot ;  and  in  the  Netherlands,  the  separation  of 
the  Walloon  provinces  from  the  other  states.  By  the  counter-refor- 
mation in  the  Roman  Church  the  gross  abuses  which  had  been 
the  principal  ground  of  complaint  were  removed,  and  the  Catho- 
lics were  filled  with  zeal  for  the  defence  of  the  worship,  the  polity, 
and  the  doctrines  of  the  Church.  At  the  same  time  the  Protestants 
were  wasting  their  strength  in  contests  with  one  another.  Their 
secular  leaders,  like  Maurice  of  Saxony  and  Queen  Elizabeth,  were 
not  moved  by  the  same  noble  devotion  to  the  cause,  which  had  ac- 


394    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VIII. 

tuated  the  Electors  Frederic  and  John,  and  even  the  Landgrave 
of  Hesse.  The  Cathohc  Church  \vas  far  better  organized,  and  much 
freer  from  internal  divisions.  Within  its  fold  was  room  for  men 
of  the  ]nost  diverse  temperaments  and  aims,  men  who  in  Protestant 
lands  would,  like  Wesley  at  a  later  day,  have  been  the  founders  of 
new  sects.  In  Southern  Europe,  where  the  Catholic  reaction  was 
the  most  successful,  the  people  were  more  firmly  attached  to  the 
traditional  system  than  were  the  Teutonic  nations.  In  Italy  and 
Spain,  Protestantism  did  not  reach  down  to  the  springs  of  national 
life.  Even  in  France,  it  won  its  adherents  for  the  most  part  fi'om 
the  middle  and  higher  classes  of  society.  Many  of  those  who  ac- 
cepted the  new  doctrines  were  not  inclined  to  cast  off  the  polity 
and  worship  of  the  old  Church.  These  were  the  causes  which 
stayed  the  advance  of  Protestantism,  and  at  length  shut  it  up  within 
fixed  boundaries.  But  the  Catholic  party  was  not  to  remain  free 
from  internal  discord.  The  theological  conflicts  which  the  Jesuits 
stirred  up,  together  with  other  adverse  influences,  conspired  finally 
to  paralyze  the  Catholic  reaction,  and  to  stop  the  progress  of  the 
counter-reformation. 


CHAPTER  YIII. 


CHRISTIANITY  IN  ENGLAND  IN  THE  REIGNS  OF  JAMES  I.  AND 
CHARLES  I.  :  THE  THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR  :  THE  PAPACY :  THE 
EASTERN  CHURCH. 

The  accession  of  James  I.  brings  us  to  the  Puritan  age  of  Eng- 
lish history.  At  that  time  Puritanism  did  not  mean  hostility  to 
Character  of  Episcopal  government  or  to  the  English  liturgy.  Pres- 
Puritanism.  byterians  there  were  who  would  have  preferred  another 
polity  ;  but,  generally  speaking,  while  Puritans  objected  to  prelat- 
ical  tyranny,  they  had  no  quarrel  with  Episcopacy  itself  ;  and  while 
certain  amendments  to  the  Prayer  Book  were  deemed  desirable, 
there  were  not  many  who  were  disposed  to  discard  it  altogether. 
Puritanism,  at  the  accession  of  James,  signified  a  thorough  and  in- 
flexible antagonism  to  the  Roman  Catholic  s,ystem  of  doctrine  and 
of  rule — an  abhorrence  of  everything  comprised  under  the  term 
"  popery."  It  commonly  meant  Calvinism  in  theology.  It  meant 
always  a  spirit  of  resistance  to  arbitrary  government  on  the  part  of 
the  hierarchy,  a  demand  for  a  more  conscientious,  diligent,  and 


1517-1648.]        THE  REIGNS  OF  JAMES  I.  AND  CHARLES  L  395 

better  educated  clergy,  and  a  protest  against  pluralities  and  non- 
residence.  No  misapprehension  can  be  greater  than  to  suppose 
that  the  Puritans  were,  as  a  rule,  inferior  in  rank  and  social  stand- 
ing, in  wealth  and  in  culture,  to  their  oj^ponents.  Naturally  the 
new  nobihty,  the  creation  of  the  Tudors,  who  with  the  bishops 
made  up  the  majority  of  the  Upper  House,  were  mostly  devoted  to 
the  court,  and  to  its  ecclesiastical  policy.  But  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, whei-e  sat  so  many  of  the  landed  gentry,  as  well  as  numerous 
wealthy  merchants,  was  Puritan  through  the  whole  reign  of  James. 
It  was  from  the  gentry,  the  merchants,  and  the  professional  class 
that  Puritanism  drew  its  chief  support,  although  there  were  not 
wanting  among  its  adherents  noblemen  of  the  highest  rank,  like 
the  courtly  Essex,  who  commanded  the  Parliamentary  army  in  the 
war  with  Charles  I.  "The  Memoir  of  Colonel  Hutchinson,"  by  his 
wife,  shows  what  dignity  of  manners  and  refinement  of  culture 
might  be  found  in  a  Puritan  household.  It  was  a  party  in  which 
a  man  of  the  genius  and  accomplishments  of  IVIilton  found  himself 
at  home.  At  a  later  day,  when  Puritanism  was  trium- 
eracy  of  Pu-  phaut,  it  drcw  iuto  its  ranks  insincere  place-seekers,  who 
n  amsm.  exaggerated,  while  for  a  selfish  purpose  they  copied,  Pu- 
ritan ways.  By  many,  a  sour  visage  came  to  be  considered  a  proper 
badge  of  piety.  Later  still,  under  the  disappointment  of  defeat 
and  the  pressure  of  persecution,  the  Puritan  character  became,  in 
a  degree,  degenerate.  Its  manly  sobriety  passed  into  a  forbidding 
austerity.  Its  elevation  above  the  vices  and  frivolities  of  society 
turned  into  an  almost  cynical  aversion  to  innocent  gaiety  and 
harmless  recreations.  But  even  in  its  period  of  decline,  after  the 
restoration  of  the  Stuarts,  it  retained  noble  and  worthy  traits, 
hardly  to  be  recognized  under  the  caricatures  which  satirists  de- 
lighted to  present  for  the  entertainment  of  the  profligate  despisers 
of  all  strictness  of  morality.  There  is  truth  in  the  observation  that 
owing  to  the  impression  made  by  the  reading  of  the  Bible  on  the 
minds  of  the  people,  religion  and  theology,  after  the  death  of  Eliz- 
abeth, absorbed  attention,  not  without  a  loss  of  that  versatility  of 
genius,  and  that  free  and  joyous  spirit  which  had  belonged  to  the 
bloom  of  the  Kenaissance — to  the  age  of  Shakespeare,  Ben  Jonson, 
and  Raleigh.  But  there  were  compensations  even  for  this  loss. 
"The  larger  geniahty  of  the  age  that  had  passed  away  "—writes  a 
recent  historian — "  was  replaced  by  an  intense  tenderness  within 
the  narrower  circle  of  home.  Home,  as  we  conceive  it  nov,',  was  the 
creation  of  the  Puritan.  Wife  and  child  rose  from  mere  dependants 
on  the  will  of  husband  or  father,  as  husband  or  father  saw  in  them 


396    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Pekiod  VHI. 

saints  like  himself,  souls  hallowed  by  the  touch  of  a  divine  Spirit 
and  called  with  a  divine  calling  like  his  ovra." 

On  November  24,  1572,  John  Knox,  the  hero  of  the  Scottish 
Reformation,  died.  His  mental  and  moral  energies  were  not  im- 
paired by  his  physical  infirmity.  It  is  related  of  him  in  his  last 
days,  by  one  who  heard  him  preach,  that,  although  he  had  to  be 
lifted  into  the  pulpit  by  two  men,  "before  he  had  done  with  his 
sermon  he  was  so  active  that  he  was  like  to  ding  that  pulpit  in 
blads  and  fly  out  of  it."  About  three  years  before  the  death  of 
Knox,  the  Regent  Murray  was  assassinated.  James,  the  heir  of 
the  throne,  was  less  than  foxir  years  old  when  the  man  who  had 
held  in  subjection  the  different  hostile  factions  was  thus  struck 
down.  In  the  midst  of  their  fierce  rivalries  the  young  king  gi*ew 
up.  James  I.  merited  the  appellation  of  a  "wise  fool."  He  was 
shrewd  and  quick-witted,  fertile  in  schemes  for  escaping  a  present 
James  I  difficulty,  and  not  without  considerable  acquisitions  in 

1603-1625.  theology.  But  besides  being  a  pedant,  he  lacked  com- 
mon sense,  could  never  take  a  comprehensive  view  of  a  great  ques- 
tion, and  was  inflated  with  self-conceit.  The  "  kingcraft "  of  which 
he  boasted  did  not  rise  above  a  superficial  cleverness.  In  Scotland 
he  had  been  in  a  constant  struggle  with  the  clergy,  and  had  written 
the  "Basilicon  Doron"  in  order  to  inculcate  into  the  mind  of  his 
son  his  cherished  doctrine  of  the  divine  right  of  kings  to  do  as  they 
please — a  doctrine  that  was  eventually  to  bring  ruin  upon  his  house. 
He  had  made  great  endeavors  to  introduce  bishops  as  a  means  of 
controlling  the  independent  and  refractory  ministers  of  his  native 
land,  whose  General  Assembly  was  a  kind  of  House  of  Commons, 
keeping  watch  over  the  sovereign,  and  seeing  that  he  did  not  en- 
croach on  the  rights  claimed  for  the  Church,  or  do  anything  to 
defile  the  purity  of  Christian  teaching  in  the  kingdom.  In  Scot- 
land, after  Presbyterianism  was  established,  the  old  polity  had  re- 
mained as  a  matter  of  law.  There  were  still  bishops  and  abbots, 
having  only  a  nominal  function.  These  places  were  filled,  after 
15G0,  by  Protestants,  and  often  by  laymen.  It  had  been  expected 
that  the  old  offices  would  die  out,  but  the  nobles  desired  to  absorb 
the  revenues,  and  ParHament  voted,  in  1572,  that  they  should  con- 
tinue— the  bishops  to  have  only  the  power  of  superintendents,  and 
to  be  subject  in  spiritual  things  to  the  General  Assembly.  They 
were  derisively  called  by  the  people  "  tulchan  "  bishops.  In  spite 
of  the  energetic  resistance  of  Andrew  Melville,  who  foUov/ed  Knox 
as  leader  of  the  Presbyterian  party,  and  was  more  uncompromis- 
ing than  Knox  in  his  hostility  to  Episcopacy,  an  actual  jui-isdic- 


1517-1648.]        THE  REIGNS  OP  JAMES  I.  AND  CHARLES  I.  397 

tion  was  conferred  on  the  prelates  in  1584.  But  in  the  contest  of 
England  with  Spain,  James  had  to  take  sides  with  Elizabeth,  and 
to  drive  into  exile  the  Catholic  lords  on  whom  he  relied  for  sup- 
port in  his  conflict  with  the  ministers  ;  and  in  1592  the  act  just 
referred  to  was  repealed.  Presbyterianism  was  re-established. 
After  an  interval,  however,  the  battle  between  the  king  and  the 
kirk  was  renewed.  Melville  went  so  far  as  to  pluck  James  by  the 
sleeve,  and  to  call  him  "  God's  silly  vassal."  Parliament  voted,  in 
1597,  that  the  prelates  should  have  a  seat  in  their  body.  James 
only  succeeded  in  procuring  the  addition  of  three  bishops,  to  fill 
vacant  sees,  who  were  to  have  this  same  privilege.  The  result  of 
his  experience  in  his  own  realm  was  a  cordial  hatred  of  Presby- 
terianism on  his  part,  as  containing  in  it  forces  destructive  of  his 
theory  of  kingly  prerogative.  He  remained  a  Calvinist  in  his 
opinions,  and  his  conciliatory  demeanor  towards  the  Church  of 
Kome,  both  before  and  after  his  assumption  of  the  English  crown, 
was  dictated  principally  by  political  motives. 

On  his  way  to  London,  James  was  met  by  the  "  Millenary  Pe- 
tition," to  which  were  attached  the  signatures  of  about  eight  hun- 
The  Millenary  ^^cd  clcrgymeu,  belonging  to  twenty-five  counties.  They 
Petition.  were  not  Separatists  ;  they  made  no  objection  to  Epis- 
copacy. They  complained  of  non-residence,  pluralities,  and  like 
abuses,  and  of  the  cross  in  baptism,  the  cap  and  surplice,  and  a 
The  Hampton  ^^^  othcr  ccrcmonial  peculiarities.  In  the  Hampton 
encJ*  janu-"'  ^Jourt  Conference,  which  followed,  the  king  summoned 
ary,  1604.  four  leading  Puritan  divines,  of  whom  Dr.  Eeynolds  was 
the  most  prominent,  to  meet  nine  bishops,  with  seven  deans  and 
two  other  clergymen.  There  the  Puritan  complaints  were  dis- 
cussed for  three  days,  the  king  himself  being  the  most  active  dis- 
putant, and  showing  an  indecent  readiness  to  browbeat  the  Puri- 
tan representatives,  although  at  the  beginning  he  checked  the 
overbearing  spirit  of  Bancroft,  Bishop  of  London.  James  took  oc- 
casion to  say  that  a  Scottish  Presbytery  "  agrees  with  monarchy  as 
well  as  God  and  the  devil."  "  No  bishop,  no  king,"  was  his  favor- 
ite maxim.  The  suggestion  of  Eeynolds,  that  a  new  translation 
of  the  Scriptures  should  be  issued,  was  heard  with  favor,  on  account 
of  the  objections  of  James  to  the  notes  of  the  Geneva  Bible,  then 
in  common  use,  some  of  which  were  offensive  to  his  notions  of  the 
sacredness  of  kings.  The  plan  for  the  authorized  version  of  the 
Bible,  which  was  afterwards  well  carried  out,  was  about  the  only 
good  result  of  this  Conference.  James  was  delighted  with  the  dis- 
play which  he  made  of  his  reasoning  powers,  and  equally  rejoiced 


398    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OP  WESTPHALIA.  [Periob  VIIL 

in  the  adulation  offered  Lira  by  the  bishops,  who  were  naturally 
overjoyed  at  his  unexpectedly  thorough  support  of  their  cause.  Ban- 
croft fell  on  his  knees  before  him,  saying  that  there  had  been  no 
such  king  "  since  Christ's  time."  The  aged  Whitgift  cried  out, 
"  Undoubtedly  your  majesty  spake  by  the  special  assistance  of  God's 
Spirit."  The  proposition  of  the  Puritan  divines  to  incorporate  the 
Lambeth  Articles  with  the  Anglican  Creed  was  at  variance  with  the 
more  moderate  and  tolerant  Calvinism  of  the  king.  He  refused  com- 
pKance,  "being  against  increasing  the  number  of  articles,  or  stuffing 
them  with  theological  niceties."  In  the  course  of  the  Conference, 
James  said :  "  I  will  have  one  doctrine,  one  discipline,  one  religion 
in  substance  and  ceremony."  "  If  this  be  all  your  party  have  to  say," 
he  exclaimed,  "I  will  make  them  conform  or  I  will  harry  them  out  of 
this  land,  or  else  worse."  Soon  after,  Whitgift  died,  and  Bancroft 
succeeded  to  the  archbishopric  of  Canterbury.  He  procured  from 
Convocation,  with  the  king's  approval,  the  passage  of  a  series  of 
canons  which  forbade,  under  penalty  of  excommunication,  the  least 
deviation  from  the  Prayer  Book,  or  any  disparagement  of  the  estab- 
lished system  of  government  and  worship  in  the  Church.  The 
Conflictwith  king  found  that  the  House  of  Commons  was  not  at  all 
the  Commons.  ^^  sympathy  with  his  anti-Puritan  policy,  nor  with  his 
theory  of  absolute  authority  as  inhering  in  himself  as  the  Lord's 
anointed.  In  his  speech  to  Parliament,  he  spoke  of  the  Eoman 
Church  as  the  "mother  church,"  although  not  free  from  corrup- 
tions, and  wished  that  he  might  be  the  means  of  uniting  the  two 
religions.  The  policy  of  James  was  one  impossible  to  carry  out. 
He  did  not  desire  to  treat  Eoman  Catholics  with  severity.  At  the 
same  time,  he  held  it  to  be  unsafe  to  let  them  increase  in  numbers. 
His  commendable  mildness  towards  them  at  the  outset,  was  followed, 
therefore,  by  severe  measures,  which  produced  extreme  irritation, 
and  led,  in  1605,  to  the  abortive  Gunpowder  Plot.  His  forbearance 
in  speaking  of  the  Church  of  Kome,  coupled  with  his  violent  denun- 
ciations of  Puritanism,  could  not  fail  to  excite  anxiety  and  indigna- 
tion among  the  zealous  Protestants,  who  had  not  forgotten  the  con- 
spiracies against  Elizabeth  and  the  Spanish  Armada.  From  the 
beginning  of  James's  reign  there  was  a  conflict  between  him  and  the 
Commons,  who  were  determined  to  prevent  him  from  usurping  the 
prerogatives  of  an  absolute  prince,  and  to  resist  the  efforts  of  subser- 
vient prelates  to  aid  him  in  this  endeavor  and  to  extend  the  bounds 
of  their  spiritual  jurisdiction  at  the  expense  of  the  proper  authority 
of  Parliament  and  of  the  liberty  of  the  subject.  Coke,  the  great 
champion  of  the  common  law,  withstood  the  pretensions  of  Bancroft. 


1517-1648.]        THE  REIGNS  OF  JAMES  I.  AND  CHARLES  I.  399 

As  long  as  Cecil  was  in  power,  the  foreign  politics  of  James 
were  not  destitute  of  spirit.  After  the  death  of  Cecil,  James  yielded 
Negotiations  to  the  influence  of  personal  favorites — first,  of  Rochester 
with  Spain.  ^j^Q^  j^g  ^^^^  j,^^j  ^^  Somerset,  and  then  of  Bucking- 
ham. He  abandoned  the  pohcy  which  Elizabeth  had  pursued,  of 
aiding  the  Dutch  in  their  struggle  for  liberty,  and  of  upholding  the 
Protestant  cause  on  the  Continent  by  doing  battle  against  its  most 
formidable  adversary.  He  sought  rather  an  alliance  with  Spain, 
which  he  flattered  himself  would  be  the  best  means  of  securing 
peace  in  Europe,  and  he  strove  to  bring  about  a  marriage  of  his 
oldest  son,  Charles,  with  a  Spanish  princess.  To  secure  this  last 
object  he  made  large  promises  of  indulgence  to  Eoman  Catholics, 
and  made  a  sort  of  apology  for  applying  the  term  "Antichrist  "  to 
JQJ3  Rome.     His  daughter  Elizabeth  had  married  the  Elec- 

tor Palatine.  The  offer  of  the  Bohemian  crown  to  the 
Elector,  and  the  great  contest  which  ensued  upon  his  endeavor  to 
maintain  himself  against  the  House  of  Austria,  involved  not  only 
himself,  but  the  whole  Protestant  interest  on  the  Continent,  in  ex- 
treme peril.  The  Spanish  court  managed  to  keep  back  James  from 
interference  in  behalf  of  his  son-in-law,  by  holding  out  delusive 
hopes  and  promises,  until  it  could  unmask  its  real  design,  which 
was,  not  to  marry  the  princess  to  Charles,  but  to  send  troops  to 
seize  on  the  Palatinate,  and  thus  to  open  a  road  to  its  Belgian  prov- 
inces, while  striking  an  eflfective  blow  in  behalf  of  the  Austrian 
branch  of  the  family,  and  against  Protestantism.  James  succeeded, 
in  1610,  in  procuring  the  acceptance  of  Ej)iscopacy,  with  limited 
Bishops  in  powers,  in  Scotland,  Melville  and  other  fearless  leaders 
Scotland.  q{  ^Yie  Presbyterians  having  been  imprisoned  and  ban- 
ished. By  packing  the  assemblies  of  the  clergy,  and  by  other 
means  of  coercion,  the  king  carried  through  this  measure,  on  which 
he  had  long  been  bent.  In  1G18  the  assembly  at  Perth  was  com- 
pelled to  pass  the  "Five  Acts,"  which  required  kneeling  at  com- 
munion, and  other  observance,  which  in  the  Scottish  Church  were 
heartily  disapproved.  In  1610,  a  few  days  after  consecrating  the 
Scottish  bishops,  Bancroft  died.  Abbot,  his  successor,  was  well 
inclined  to  the  Puritans.  Their  opponents  were  angry  at  his  lenity 
and  his  laxness  in  enforcing  uniformity.  It  is  a  sign  of  his  Puri- 
tan proclivities  that  the  organ  and  the  choir  were  abolished  in  the 
The  author-  chapel  at  Lambeth.  In  1611  the  authorized  version  of 
ized  version,  ^-^e  Scripturcs  was  comj)leted.  It  was  a  revision  of  the 
previous  translations.  Its  unrivalled  merits  of  style,  its  union  of 
idiomatic  vigor  with  rhythmic  harmony,  are  familiar  to  all  its  read- 


400    THE  REFOKMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VIIL 

ers.  A  convert  to  the  Church  of  Rome,  in  a  well-known  passage, 
thus  speaks  of  the  charm  that  resides  in  the  English  Bible  :  "It 
lives  on  the  ear  like  a  music  that  can  never  be  forgotten,  like  the 
sound  of  church-bells,  which  the  convert  hardly  knows  how  he  can 
forego.  Its  felicities  often  seem  to  be  almost  things  rather  than 
mere  words.  It  is  part  of  the  national  mind,  and  the  anchor  of 
national  seriousness." 

Of  the  character  and  conduct  of  Charles  I.,  the  noble  wife  of 
Colonel  Hutchinson — a  woman  who  was  not  blind  to  the  faults 
of  her  own  party — thus  writes  : 

"  The  face  of  the  court  was  much  changed  in  the  change  of 
the  king,  for  King  Charles  was  temperate,  chaste,  and  serious  :  so 
Spirit  and  that  the  f  ools  and  bawds,  mimics  and  catamites,  of  the 
carles  I.  former  court,  grew  out  of  fashion  ;  and  the  nobility  and 
1625-1649.  courtiers,  who  did  not  quite  abandon  their  debauch- 
eries, yet  so  reverenced  the  king  as  to  retire  into  corners  to  prac- 
tise them.  Men  of  learning  and  ingenuity  in  all  arts  were  in 
esteem,  and  received  encouragement  fi'om  the  king,  who  was  a 
most  excellent  judge  and  a  great  lover  of  paintings,  carvings, 
gravings,  and  many  other  ingenuities,  less  offensive  than  the  baw- 
dry and  profane  abusive  wit  which  was  the  only  exercise  of  the 
court. 

"But,  as  in  the  primitive  times,  it  is  observed  that  the  best  em- 
perors were  some  of  them  stirred  up  by  Satan  to  be  the  bitterest 
persecutors  of  the  Church,  so  this  king  was  a  worse  encroacher 
upon  the  civil  and  spiritual  liberties  of  his  people  by  far  than  his 
father.  He  married  a  papist,  a  French  lady,  of  haughty  spirit, 
and  a  great  wit  and  beauty,  to  whom  he  became  a  most  uxorious 
husband.  By  this  means  the  court  was  replenished  with  papists, 
and  many  who  hoped  to  advance  themselves  by  the  change  turned 
to  that  religion.  All  the  papists  in  the  kingdom  were  favoured, 
and,  by  the  king's  example,  matched  into  the  best  families ;  the 
Puritans  were  more  than  ever  discountenanced  and  persecuted, 
insomuch  that  many  of  them  chose  to  abandon  their  country, 
and  leave  their  dearest  relations  to  retire  into  any  foreign  soil 
or  plantation,  where  they  might,  amidst  all  outward  inconveni- 
ences, enjoy  the  free  exercise  of  God's  worship.  Such  as  could 
not  flee  were  tormented  in  the  bishops'  courts,  fined,  whipped, 
pilloried,  imprisoned,  and  suffered  to  enjoy  no  rest,  so  that  death 
was  better  than  life  to  them  ;  and,  notwithstanding  their  patient 
sufferance  of  all  these  things,  yet  was  not  the  king  satisfied  till 
the  whole  land  was  reduced  to  perfect  slavery.     The  example 


1517-164S.]        THE  REIGNS  OF  JAMBS  I.  AND  CHARLES  I.  401 

of  the  French  king  was  propounded  to  him,  and  ho  thought 
himself  no  monarch  so  long  as  his  will  was  confined  to  the  bounds 
of  the  law  ;  but  knowing  that  the  people  of  England  were  not 
pliable  to  an  arbitrary  rule,  he  plotted  to  subdue  them  to  his 
yoke  by  a  foreign  force,  and  till  he  could  effect  it,  made  no  con- 
science of  granting  anything  to  the  people  which  he  resolved  should 
not  oblige  him  longer  than  it  served  his  tui-n  ;  for  he  was  a  jDrince 
that  had  nothing  of  faith  or  truth,  justice  or  generosity  in  him.  He 
was  the  most  obstinate  person  in  his  self-will  that  ever  was,  and  so 
bent  on  being  an  absolute,  uncontrollable  sovereign,  that  he  was 
resolved  either  to  be  such  a  king  or  none.  His  firm  adherence  to 
prelacy  was  not  for  conscience  of  one  religion  more  than  another, 
for  it  was  his  principle  that  an  honest  man  might  be  saved  in  any 
profession  ;  but  he  had  a  mistaken  principle  that  kingly  govern- 
ment in  the  State  could  not  stand  without  episcopal  government  in 
the  Church  ;  and,  therefore,  as  the  bishops  flattered  him  with 
preaching  up  his  sovereign  prerogative,  and  inveighing  against  the 
Puritans  as  factious  and  disloyal,  so  he  protected  them  in  their 
pomp  and  pride,  and  insolent  practices  against  all  the  godly  and 
sober  people  of  the  land." 

That  Charles  was  determined  to  be  an  absolute  monarch,  and 
that  he  was  habitually  faithless  to  his  pledges,  are  the  two  facts  of 
Treatment  of  P^'^"^^  importance.  There  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that 
Koman  Oath-  lie  was  a  sinccro  Protestant,  but  his  conduct  was  such  as 
to  excuse  the  suspicion  that  he  was  not.  His  treatment 
of  papists,  as  was  true  of  James  I,  was  vacillating.  Now  the  laws 
against  them  would  be  executed,  and  now  the  enforcement  of  them 
would  be  illegally  suspended  by  the  king's  decree.  It  was  char- 
acteristic of  him  that,  after  the  rupture  with  Spain,  he  sent  troops, 
in  1625,  to  aid  Louis  XHI.  in  the  capture  of  Rochelle,  thus  giving 
great  offence  to  the  Protestants,  while  he  arranged  that  there 
should  be  a  mutiny  against  the  captains  of  his  vessels  when  they 
wei-e  to  sail.  The  detection  of  this  double-dealing  was  one  of  the 
causes  that  bi'ought  on  war  between  England  and  France.  The 
failure  of  Buckingham's  expedition  for  the  relief  of  Rochelle  in 
1627  was  followed  by  the  Petition  of  Right,  the  great  protest  of 
Parliament  against  arbitrary  government.  One  of  the  supporters 
of  this  measure  was  Wentworth,  afterward  the  Earl  of  Strafford, 
who  went  over  to  the  side  of  the  king,  and  in  Ireland  set  about  the 
forming  of  a  military  force  which  might  be  used  in  maintaining  the 
usurpations  of  Charles.  Rehgion  became  inseparably  mingled 
with  political  strife.     The  principal  agent  on  the  ecclesiastical  side, 


402    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PfeACE  OP  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VIII. 

in  supporting  the  king's  scheme  of  absolutism,  was  William  Laud, 
who  was  made  Bishop  of  London  in  1628,  and,  five  years  later, 
Laud  1573-  "^^^  promoted  to  the  see  of  Canterbury.  In  some  re- 
1645.  sj^ects,  the  adversaries  of  Laud  have  not  done  him  full 

justice.  Whoever  will  read  his  principal  work — his  "  Conference," 
in  answer  to  the  Jesuit,  Fisher — will  see  that  he  was  a  discriminat- 
ing theologian.  The  passage,  for  example,  on  the  relation  of  faith 
to  reason  is  one  of  marked  ability.  In  one  sense,  he  was  a  liberal- 
minded  theologian.  He  thought  it  sufficient  that  there  should  be 
"a  consent  to  articles  in  general."  By  "requiring  assent  to  par- 
ticulars," he  said,  the  Church  "  hath  been  rent."  He  was  an 
honest  man,  and  honest  in  his  profession  of  Protestantism.  In  his 
exposition  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  he  does 
not  go  beyond  the  position  of  Calvin  on  the  point  of  the 
real  presence,  and  he  appeals  to  Calvin  as  one  who  shares  his 
opinion.  Bellarmine,  he  says,  has  misrepresented  Calvin.  "  Cal- 
vinists,"  he  affirms  with  truth,  "  maintain  a  most  true  and  real 
presence."  We  offer  up,  he  alleges,  only  a  commemoration  of  the 
body  and  blood  of  Christ.  There  is  no  offering  in  the  sacrament 
except  "  a  memory  "  of  the  sacrifice  of  Christ,  an  offering  of  praise 
and  thanksgiving,  and  a  self-surrender  of  the  communicant  to  God. 
Laud  was  not  willing  to  style  Rome  "Antichrist,"  and  this  was  one 
of  the  charges  against  him  at  his  trial.  The  Church  of  Rome,  he 
held,  was  a  corrupted  but  not  an  apostate  Church.  But  this  opin- 
ion he  entertained  in  common  with  Protestant  leaders  of  highest 
worth,  and  with  most  Protestant  divines  at  the  present  day.  The 
faults  of  Laud  were,  first,  those  of  temper.  His  intellect  was  nar- 
row, and  with  this  lack  of  breadth  there  was.  coupled  a  hard,  inflex- 
ible disposition.  He  was  a  martinet  in  all  matters  of  ritual.  He 
attached  an  immense  importance  to  externals  in  religion. 

His  Ritualism.  ..,,  .  „  ,._, 

and  to  uniformity  m  the  ceremonies  ot  worsbij).  By 
such  means  he  believed  that  inward  piety  was  best  promoted. 
Joined  with  this  fixed  idea  was  a  sacerdotal  theory  of  apostolic 
succession,  which  tended  to  carry  him  farther  away  from  the  other 
Protestant  churches  than  from  the  Church  of  Rome.  He  wrote  to 
Bishop  Hall  that  in  speaking  of  the  foreign  Protestant  churches  he 
had  been  "  a  little  more  favorable  than  our  case  will  now  bear." 
Parity  of  the  clergy  he  pronounced  "  the  mother  of  confusion." 
In  his  zeal  for  uniformity  in  worship,  he  undertook  to  break  up 
the  foreign  congregations  which  had  so  long  been  hospitably  allowed 
to  worship  in  England  in  their  own  way.  The  Puritans  saw  that 
his  anti-Calvinistic  theology,  however  it  may  be  judged  at  pres- 


1517-1648.]         THE  REIGNS  OP  JAMES  I.  AND  CHARLES  I.  403 

ent,  was  nearer  to  the  theology  of  the  champions  of  Rome  than 
to  that  of  the  Reformers.  All  his  proceedings  appeared  to  be 
parts  of  a  retrograde  movement  towards  the  mediaeval  system.  His 
maxim  that,  "  Unity  cannot  long  continue  in  the  Church  when  uni- 
formity is  shut  out  at  the  Church  doors,"  he  thought  it 

His  tyranny.        .    i  ,    ,  «  ,  .     .,       ,  ,  .,  ° 

right  to  eniorce  by  a  vigilant  and  merciless  persecution 
of  even  slight  deviations  from  the  appointed  order,  including  the 
ceremonies  which  he  had  himself  introduced.  Puritan  ministers 
were  punished  for  not  reading  in  churches  the  "Book  of  Sports," 
which  recommended  the  people  to  engage  in  games  and  pastimes 
at  the  close  of  service  on  Sunday,  some  of  which,  independently 
of  the  daj-,  very  many  religious  men  did  not  approve.  This 
was  the  "  Declaration,"  in  an  amplified  form,  which  James  I.,  in 
1618,  had  required  the  clergy  of  Lancashire  to  read  in  public  to 
their  flocks.  The  Court  of  High  Commission,  a  species  of  Protestant 
inquisition,  aftbrded  to  the  primate  the  means  of  enforcing  his 
tyrannical  measures.  The  attacks  upon  the  prelates  and  upon 
prelacy  which  were  provoked  by  this  persecution  were  often  of  an 
angry  and  abusive  character.  The  authors  of  them,  when  they 
were  discovered,  were  made  to  suffer  cruel  penalties.  The  Star 
Chamber  and  the  High  Commission  are  emblems,  as  they  were 
effective  instruments,  of  the  ecclesiastical  and  civil  tyranny  to  which 
the  English  people  were  subjected.  In  the  great  attempt  to  enable 
Charles  to  raise  money,  and  to  govern  with  absolute  authority,  with- 
out a  Parliament,  Laud,  in  his  sphere,  was  the  ally,  as  ho  was  the 
personal  friend,  of  Strafford,  and  regretted  that  he  could  not  caiTy 
out  to  the  full  the  policy  of  "  Thorough,"  since  the  more  favor- 
able circumstances  of  the  latter  in  Ireland  rendered  it  practicable 
for  him  to  tread  down  all  opposition.  The  endeavor  to  force  the 
Enjylish  Prayer  Book,  as  well  as  a  complete  government 

Introduction  »  -^  ^i,  ,  .  .. 

of  Episcopacy  of  bishops,  upoii  Scotland — a  scheme  as  unwise  as  it 
was  unrighteous — called  out,  in  1638,  the  Solemn  League 
and  Covenant  of  the  Scots  for  the  defence  of  Presbyterianism.  A 
wave  of  devout  and  patriotic  enthusiasm  swept  over  the  land. 
Scottish  soldiers  who  had  been  fighting  for  the  Protestant  faith 
under  Gustavus  Adolphus  hurried  across  the  sea  to  join  their 
countrymen,  who  with  one  accord  took  up  arms  in  defence  of  their 
rights  and  their  religion.  Speaking  of  Scotland,  James  had  once 
said  of  Laud,  "He  knows  not  the  stomach  of  that  people." 

The  Long  Parliament  assembled  in  1640.  Strafford  was  im- 
peached, and  the  ministers  of  Charles  were  driven  from  their 
places.     When  the  king  wrote  to  the  foreign  Protestant  churches, 


404    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OP  WESTPHALIA.  [Peeiod  VIII. 

denying  the  charge  that  he  intended  to  introduce  and  cherish  pop- 
The  meas-  ©rj,  he  spokc  the  truth  as  regards  both  himself  and  Laud. 
LOT°ParUa-  Nevertheless,  papists,  as  well  as  zealous  Protestants, 
Eient.  alike  felt  that  the  king  and  the  primate  were  working 

eflSciently,  even  if  unconsciously,  in  behalf  of  the  Church  of  Rome. 
The  "  Auglo-CathoHc  theology  " — the  way  of  thinking  represented 
by  such  men  as  Laud  and  Bishop  Andrewes — with  its  doctrine  of 
the  necessity  of  episcopal  ordination  to  the  exercise  of  the  ministry 
in  any  church,  its  feeling  of  the  exalted  importance  of  the  sacra- 
ments among  the  means  of  grace,  and  with  the  ritualistic  spirit 
with  which  it  was  imbued,  had  been  growing  up  since  the  last  days 
of  Elizabeth's  reign.  To  the  multitude  of  Anglican  Protestants,  to 
whom  Rome  was  still  the  mystic  Babylon,  and  the  jDope  Antichrist, 
this  type  of  religion  was  odious.  It  was  the  attempt  to  force  his 
system  on  the  country,  and  his  willingness  to  break  down  the  safe- 
guards of  liberty  and  to  overthrow  i:)arliamentary  government  to 
secure  the  end  in  view,  that  brought  ruin  upon  Laud.  To  an  in- 
creasing number,  episcopal  tyranny  was  making  the  very  name  of 
"  bishop  "  obnoxious.  How  deep  this  antipathy  became  in  minds 
inspired  with  a  passion  for  liberty,  is  evinced  in  the  eloquent,  even  if 
intemperate,  invectives  of  Milton.  Yet  at  the  ojDening  of  the  Long 
Parliament  a  great  majority  were  disposed  to  go  no  farther  than 
to  restore  the  Church  to  the  condition  in  which  it  was  under  Eliz- 
abeth, and  to  abolish  the  "  innovations  "  brought  in  by  Laud.  But 
Hatred  of  ^^  the  couflict  grcw  liot,  and  the  jDrelates  stood  firmly  by 
prelacy.  ^j^g  king,  it  was  not  thought  enough  to  expel  them  from 

the  House  of  Lords.  The  Presbyterian  party  grew  in  numbers. 
It  owed  its  final  victory  to  the  refusal  of  the  Scots  to  combine  with 
Parliament  against  the  king,  unless  uniformity  in  the  ecclesiastical 
system  could  be  established  in  both  countries  by  the  adoption  in 
Adoption  of  England  of  the  Presbyterian  polity.  On  the  25th  of 
the  covenant.  September,  1643,  Parhament  swore  to  the  covenant,  and 
engaged  to  extirpate  "popery,  prelacy,  superstition,  schism,  and 
Ma  12  1641  pi'offiiieness,"  Strafford  had  been  executed  more  than 
two  yeai-s  before.  The  Scots  were  inexorable  in  demand- 
ing the  punishment  of  Laud,  and  on  the  10th  of  January,  1645, 
he  was  sent  to  the  block.  Baneful  as  his  career  had  been,  it  is  im- 
possible to  read  the  closing  address  and  the  prayer  of  this  aged  man 
on  the  scaffold,  without  sensations  of  respect  and  pity.  It  is  a 
prayer  in  pleasing  contrast  with  some  of  his  petitions  to  God,  re- 
corded in  connection  with  his  diary — for  example,  with  one  of  the 
prayers  for  the  powerful  courtier,  Buckingham  :  "  Continue  him  a 


1517-1648.]        THE  REIGNS  OP  JAMES  I.  AND  CHARLES  I.  405 

true-hearted  friend  to  me,  Thy  poor  servant,  whom  Thou  hast  hon- 
ored in  his  eyes." 

In  164:2,  before  adopting  the  covenant,  Parhament  had  called 

together  the  Westminster  Assembly  to  advise  them  in  the  matter 

of  reconstructing  the  Church  of  Euffland.     One  hundred 

The  West-  ^   .  ,  ".    .  »  , , 

minster  As-  and  twcuty-onc  divmes,  many  of  them  men  of  great  learn- 
^^"^  ^'  iug  and  weight,  were  invited  to  be  members.  Ussher 
and  a  few  other  prelates  were  appointed  to  sit  in  this  body,  but 
their  loyalty  to  the  king,  and  the  control  exercised  by  the  Pres- 
byterian party  in  the  Assembly,  prevented  them,  with  one  or  two 
exceptions,  from  attending  the  sessions.  Another  party  in  the 
body,  small  in  numbers,  but  respectable  from  the  high  character  of 
the  individuals  comprising  it,  was  that  of  the  Independents.  The 
Brownists,  as  the  Independents  were  first  called,  had  been  driven 
out  of  the  kingdom  in  the  preceding  reigns.  The  Plymouth  set- 
tlement in  Massachusetts  had  been  formed  by  the  exiled  church  of 
John  Robinson.  The  Puritans  who  had  settled  Massachusetts  had 
become  practically  Independents.  Men  of  this  party  were  now 
returning  to  England  from  Holland,  and  some,  including  Hugh 
Peters,  were  coming  back  from  New  England,  to  take  their  share 
in  the  stirring  events  in  the  home  country.  The  Independents 
were  averse  to  established  churches,  asserted  the  right  of  the  con- 
gregation to  govern  itself,  and  were  commonly  for  a  larger  meas- 
ure of  toleration  than  the  Presbyterians  approved.  The  Westmin- 
ster Assembly  began  a  revision  of  the  Thirty-nine  Articles,  intro- 
ducing among  the  changes  more  definite  assertions  of  Calvinism  ; 
but  the  union  of  Parliament  with  the  Scots  called  them  away  from 
this  task.  The  prospect  of  the  establishment  of  a  moderate  epis- 
copacy now  vanished.  The  Westminster  Confession, 
minster  and  the  Longer  and  Shorter  Catechisms,  together  with  a 
creeds.  Directory  for  Worship,  were  framed  and  were  approved 

by  Parliament.  While  the  Presbyterian  system  was  adopted,  it 
was  never  fully  cai'ried  into  effect  in  England.  Parliament  stead- 
ily refused  to  yield  up  its  own  supremacy  as  a  court  of  ultimate 
appeal.  It  would  not  allow  to  the  Church  the  complete  right  to 
excommunicate  its  members,  or  to  interdict  communion.  In  conse- 
quence of  the  growing  strength  of  the  Independents,  and  the  author- 
ity acquired  by  Cromwell,  Presbyterianism,  in  the  main  features 
of  its  polity,  was  never  fully  established  in  more  than  two  coun- 
ties, Middlesex  and  Lancashire.  In  their  doctrinal  definitions  the 
Westminster  Assembly  set  forth  the  Calvinistic  system,  not  in 
the  extreme,  supralapsarian  form,  which  made  the  first  sin  of  Adam 


406    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VHI. 

the  product  of  an  effective,  rather  than  a  permissive,  decree.  Yet  it 
put  God's  decrees  in  the  foreground,  in  conjunction,  however,  with 
the  doctrine  of  covenants  of  works  and  of  grace,  made  by  God  with 
man.  The  direct  assertion  of  the  "  reprobation  "  of  sinful  men  is 
avoided.  Yet  it  is  said  that  God  purposed  "  to  pass  by  "  the  non- 
elect  and  to  ordain  them  to  the  suffering  of  the  j^enalty  of  their  sin, 
for  the  glory  of  his  justice.  On  the  subject  of  redemption,  the 
English  representatives  at  the  Synod  of  Dort  had  shown  some  dis- 
position to  modify  the  usual  Calvinistic  statement  of  an  intention 
of  God  to  save,  which  is  limited  to  the  elect,  and  to  favor  the  idea 
of  a  design  on  his  part,  through  the  death  of  Christ,  to  provide  a 
possible  salvation  for  all,  in  case  they  should  repent.  This  ten- 
dency to  a  more  liberal  view  of  the  range  of  the  purpose  of  re- 
demption, was  approved  by  some  in  the  Assembly,  but  fails  of 
any  distinct  expression  in  their  creeds.  In  one  place  it  is  only 
"the  elect"  who  are  said  to  be  "redeemed"  by  Christ.  The  Pui-i- 
tan  view  of  the  ground  of  the  obhgation  to  observe  the  Sabbath 
is  affirmed.  The  Chiistian  magistrate  has  no  right  to  administer 
the  word  or  the  sacraments,  or  to  exercise  the  power  of  the  keys  ; 
but  he  is  bound  to  suppress  all  heresies,  as  well  as  blasphemies, 
and  may  both  call  synods  and  exercise  a  certain  superintendence 
over  them,  to  see  that  their  ti'ansactions  are  "according  to  the 
mind  of  God."  The  Directory  issued  by  the  assembly,  contained 
injunctions  respecting  public  worship,  and  copious  suggestions  in 
relation  to  the  proper  topics  of  prayer.  The  Prayer  Book  was  now 
abolished,  and  between  one  and  two  thousand  ministers,  who  re- 
fused the  new  subscriptions,  were  deprived  of  their  places.  A  ma- 
jority of  the  fi'amers  of  the  new  creeds  believed  in  the  divine  right 
of  Presbyterianism.  They  considered  it  a  duty  of  the  state  to  en- 
force uniformity,  and  were  not  prepared  to  make  concessions  of  any 
importance  to  the  Independents.  In  1648,  Parliament  jDassed  an 
act  of  an  extremely  intolerant  character.  Eight  errors — one  of 
which  is  the  denial  of  the  two  natures  of  Christ — are  made  punish- 
able with  death.  For  the  profession  of  any  one  of  sixteen  sjDecified 
opinions — one  of  which  is  the  unlawfulness  of  infant  baptism,  and 
another  that  God  may  be  worshipped  by  pictures  or  images — im- 
prisonment is  ordained  until  sureties  shall  be  found  that  the  offend- 
ing party  shall  not  any  more  publish  or  maintain  his  error.  The 
Cromwell  military  power  of  the  Independents,  with  Cromwell  for 
de'^endeuta  ^^^^^  leader,  and  the  new  organization  of  the  army — the 
"  New  Model " — which  was  occasioned  by  the  languid 
prosecution  of  the  war  by  Essex,  rendered  it  impossible  to  i:>at  this 


1517-1648.]        THE  REIGNS  OF  JAMES  I.  AND  CHARLES  I.  407 

harsh  statute  in  execution.  The  control  of  the  army,  which,  on  the 
one  hand,  would  neither  suffer  the  dissidents  from  the  Presbyterian 
system  to  be  put  down,  nor  permit  the  king  to  be  spared,  brought 
on  the  conflict  of  Cromwell  with  the  Scots.  His  victory  over  them 
was  succeeded  by  "Pride's  purge,"  when  forty  members  were  ex- 
cluded from  Parliament  by  military  force.  The  trial  of  Charles 
ensued,  and  then  his  execution,  on  the  oOth  of  January,  164:9. 

In  1658,  in  the  last  days  of  Cromwell,  he  permitted  a  synod  of 
Independents  or  Congregationalists  to  meet,  and  to  frame  the  Sa- 
The  Savoy  "^'oj  Declaration  of  the  faith  and  order  of  their  churches. 
Declaration,  j^g  doctriual  parts  were  mainly  copied  from  the  West- 
minster creeds.  As  regards  toleration,  its  position  was  in  accord 
with  the  statement  in  its  preface,  that  "  there  ought  to  be  vouch- 
safed a  forbearance  and  mutual  indulgence  unto  saints  of  all  per- 
suasions, that  keep  unto,  and  hold  fast,  the  necessary  foundations  of 
faith  and  holiness,  in  all  other  matters  extra-fundamental,  whether 
of  faith  or  order."  Eeligious  liberty  was  claimed  for  those  "hold- 
ing the  foundation"  and  "  not  disturbing  others  in  their  ways  or 
worship." 

In  the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth  century,  while  the  Roman 
Cathohc  forces  in  Europe  were  becoming  more  and  more  concen- 
Divisions  of  trated,  Protestantism  was  weakened  by  bitter  intestine 
Protestants,  conflicts.  France,  and  the  ojjposition  of  France  to  the 
ambition  of  the  Spanish-Austrian  family,  were  one  main  depend- 
ence of  Protestantism  in  its  struggle  with  its  adversaries.  The 
assassination  of  Henry  IV.,  in  1610,  took  away  for  a  long  time  this 
source  of  hope  and  of  help.  James  I.  of  England  was  engaged  in 
quarrels  with  his  Parliaments,  in  the  jDersecution  of  Puritanism, 
and  in  delusive  schemes  of  personal  advantage  and  of  political  in- 
fluence to  be  obtained  by  means  of  a  connection  with  Spain.  In 
the  Netherlands,  the  conflict  between  Calvinists  and  Ai-minians  cul- 
minated in  the  condemnation  of  the  latter  by  the  Synod  of  Dort 
(in  1618-19),  and  in  the  execution,  on  May  13,  1619,  of  the  great 
statesman  and  patriot,  John  of  Barneveld,  the  defender  of  the  Ar- 
minian  principle  of  the  control  of  the  Church  by  the  State.  By 
him  the  desire  of  Maurice,  Prince  of  Orange,  to  obtain  supreme 
power  had  been  thwarted,  and  against  Maurice's  will,  a  twelve  years' 
truce  had  been  concluded  with  Spain.  Grotius  was  condemned 
to  perpetual  imprisonment,  and  escaped  from  confinement  only 
through  the  ingenuity  and  heroism  of  his  wife.  The  hostility  of 
the  Lutherans  to  Calvinism  made  the  Lutheran  princes  in  Germany 


408    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VIIL 

deaf  to  the  entreaties  of  their  Dutch  neighbors  and  brethren  for 
aid  in  the  long-continued  struggle  with  Spain.  In  Germany  it- 
self, what  was  called  Crypto-Calvinism,  the  creed  of  the  disciples 
of  Melanchthon's  theology,  who  refused  to  accept  the  Form  of  Con- 
cord which  was  framed  by  its  adversaries  in  1576,  was  denounced 
by  many  strict  Lutherans  as  a  damnable  heresy.  Nicholas  Ci-ell, 
Chancellor  of  Saxony,  had  endeavored  to  introduce  there  this  mod- 
ified type  of  Calvinism.  On  the  death  of  Christian  L,  in  1591,  he 
was  dismissed  from  his  post,  was  imprisoned,  and  finally,  in  1601, 
was  beheaded  at  Dresden.  The  result  of  the  doctrinal  battles  be- 
tween the  two  parties  in  Germany  was  that  several  states,  including 
the  Palatinate,  became  permanently  dissevered  fi'om  Lutheranism, 
and  connected  with  the  Eeformed  branch  of  the  Protestant  Chux'ch. 
The  bitter  spirit  in  which  theological  debates  were  carried  forward 
in  Germany  in  this  period  may  be  inferred  from  the  circumstance 
that  on  a  sheet  of  paper  which  Melanchthon  left  on  his  table,  a  few 
days  before  his  death,  were  written  several  reasons  why  he  was  less 
reluctant  to  die,  and  that  one  of  them  was  the  prospect  of  escaping 
from  the  fury  of  theologians — "  rabie  theologorum."  A  half-century 
after  he  died,  the  leading  theologian  at  Wittenberg  was  so  en- 
raged at  hearing  him  referred  to  by  a  student  as  an  authority  for 
some  doctrinal  statement  that,  before  the  eyes  of  all,  he  tore  his 
portrait  from  the  wall  and  trampled  on  it. 

The  provisions  of  the  Treaty  of  Passau  were  strictly  observed 
neither  by  the  Protestant  nor  the  Catholic  states.  The  Protestants 
did  not  acknowledge  the  validity  of  the  Ecclesiastical 
Thirty  Years'  Kcservatiou.  Not  Only  was  Church  property  in  the  dif- 
ferent Protestant  states  confiscated,  but  in  some  cases, 
in  the  ecclesiastical  princedoms,  Protestant  "administrators  "  were 
appointed  in  the  room  of  the  Catholic  bishops  ;  and  for  them  the 
rights  of  bishops  in  the  diet  were  claimed.  For  a  time  the  Emper- 
ors had  been  impartial  in  their  treatment  of  the  rival  confessions. 
This  was  true  of  Ferdinand  I.  (1556-1564),  and  especially  of  Max- 
imilian n.  (1564-1576),  who  had  no  sympathy  with  the  Catholic 
zealots  who  instigated  such  crimes  as  the  massacre  of  St.  Barthol- 
omew. But  his  successor,  Eudolph  11.  (1576-1612),  who  had  been 
brought  up  in  Spain,  was  in  full  sympathy  with  the  Jesuits  and 
with  the  Catholic  reaction.  The  same  spirit  characterized  Mat- 
thias (1612-1619),  who  succeeded  him,  and  Ferdinand  of  Styria, 
the  next  emperor  (1619-1637).  Ferdinand,  and  Maximilian,  Duke 
of  Bavaria,  were  the  devoted  champions  of  the  Catholic  reaction. 
There  were  outbreakings  of  violence  between  the  adherents  of  the 


1517-1648.]  THE  THIRTY  YEARS'   WAR.  409 

two  confessions.  A  Catholic  procession  was  insulted  at  Donau- 
wortli,  a  free  city  of  the  empire.  The  city  was  put  under  the  ban 
by  the  Emperor.  The  Bavarian  duke  marched  against  it  and  in- 
corporated it  in  his  own  territory.  The  Palatinate  and  the  other 
Calvinistic  states,  which  were  not  included  in  the  privileges  of  the 
treaty  of  Passau,  more  and  more  felt  disposed  to  forestall  the  at- 
tacks which  they  had  reason  to  fear,  by  a  resort  to  arms.  Their 
most  active  leader  was  Christian  of  Anhalt.  In  1608,  after  the 
outrage  at  Donauworth,  a  Protestant  league  had  been  formed,  the 
organization  of  which,  however,  was  weak  in  comparison  with  that 
of  the  Catholic  league,  which,  under  the  leadership  of  Maximilian 
of  Bavaria,  was  formed  to  oppose  it.  The  immediate  occasion  of 
the  Thirty  Years'  War  was  the  acceptance  by  Frederic  V.,  the  Elec- 
tor Palatine,  of  the  crown  of  Bohemia,  which  that  nation,  refusing 
1619  ^^  acknowledge  Ferdinand  as  its  king,  offered  to  him. 

Ferdinand,  a  nursling  of  the  Jesuits,  who  had  early 
taken  a  vow  to  extirpate  heresy  in  his  dominions,  threw  himself,  as 
much  from  necessity  as  from  choice,  into  the  arms  of  the  Catholic 
League.  The  two  branches  of  the  Hapsburg  family,  the  Austrian 
and  Spanish,  were  now  once  more  united  by  religious  sympathies. 
The  Elector,  whose  obtrusive  Calvinism  was  unpopular  in  Bohemia, 
and  who  received  little  help  from  England  and  from  the  Lutheran 
princes,  was  overwhelmed  with  defeat.  The  consequence  was  that 
Bohemia  was  abandoned  to  fire  and  sword.  The  Palat- 
inate was  conquered  and  devastated  by  the  troops  of 
Tilly,  and  the  electoral  dignity  was  transferred  to  Bavaria.  The 
intervention  of  England,  Denmark,  and  Holland,  in  1625,  was  of 
no  avail.  The  Catholics  now  had  a  majority  in  the  electoral  college. 
But  the  interests  of  Maximilian  and  Ferdinand  were  no  longer  the 
same,  and  they  became  rivals.  By  the  consummate  ability  of  Wal- 
lenstein,  the  Emperor  was  able  to  break  loose  fi-om  his  dependence 
on  the  League.  Germany  was  a  prey  to  myriads  of  lawless,  merce- 
nai-y  troops.  Ferdinand  was  induced  by  the  League, 
jealous  of  the  power  and  ambition  of  Wallenstein,  to  re- 
move him  from  his  command.  Moreover,  Ferdinand  weakened  his 
Edict  of  cause  by  the  Edict  of  Restitution,  issued  in  1629,  in 
Restitution,  -^jiid^  tj^g  most  extreme  claims  made  by  Catholic  in- 
terpreters of  the  Treaty  of  Passau  were  declared.  It  was  evident 
that  nothing  less  was  aimed  at  than  the  entire  extinction  of  Prot- 
estantism. The  lukewarm  princes,  including  the  Electors  of  Bran- 
denbm-g  and  Saxony,  were  roused  to  a  sense  of  their  own  danger. 
The  Thirty  Years'  War  was  a  long  and  terrible  tragedy.     The 


410    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Pekiod  VIIL 

second  act  in  the  drama  brings  upon  the  stage  Gustaviis  Adolphus, 
whose  sincere  attachment  to  the  Protestant  faith  is  unquestion- 
able, although  it  was  connected  with  a  pardonable  deshe 

Intervention  -i  j  i  r    n         -i 

of  Sweden,  to  build  up  the  powcr  of  bweden,  and,  possibly,  with 
an  aspiration  after  the  imperial  crown.  The  victories 
of  the  Ssvedish  hero  compelled  the  recall  to  service  of  Wallenstein. 
Gustavus  fell  in  the  moment  of  victory,  at  Lutzen,  in  1632. 

The  influence  of  Eichelieu,  the  great  French  statesman  w^ho 
revived  the  anti-Austrian  policy  of  Henry  IV.,  the  traditional  resist- 
intervention  ^^^^^  oi  France  to  the  efforts  of  the  House  of  Hapsburg 
of  France.  ^q  build  Up  a  Universal  monarchy,  now  becomes  prom- 
inent. In  1633  France,  in  the  Heilbronn  Treaty,  formed  an  alli- 
ance with  Sweden  and  with  the  Protestant  states  of  Germany. 
After  the  imperial  victory  at  NOrdlingen  in  1634,  the  aid  of  France 
became  indispensable.  Brandenburg  and  Saxony,  moved  by  hos- 
tility to  Sweden,  made  a  separate  treaty  with  the  emperor.  In 
Saxony,  the  hostility  to  Calvinism  neutralized  the  feeling  of  repug- 
nance to  such  an  arrangement.  The  character  of  the  war  during 
this  decade  entirely  changed.  Protestant  states  were  fighting  on 
the  imperial  side,  and  paying  a  heavy  price  for  the  desertion  of 
their  former  allies.  It  was  not  not  until  1648  that  the  obstinacy 
of  the  court  of  Vienna  was  overcome  by  military  reverses,  and  the 
Edict  of  Restitution  was  given  up. 

The  cruelties  inflicted  during  this  war  upon  the  defenceless 
people  are  indescribable.  The  unarmed  were  treated  with  brutal 
Effects  of  the  ferocity.  The  population  of  Germany  is  said  to  have 
^^'■-  diminished  in  thirty  years  from  twenty  to  fifty  per  cent. 

There  were  four  hundred  thousand  j^eople  in  Wiirtemberg ;  in 
1641  only  forty-eight  thousand  were  left.  In  fertile  districts, 
owing  to  the  destruction  of  the  crops,  great  numbers  perished  by 
famine.  More  frightful  than  famine  were  the  immorality  and  the 
moral  decay  which  ensued  upon  the  long  reign  of  violence. 

The  Peace  of  Westphalia,  in  1648,  was  a  great  European  settle- 
ment. It  was  agreed  that  in  Germany,  whatever  might  be  the 
The  Peace  of  ^''^^^^  of  the  priucc,  the  religion  of  each  state  was  to  be 
Westphalia.  Catholic  or  Protestaut  according  to  its  position  in  1624, 
which  was  fixed  upon  as  the  "normal  year."  In  imperial  aflairs, 
equality  was  established  between  the  two  religions.  Eeligious 
freedom  and  civil  equality  were  extended  to  the  Calvinists.  The 
empu-e  was  reduced  to  a  shadow  by  giving  to  the  Diet  the  power 
to  decide  in  all  important  matters,  and  by  the  permission  given  to 
its  members  to  make  alliances  with  one  another  and  with  foreign 


1517-1648.]  THE  PAPACY.  411 

powers,  with  only  the  futile  proviso  that  no  prejudice  should  come 
thereby  to  the  empire  or  the  emperor.  The  independence  of 
Holland  and  of  Switzerland  was  acknowledged.  The  great  war 
in  the  Netherlands,  which  had  lasted  for  eighty  years,  was  thus 
brought  to  an  end.  Sweden  was  strengthened  in  the  region  of 
the  Baltic,  and  obtained  a  place  in  the  German  Diet.  The  genius 
of  Gustavus  Adolphus  had  created  a  new  Protestant  power  in  the 
North.  Among  the  gains  of  France  were  the  three  bishoprics, 
Metz,  Toul,  and  Verdun,  and  Upper  and  Lower  Alsace.  The  Ger- 
man Empire  thenceforth  existed  only  in  name.  France  had  ex- 
tended her  boundaries  and  disciplined  her  troops.  The  losses  to 
Protestantism  were  heavy  indeed.  The  wrangles  about  the  ubiquity 
of  Christ's  body,  and  the  petty  rivalries  of  dukes  and  electors,  had 
brought  on  the  Protestant  interest  in  Germany,  and  on  the  whole 
fatherland,  terrible  calamities.  It  may,  perhaps,  be  regarded  aa 
some  compensation  that  Sweden  became  a  strong  state,  while 
Austria  and  Spain  were  partially  disabled. 

Notwithstanding  the  reign  of   the  Catholic  reaction,  and  the 

fanaticism  developed  by  it,  the  popes  found  it  impossible  to  revive 

the  authority  in  political  concerns  which  had  been  ex- 

The  popes.      ^^^^^^  ^^  ^^^  medic^val  pontiffs.     Sixtus  V.  (1585-1590), 

who  was  full  of  energy  in  the  administration  of  his  own 

Sixtus  V. 

states  and  fertile  in  grand  schemes  for  extending  the 
bounds  of  the  Church,  when  he  was  disposed  to  be  lenient  to 
Henry  IV.,  was  confronted  by  a  peremptory  remonstrance  from 
Spain.  The  elements  that  were  dividing  the  world,  as  Ranke  has 
said,  "filled  his  very  soul  with  the  confusion  of  their  conflict." 
He  rendered  service  to  the  cause  of  learning  by  establishing  the 
printing-press  of  the  Vatican,  where  the  Septuagint  was  pubhshed 
in  1587,  and  soon  after  the  Vulgate,  as  directed  by  the  Council  of 
Trent  ;  but  it  was  found  to  contain  so  many  errors  that  a  corrected 
edition  had  to  be  prepared  under  the  auspices  of  his  successor. 

Clement  VIH.  (1592-1605)  absolved  Henry  IV.  from  ex- 

'^'^^^        '  communication,  and  with  aid  from  him  took  possession 

of  Ferrara  as  an  escheated  fief.     Through  his  influence  the  Peace 

of  Verviers  between  France  and  Spain  was  concluded  in  1598,  and 

the  balance  of  power  was   restored  between  the  two   countries. 

Paul  V.  (1605-1621)  combined  with  severity  in  enforcing 
^^'''  ^'  the  canons  of  the  Church  the  highest  idea  of  pontifical 

authority.  This  he  undertook  to  assert  in  relation  to  Venice, 
which,  amonff  other  offences,  had  forbidden  the  increase  of  the 


412    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VIIL 

possessions  of  the  Churcli  in  real  estate.  When  his  mandates 
were  disregarded,  he  excommunicated  the  Senate,  and  laid  the  Ee- 
public  under  an  interdict.  This  was  not  heeded  by  the  Venetian 
clergy,  and  when  peace  was  made,  in  1607,  with  the  domineering 
pontiff  through  the  mediation  of  France,  Venice  did  not  relin- 
quish anything   substantial   in  its   claims.     Gregory  XV.  (1621- 

1623)  established  the  methods  of  electing  and  consecrat- 
Gregory  .  .^^  ^  pope  which  are  still  in  force,  gave  a  firm  foundation 
to  the  Congregation  of  the  Propaganda  for  the  support  and  dii-ec- 
tion  of  missions,  was  the  protector  of  the  Capuchins,  and  canonized 
the  founders  of  the  Jesuit  order,  Loyola  and  Xavier,     Urban  VIH. 

(1623-1644:),  hostile  from  pohtical  considerations  to 
rban  .  g^^^-^^  ^^^  Austria,  lent  his  support  to  France  and 
Richelieu  in  the  great  war  in  Germany.  Once  more  the  papacy 
was  helping  on  the  Protestant  cause,  to  the  intense  disgust  and 
displeasure  of  the  emperor  and  his  allies.  Afterwards  the  protests 
of  Urban  and  of  Innocent  X.  (1614-1655)  against  the  concessions 
made  by  treaty  to  the  Protestants  had  no  effect.  It  was  during 
the  pontificate  of  Urban  that  the  opinions  of  Jansenius  were  con- 
demned, and  Galileo  was  driven  to  revoke  his  scientific  doctrines. 
Among  the  new  orders  which  arose  under  the  popes  referred  to 

above,  the  Benedictine  Congregation  of  St.  Maur,  or- 
tinls^of"lt.'°"  ganized  in  1618  in  France,  distinguished  itself  through 
^^'^'■"  the  scholars  connected  with  it,  and  by  its  excellent  liter- 

ary labors — especially  by  its  edition  of  the  Church  Fathers. 

The  Protestants  felt  a  strong  interest  in  the  Greek  Church,  for 
the  reason  that  it  disowned  the  papacy.  The  efforts  made  by  them 
The  Greek  "Were,  howcvcr,  repelled  by  the  Eastern  ecclesiastics. 
Church.  ^^  attempt  was  made  by  Cyril  Lucar,  a  Greek  Chris- 
tian, to  graft  Protestantism,  in  the  Calvinistic  form,  on  to  the 
Oriental  Church.  He  was  a  native  of  Crete,  journeyed  extensively 
in  Europe,  and  in  Switzerland  adopted  the  Protestant  faith.  Re- 
turning to  the  East,  he  was  made  Patriarch  of  Alexandi-ia  in  1602, 
and  of  Constantinople  in  1621.  He  corresiDonded  with  Protestant 
divines  in  Europe.  In  1633,  a  confession  of  faith,  written  by  him, 
and  Protestant  in  its  theological  cast,  was  published.  But  the 
Jesuits  were  active  in  their  intrigues  against  him.  His  printing- 
press  was  desti'oyed.  Several  times  he  was  deposed  and  reinstated 
in  his  office,  and  he  was  finally  put  to  death  by  the  Sultan,  in  1638, 
on  the  charge  of  high  treason.  No  important  results  of  a  perma- 
nent character  followed  from  his  labors. 


1517-1648.]    POLITY  AND  WORSHIP  IN  PROTESTANT  CHURCHES.    413 

The  Russian  Church  graclually  became  independent  of  Constan- 
tinople. In  1589  a  patriarchate  was  estabHshed  at  Moscow  ;  but, 
until  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the  incumbents  of  the 
ofi&ce  had  to  have  their  appointments  confirmed  by  the  patriarch 
of  the  ancient  Eastern  capital.  Efforts  made  to  unite  the 
Russian  Church  with  Rome  were  ineffectual,  save  in  the  case  of 
provinces  which  were  acquired  by  Poland.  As  a  shield  against 
Rome  and  Protestantism,  the  "  Orthodox  Confession  pf  Mogilas  " 
was  drawn  up  about  the  year  1640,  by  the  Metropolitan  of  Kieff, 
and  was  afterwards  subscribed  by  the  four  Eastern  patriarchs.  In 
1672  the  Synod  of  Jerusalem  framed  an  elaborate  confession,  in 
■which  Greek  orthodoxy  is  defined.  It  includes  an  assertion  of 
transubstantiation,  and  a  doctrine  of  purgatory  not  essentially  dis- 
sonant from  that  of  the  Church  of  Rome. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

POLITY   AND  WORSHIP  IN   PROTESTANT   CHURCHES. 

It  were  unreasonable  to  expect  that  the  religious  revolution  of 
the  sixteenth  centuiy  would  solve  the  problems  connected  with  the 

relations  of  Church  and  State.  These  problems  grow 
of  Church       out   of   the   uaturo    of  religion   and   of    civil   society. 

Even  the  "  modern  ideal  "  of  "a  free  Church  in  a  free 
State  "  leaves  unsettled  the  proper  boundaries  of  the  civil  au- 
thority. The  question  of  education,  for  example,  fui-nishes  to- 
day material  for  controvei'sies  not  easy  of  adjustment.  Other  diffi- 
culties are  likely  to  arise,  when  a  powerful  religious  oi'ganizatiou, 
like  the  Church  of  Rome,  claims  the  right  to  define  the  Hmits  of 
State  authority,  and  to  control  the  consciences  of  a  multitude  of 
citizens  who  are  banded  together  under  its  hierarchy.  But  the 
modern  ideal,  whatever  advantages  and  whatever  evils  belong  to  it, 
was  foreign  to  the  thoughts  of  men  in  the  age  of  the  Reformation. 
To  get  rid  of  the  yoke  of  the  papacy  was  to  bring  in,  as  the  imme- 
diate result,  separate  national  churches.  Religion,  it  had  always 
been  felt  by  thoughtful  men,  is  the  basis  of  morality,  and  religion 
and  morality  lie  at  the  foundation  of  the  State.  Cicero  says  that  he 
knows  not  but  that,  if  piety  were  extinguished,  "  good  faith,  the 
social  union  of  mankind,  and  justice,  the  highest  of  virtues,  would 
likewise  perish."     Plutarch  says  that  we  can  more  easily  suppose  a 


414    THE  KEFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OP  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VIII. 

city  to  exist  without  house  or  ground  than  a  state  without  belief 
in  the  gods.  But  the  dictates  of  religion  are  supreme.  What 
shall  be  done  when  its  promptings  clash  with  the  policy  and 
ordinances  of  civil  ralers  ?  Moreover,  religion  is  a  bond  between 
man  and  man.  It  cannot  be  restricted  by  geographical  Hmits. 
The  relation  of  the  organized  Christianity  of  any  particular  civil  com- 
rauDity  to  the  Church  as  a  whole  is  to  be  determined.  One  mode 
of  avoiding  a  conflict  of  Church  and  State  was  found  in 
of  Church  and  the  absolutc  blending  of  the  two,  as  in  Islamism,  where 
the  Koran  is  the  law-book  in  religion  and  in  temporal 
concerns,  and  where  the  caliph  was  supreme  in  both  provinces.  In 
the  ancient  Jewish  system  there  was  likewise  a  theocracy.  There 
was  a  code  for  belief  and  worship,  and  for  all  the  concerns  which 
fall  under  the  head  of  state-law.  In  the  middle  ages  the  solution 
was  sought  in  the  control  of  the  State  by  the  Church,  under 
the  theory  that  temporal  as  well  as  spiritual  authority  is  derived 
from  the  pope.  It  is  the  theory  of  a  dominant  hierarchy,  such  as 
existed  in  ancient  Egypt  and  the  Eastern  nations.  Among  the 
Greeks  and  Eomans,  on  the  contrary,  unity  was  secured  by  the 
control  of  religion  by  the  State.  Religion  was  a  department  of 
State.  This  might  be,  as  long  as  there  was  only  one  mind  as  to 
faith  and  worship,  and  as  long  as  religion  was  conceived  of  as  purely 
a  national  affair.  But  when  a  dissenter,  like  Soci-ates,  arose,  and 
when  religion  came  to  be  seen  to  be  something  universal  in  its 
character,  the  Grseco-Roman  theory  was  shaken. 

The  Reformers  generally  agreed  in  discarding  the  hierarchical 
idea,  and  in  holding  that  the  body  of  the  Church  is  the  original  re- 
pository of  ecclesiastical  authority.  It  was  government 
the  powers  of  by  the  laity,  in  distinction  from  government  by  a 
priestly  class.  Luther  says,  in  his  "Address  to  the  No- 
bles : "  "  Man's  invention  has  discovered  that  the  pope,  the  bishops, 
the  priests,  and  the  monks,  are  called  the  spiritual  or  ecclesiastical 
state  ;  and  that  the  princes,  nobles,  citizens,  and  peasants  are  called 
the  secular  state  or  laity.  A  fine  story,  forsooth ;  but  let  no  man 
be  terrified  by  such  fictions.  All  Christians  belong  to  the  spiritual 
state  ;  nor  is  there  any  other  difference  between  them  than  that  of 
the  functions  which  they  discharge.  We  have  all  one  baptism,  one 
faith  ;  and  it  is  this  alone  which  makes  the  spiritual  man  or  the 
Christian  nation."  Luther  declared  that  in  the  hands  of  the  body 
of  believers  are  the  keys,  or  the  right  to  exercise  church  discipline, 
the  sacraments,  and  all  the  powers  of  government.  The  clergy  are 
commissioned  to  perform  ofifices  which  belong  to  all  in  common, 


1517-1648.]    POLITY  AND  WORSHIP  IN  PROTESTANT  CHURCHES.    415 

but  ^vliicli  all  cannot  discharge.  Ordination  is  nothing  but  the  rite 
■whereby  persons  are  put  into  the  ministry  ;  but  they  are  not  con- 
stituted an  order  of  priests.  To  the  Church  belongs  the  right  of 
self-government,  including  the  right  to  call  and  ordain  ministers, 
and  the  power  of  excommunication. 

These  abstract  doctrines,  if  carried  out,  would  have  confined  the 
civil  authority  within  Hmits  much  narrower  than  those  actually 
Ecclesiastical  fi^^d  by  the  Saxou  Eeformers.  Luther  considered  that 
tomagfs-''''''  ^^^  Germans  were  too  rough  and  turbulent,  and  too  un- 
trates.  practised  in  self-government,  to  take  ecclesiastical  power 

into  their  hands  at  once.  The  princes,  the  principal  members  of 
the  Church,  must  take  the  lead  in  ecclesiastical  an-angements,  and 
the  people  must  conform  to  them.  The  Peasants'  War  and  the 
strife  with  the  Anabaptists  had  the  effect  of  producing  a  strong 
reaction  against  anything  that  looked  towards  the  divesting  of  the 
magistrate  of  his  authority.  While  the  Augsburg  Confession  re- 
stricts the  jurisdiction  of  civil  rulers  to  temporal  affairs,  yet,  as 
special  questions  arise,  Luther  and  IMclanchthon  give  to  them  a  much 
larger  measure  of  authority.  They  consider  them  authorized  to 
punish  offences  against  the  first  table  of  the  law,  and  they  make 
this  o£6Lce  to  include  the  right  and  the  obligation  to  abolish  the 
mass.  Yet  both  the  Saxon  leaders — Melanchthon,  with  great  em- 
phasis— predict  the  tyranny  which  the  rulers  are  likely  to  exercise 
in  relation  to  the  Chm^ch.  The  Peace  of  Augsburg,  which  made  the 
religion  of  each  community  to  be  determined  by  the  religion  of  the 
prince,  the  only  escape  for  dissenters  being  the  privilege  of  emi- 
gration, brought  after  it,  in  Lutheran  communities,  an  abundant 
fulfilment  of  these  sagacious  prophecies.  The  local  iiiler  became 
the  supreme  director  in  the  affairs  of  religion,  with  a  clerical  synod 
for  his  advisers.  There  was  thus  an  essential  departure  from  the 
principles  of  Luther,  both  as  to  the  extension  of  the  magistrate's 
authority  and  the  proper  relation  of  the  clergy  to  the  congregation. 
The  only  right  left  to  the  churches  in  the  election  of  pastors  was 
that  of  confirming  or  rejecting  the  nominations  made  by  the  patrons. 

In  Hesse  a  remarkable  attempt  was  made  by  Francis  Lambert 
to  establish  what  may  be  called  a  Congregational  system  with  an 
The  Horn-  iufusiou  of  Prcsbyteriau  elements.  The  plan  was  devised 
burg  Synod.  ^^^  ^|jg  Synod  of  Homburg  in  152G.  Luther  was  consulted, 
approved  of  the  scheme  in  the  abstract,  but  pronounced  it  imprac- 
ticable. Such  a  mass  of  new  laws,  he  said,  could  not  be  introduced  : 
law  must  be  a  historical  growth.  The  Hessian  constitution  was 
never  fully  set  in  operation. 


416    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OP  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VIIL 

The  two  principal  characteristics  of  the  Lutheran  polity  were 
the  superintendents  and  the  consistories.  In  1527,  at  the  request  of 
The  Luther-  the  thcologiaus,  visitors  to  the  Saxon  churches  were  ap- 
an  pouty.  j^oiutcd  by  the  elector.  By  them  a  uniform  system  for 
government  and  worship  was  introduced,  which  was  drawn  up  by 
Melanchthon.  Superintendents  were  appointed,  who  exercised  a 
sort  of  episcopal  oversight,  each  within  his  own  district.  The  con- 
The  consis-  sistorics  arose  from  the  need  of  competent  tribunals  to 
*°"^^-  adjudicate  upon  questions  relating  to  marriage  and  di- 

vorce. The  abolition  of  the  canon  law,  many  of  the  provisions  of 
which  were  repugnant  to  Protestant  principles,  and  the  loss  of  the 
old  episcopal  tribunals,  brought  numerous  and  perplexing  ques- 
tions on  these  subjects  before  the  Lutheran  pastors.  Letters  were 
frequently  addressed  to  Luther  and  to  his  associates  on  matters  of 
this  kind.  The  canon  law  put  so  many  impediments  in  the  way  of 
lawful  marriage  that  it  had  been  easy  for  ecclesiastics  to  find  a  pre- 
text for  dissolving  it.  The  malpractice  of  the  Catholic  tribunals  in 
granting  dispensations,  and  in  declaring  marriages  invalid,  and  the 
uncertainty  in  which  the  Keformers  found  themselves  at  first  on 
ethical  points,  where  they  could  no  longer  follow  the  traditional 
usages  of  the  Church,  must  be  taken  into  accoimt  in  judging  of  the 
errors  into  which  they  occasionally  fell — the  most  serious  of  which 
was  the  allowance  of  a  second  marriage  to  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse, 
although  his  wife,  between  whom  and  her  husband  all  conjugal 
intercourse  had  ceased,  was  still  living.  Marriage  w£^s  denied  by 
Luther  to  be  a  sacrament.  It  was  valid,  therefore,  if  concluded  by 
civil  contract  alone,  according  to  forms  prescribed  by  law.  But  a 
religious  service  was  considered  appropriate.  Ethical  questions 
were  involved  in  connection  with  the  dissolving  of  the  marriage-tie. 
Hence  mixed  tribunals  were  constituted,  partly  of  the  clergy  and 
partly  of  jurists ;  and  to  these  the  whole  ecclesiastical  administra- 
tion, including  the  right  of  excommunication,  was  committed.  In 
Brandenburg  and  Pi-ussia,  the  episcopal  system  continued  until 
1587.  In  Denmark  the  bishops,  in  1536,  gave  way  to  superintend- 
ents, who  were  aiDpointed  by  the  king.  In  Sweden  the  office  of 
bishop  was  retained. 

The  course  of  events  in  Germany  had  brought  the  government 
of  the  Church  into  the  hands  of  the  Protestant  princes  within  their 
Theories  as  respective  states.  Theologians  and  jurists  proposed 
aeUcaUuir^"  various  theories  in  exiDlanation  or  justification  of  this 
of  princes.  isict.  At  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the 
"episcopal  system"  was  advocated,  according  to  which  the  civil 


1517-1648.]    POLITY  AND  WORSmP  IN  PROTESTANT  CHURCHES.     417 

rulers  were  held  to  have  received  their  ecclesiastical  powers  from 
the  emperor,  by  the  Treaty  of  Passau  and  the  Peace  of  Augsburg. 
Some  held  that  these  powers  were  provisionally  bestowed,  by  "de- 
volution," until  the  opposing  churches  should  be  reunited  ;  others, 
that  they  were  now  restored  to  the  place  to  which  they  had  originally 
and  rightfully  belonged.  At  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
the  "  territorial  system  "  was  set  up,  in  which  episcopal  authority — 
jus  episcopale — was  identified  with  the  conceded  right  of  the  princes 
to  reform  abuses  in  religion — the  jus  reformandi.  This  system 
made  the  government  of  the  Church,  not  including,  however,  the 
determination  of  doctrinal  disputes,  a  part  of  the  prince's  proper 
function,  as  the  ruler  of  the  State.  This  theory  was  advanced  by 
Thomasius,  whose  opinion  was  shared  for  substance  by  Grotius, 
and  by  Selden,  the  English  defender  of  the  theory  Avhich  denies  the 
autonomy  of  the  Church,  and  is  known  under  the  name  of  Eras- 
tianism.  Professed  at  first  in  the  interest  of  toleration,  the  "  ter- 
ritorial system "  became  the  potent  instrument  of  t^'ranny.  An- 
other theory,  the  "  collegia!  system,"  was  elaborated  by  Puffen- 
dorf  and  Pfafl'.  This  made  the  Church  originally  an  independent 
society,  which  devolved,  by  contract,  episcopal  authority  upon  the 
civil  rulers.  The  oppression  of  the  Church  by  the  State — what  the 
Germans  call  Ccesaro-papismus — has  been  a  prolific  source  of  evil 
in  Lutheran  communities. 

In  Zurich,  Church  and  State  were  practically  identified.     Eccle- 
siastical authority  was  lodged  in  the  hands  of  the  great  council, 
which  eroverned  the  city.     The  clergy  Avere  nominated. 

Church  gov-  c>  J  J^*^  .  ' 

ernment  in  or  presented,  by  the  magistrates,  and  accepted  or  rejected 
by  the  people  convened  for  the  purpose.  Excommuni- 
cation was,  also,  a  function  of  the  Christian  magistracy.  A  Chris- 
tian government,  Zwingli  held,  may  punish  actions  in  contravention 
of  the  Word  of  God,  although  he  had  at  first  rejected  the  principle 
of  coercion  in  matters  of  rehgion.  Any  other  than  a  Christian  gov- 
ernment, he  taught,  may  be  overthrown  by  the  people— peaceably, 
if  possible  ;  if  not  possible,  then  by  force.  In  1525  a  court  made  up 
of  pastors  and  civilians  was  constituted  for  deciding  questions  per- 
taining to  marriage  and  divorce.  The  Zurich  system,  in  its  essen- 
tial features,  was  adopted  at  Berne  and  at  Basel. 

Calvin  resisted  the  doctrine  that  the  Church  is  to  be  absorbed 

in  the  State.     He  taught  that  the  officers  of  the  Church 

ei^mentT'    should  be  choscu  by  the  congregation  under  the  lead 

Geneva.  ^^^  concurrence  of  the  officers  already  existing.     The 

State  has  no  right  to  intrude  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Church, 

27 


418    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.   [Period  Yin, 

by  putting  over  it  officers  or  administering  censures.  Yet  the 
State  is  bound  to  co-operate  with  the  Church,  and  to  give  effect  to 
its  acts  of  discipHne.  Baneful  heresies  the  magistrate  is  bound  to 
extirpate  ;  and  offences  against  religion,  such  as  blasphemies  and 
idolatry  of  every  sort,  he  is  bound  to  punish.  This  idea  of  the 
relation  of  government  to  religion  is  substantially  that  which  had 
been  held  in  the  Catholic  Church.  In  the  constitution  of  Geneva 
he  bent,  in  some  measure,  to  circumstances,  and  allowed  to  the 
councils  more  power  in  Church  affairs  than  his  main  principle 
would  warrant.  The  two  classes  of  officers  at  Geneva  were  elders 
and  deacons.  He  first  established  the  eldership  in  full  vigor,  com- 
mitting the  regulation  of  doctrine  and  disciphne  to  a  body  of  clei-- 
ical  and  lay  pastors,  there  being  twice  as  many  laymen  as  ministers 
on  the  board. 

The  Presbyterian  constitution,  with  some  diversities  of  form, 
was  adopted  in  the  Protestant  Churches  of  Scotland,  France,  and 
the  Netherlands.  In  Scotland  there  were  constituted 
ism^in  diSe"  two  classcs  of  eldcrs — ruling,  or  lay  elders,  and  preach- 
ent  conntnes.  ^^^^  elders — who  together  formed  the  kirk  session,  the 
governing  body  in  the  local  church.  Vacancies  in  the  lay  part  of 
the  session  w^ere  filled  by  the  body  itself,  on  the  nomination  of  the 
pastor.  The  highest  tribunal  was  the  general  assembly.  In 
France  the  preacher,  with  the  lay  elders  and  deacons,  formed  the 
consistory  or  senate,  the  governing  body  in  the  local  church.  Va- 
cancies were  filled  on  the  nomination  of  the  consistory  itself.  The 
minister  was  nominated  by  the  elders  and  deacons,  and  the  nom- 
ination was  ratified  or  rejected  by  the  people  ;  but  if  rejected, 
there  might  be  an  appeal  to  the  provincial  synod.  The  general 
synod  was  composed  of  an  equal  number  of  lay  and  clerical  dele- 
gates. After  1572,  between  the  consistories  and  provincial  synods 
were  the  "  colloquies,"  made  up  of  delegates  from  the  consistories 
of  a  district,  dealing  with  subjects  of  common  interest,  and  having 
the  power  to  censure  church  officers. 

According  to  the  Articles  of  the  Church  of  England,  it  belongs 
to  "men  who  have  public  authority  given  them  in  the  congrega- 
Theoriesasto  tiou " — that  is,  in  the  body  of  the  Church —  "to  call  and 
sute'in''"'^  send  ministers  into  the  Lord's  vineyard."  We  have 
England.  already  learned  what  restrictions  were  placed  on  the 
hierarchical  body.  The  presence  of  the  bishops — who,  however, 
were  selected  by  the  government— in  the  House  of  Lords,  gave 
to  the  clergy  a  certain  share  in  legislative  action.  Different  the- 
ories  have  been  propounded  respecting  the  nature  of  the   con- 


1517-1648.]    POLITY  AND  WORSHIP  IN  PROTESTANT  CHURCHES.     410 

nection  of  Church  and  State  in  England.  It  was  the  theory  of 
Hooker  that  the  Church  and  State  are  one  and  the  same  society, 
which,  as  related  to  tenaporal  concerns,  and  all  things  except 
true  religion,  is  the  commonwealth  ;  as  related  to  religion,  is  the 
Church.  An  earnest  advocate  of  this  hypothesis  in  recent  times 
was  Dr.  Thomas  Arnold,  who  finds  in  the  king's  supremacy  an 
emblem  and  a  realization  of  the  truth  that  the  laity  have  a  right 
to  govern  in  the  Church.  This  identity  of  Clmrch  and  State 
was  denied  by  Warburton,  who  substitutes  for  it  the  theory  of 
an  alliance  between  two  bodies  in  their  nature  distinct.  This 
view  of  a  distinction  between  Church  and  State,  but  of  a  combina- 
tion of  the  two,  in  the  English  system,  has  been  propounded  by 
Coleridge  in  a  peculiar  form.  The  visible  Church  of  Christ  in 
England,  he  alleges,  is  to  be  distinguished  from  the  national  or 
established  Church  ;  yet  the  ministers  of  the  first  body  are  em- 
ployed by  the  second,  on  fixed  terms,  for  the  promotion  of  the 
moral  and  religious  culture  of  the  peoj)le.  But  the  connection  is 
one  that  may  be  dissevered.  Mr.  Gladstone,  in  his  early  work  on 
Church  and  State,  espouses  a  view  not  essentially  diverse  from 
that  of  Coleridge.  In  Germany,  the  eminent  theologian,  Eichard 
Rothe,  has  contended  for  a  conception  of  the  Christian  State  the 
same  in  its  fundamental  assumption  as  that  held  by  Hooker  and 
Arnold. 

Among  Protestants,  in  matters  pertaining  to  worship,  there  were 
two  opposite  tendencies.  There  was  a  disposition,  on  the  one 
,,,    ^.  hand,  to  break  the  connection  with  the  mediseval  church. 

Worship  1  1         T  • 

among  Prot-  and  to  fall  back  on  the  directions  of  Scripture  or  the 
customs  of  the  Apostolic  Age.  This  tendency,  on  the 
whole,  prevailed  in  the  Swiss  churches  and  among  the  English 
Puritans.  Elsewhere  there  was  an  inclination  to  retain,  where  it 
was  admissible,  existing  usages,  and  to  keep  up  a  bond  of  union 
with  the  immediate  past.  This  was  the  dominant  feeling  in  Eng- 
land. The  Articles  give  to  the  Church  a  certain  latitude  as  re- 
gards the  regulation  of  the  ritual.  The  Church,  it  is  said,  may  de- 
cree rites  and  ceremonies  which  are  not  repugnant  to  Holy  Writ. 
"  Every  particular  or  national  Church,"  moreover,  is  free,  under 
the  condition  just  stated,  "  to  ordain,  change,  or  abolish "  these 
forms,  pi-ovided  the  end  kept  in  view  is  the  edification  of  the 
flock.  The  Lutherans  were  actuated  by  the  same  spirit,  and  fol- 
lowed the  same  general  principles.  It  is  a  grave  mistake,  however, 
to  suppose  that  liturgical  worship  has  any  necessary  association 
with  episcopal  government,  or  that  the  Reformed  or  Calvinistic 


i 


420    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VIII. 

churches  felt  any  objection  to  it.  On  the  contrary,  there  were 
liturgies  in  all  the  Protestant  churches  in  the  age  of  the  Eeforma- 
tion,  and  at  the  present  day  liturgies  are  in  use  in  most  of  the 
Protestant  churches  of  Europe.  There  were  two  things  on  which 
Protestants  unanimously  insisted.  One  was  that  worship  should 
be  in  the  people's  tongue ;  the  other  was  that  the  jDcople  should 
take  part  in  it. 

In  1523  and  1526,  Luther  prepared  manuals  of  pubUc  worship 
which  were  founded  on  the  old  ritual,  many  of  the  ancient  forms 
being  retained.  Private  confession  before  communion 
formsof  he  neither  rejected  nor  did  he  make  it  obligator3% 
wors  ip.  Exorcism  in  connection  with  the  rite  of  baptism  was 
retained  by  him,  but  was  excluded  from  several  of  the  Lutheran 
churches.  Confirmation  in  a  modified  form  was  sometimes  re- 
tained. At  a  much  later  time,  regarded  as  a  renewal  of  the  bap- 
tismal vow,  it  was  generally  adopted  in  the  Lutheran  communities. 
It  was  not  until  1543  that  the  custom  of  elevating  the  host  in  the 
Lord's  Suj)per  was  dropped  at  Wittenberg.  The  altar  was  fur- 
nished with  candles  and  the  crucifix.  By  the  Luthei'ans,  music, 
both  instrumental  and  vocal,  was  highly  approved  and  cherished 
as  a  part  of  public  worship.  The  organ  was  still  used ;  and  not- 
withstanding the  imi)ortance  attached  to  congregational  singing, 
the  choir  remained,  both  for  its  own  part  in  the  service  and  to 
render  aid  in  the  musical  training  of  the  people.  "All  the  arts," 
said  Luther,  "are  not  to  be  struck  down  by  the  Gospel."  The 
churches  were  decorated  with  pictures,  the  subjects  being  scrip- 
tural. "'If  it  is  not  a  sin,  but  right,"  he  said,  "to  have  Christ's 
image  in  the  heart,  why  should  it  be  a  sin  to  have  it  in  the  eyes  ?  " 
At  the  same  time,  the  reformer  was  emphatic  in  his  cautions 
against  formalism  and  all  idea  of  merit  as  connected  with  the 
devotions  of  the  Christian  sanctuary.  Worship  is  worse  than  in 
vain  if  it  be  not  in  spirit  and  in  truth.  He  demanded,  moreover, 
that  in  the  public  services  of  religion,  preaching  should  have  the 
most  prominent  place.  We  must  be  masters  of  ceremonies,  not 
let  them  be  masters  of  us — was  his  motto.  It  was-  far  from  his 
wish,  he  declared,  that  his  service-books  should  be  imposed  upon 
worshippers.  He  wished  to  have  them  cast  aside  the  moment  they 
ceased  to  ediiy.  The  Wittenberg  manuals  were  at  the  foundation 
of  the  ritual  forms  adopted  in  most  of  the  Lutheran  states.  The 
"  church  year  "  was  reformed,  but  not  given  up,  by  the  Lutherans. 
The  great  festivals  connected  with  the  life  and  work  of  Jesus— the 
Advent,  Christmas,  with  Circumcision  and  Epiphany,  Easter,  As- 


1517-1648.]     POLITY  AND  WORSHIP  IN  PROTESTANT  CHURCHES.    421 

cension,  Whitsuntide,  and  the  festival  of  Trinity — were  retained, 
as  were  also  the  days  commemorative  of  the  Apostles,  the  day  of 
John  the  Baptist,  and  the  feasts  of  the  Annunciation,  Purification, 
and  Visitation  of  the  Virgin  Mary.  Even  the  day  in  honor  of 
Michael  the  Archangel,  and  that  of  St.  Lawrence,  a  martyr  in  the 
third  century,  were  not  abolished,  although  from  these,  as  from 
all  other  sacred  seasons,  fables  and  superstitions  were  to  be  care- 
fully purged  away. 

Zwingli  did  not  propose  to  reject  ceremonies,  in  case  they  were 

edifying,  even  if  the  Scriptures  did  not  enjoin  them.     Yet  the 

changes  in  worship  at  Zurich  were  radical.     A  new  or- 

Worship  in  .  .  .  ^        _,.  . 

Zurich  and  der  of  scrvice  Avas  introduced.  The  misuse  of  the  organ 
had  produced  a  widespread  opposition  to  the  retention 
of  that  instrument  in  the  churches,  so  that  even  in  the  Council  of 
Trent  there  was  a  party  in  favor  of  banishing  it.  It  was  excluded 
at  Zurich,  the  choir  was  abolished,  and  there  was  for  a  time  no 
singing.  This  fact,  considering  Zwingli's  personal  delight  in  mu- 
sic, shows  the  bent  of  his  mind  as  regards  the  nature  of  evangel- 
ical worship.  At  Basel  the  organ  was  restored  in  15G1.  In  the 
services  at  Zurich  there  was  much  exposition  of  Scripture,  and  in 
no  Protestant  town  was  there  a  more  general  zeal  in  the  study  of 
the  Bible  or  greater  familiarity  with  its  contents. 

At  Geneva,  Farel  had  abolished  the  liturgy  altogether.  A  ser- 
vice-book, simple  but  sufficiently  full,  was  composed  by  Calvin,  in 
Worship  1536,  for  the  Genevan  Church.  This  was  for  use  on  the 
at  Geneva.  Lord's  day.  Oil  week-days  the  preachers  had  no  pre- 
scribed forms  of  prayer.  The  psalms  were  sung  in  the  French  ver- 
sions of  Marot  and  Beza.  In  subsequent  times,  Calvin's  liturgy  at 
Geneva  was  very  much  reduced  in  compass.  The  Genevan  liturgy 
served  as  a  free  model  and  guide  for  the  construction  of  service- 
books  in  Calvinistic  churches  of  other  lands.  Knox  prepared  a 
liturgy  for  the  Church  of  Scotland. 

The  peculiar  genius  of  the  Protestant  religion — the  free  and  joy- 
ous spirit  inspired  by  the  doctrine  of  gratuitous  forgiveness,  and 
by  the  part  which  the  laity  assumed  in  worship,  and  in  the 
Hymnoiogy.  jj^g^^^gement  of  Church  affairs — was  manifested  in  the 
"outburst  of  poetry  and  music,"  that  was  especially  charac- 
teristic of  Germany.  Luther  himself  published  thirty-six  hymns, 
twenty-one  of  which  were  original.  The  rest  were  translations,  or 
adaptations  from  earlier  German  songs.  Music,  owing  not  a  little 
to  his  example  and  efforts,  made  a  corresponding  advance.  He 
did  not  hesitate  to  appropriate  to  sacred  uses  secular  melodies  al- 


422    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  PPeriod  VIIL 

ready  familiar.  Before  bis  time,  as  far  back  as  the  minnesiBgers, 
but  especially  in  the  fifteenth  century,  numerous  hymns  had  been 
written.  A  great  part  of  them  related  to  the  Virgin  Mary.  The 
pressure  to  introduce  the  singing  of  hymns  into  the  mass  had 
been  steadily  resisted.  But  now  the  people  were  free  to  utter  in 
unison  the  praises  of  God.  Numerous  hymn-writers  arose,  but 
Luther  stands  at  the  head  of  them  all.     His  hymn, 

"  A  mighty  fortress  is  our  God," 

has  been  called  by  Heine  "  the  Marseillaise  of  the  Reformation." 
One  of  the  most  stirring  of  his  lyrics  was  Avritten  after  the  burning 
of  two  Lutheran  martyrs  at  Brussels,  in  1523  : 

"  Flung  to  the  heedless  winds, 
Or  on  the  waters  cast, 
Their  ashes  shall  be  watched 
And  gathered  at  the  last,"  etc. 

The  hymns  of  Luther  were  sung  not  only  in  the  church,  but  also 
in  the  household,  the  workshop,  the  market-place,  and  by  armies 
on  their  march.  The  gospel  was  carried  on  the  wings  of  song, 
and  in  this  way  spread  abroad  almost  as  much  as  by  the  voice 
of  the  preacher.  Among  other  contemporary  hymn-writers  was 
Paul  Eber,  whose  hymn,  beginning, 

"When,  in  the  hour  of  utmost  need. 
We  know  not  where  to  look  for  aid," 

was  written  in  1547,  when  the  army  of  Charles  V.  was  besieging 
Wittenberg.  In  the  following  century  there  is  a  roll  of  famous 
German  hymn-writers,  of  whom  Paul  Gerhard  (1606-1676)  is,  per- 
haps, the  best.  He  wrote  one  hundred  and  twenty  hymns.  One 
of  the  best-known  of  them  is  that  beginning, 

"O  Head,  so  full  of  bruises! 
Brow,  that  its  life-blood  loses ! " 

In  England,  sacred  poetry  was  written  by  the  dramatists,  and  by 
other  authors,  such  as  Sidney  and  Donne,  of  the  Elizabethan  period  ; 
and  a  little  later,  George  Herbert  (1593-1632)  wrote  his  quaint 
poems,  of  which  some  are  still  sung  in  the  churches.  He  is  the 
author  of  the  hymn  on  Sunday, 

"  O  day  most  calm,  most  bright, 
The  fruit  of  this,  the  next  world's  bud,"  etc., 


1517-1648.]  THE  HISTORY  OF  DOCTRINE.  423 

and  of  the  lines  on  Virtue,  of  which  the  first  are, 

"Sweet  day!  so  cool,  so  calm,  so  bright, 
The  bridal  of  the  earth  and  sky." 

But  it  was  not  until  a  subsequent  period  that  anything  like  "  a 
people's  hymn-book  "  arose  in  England. 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE   HISTORY   OF  DOCTRINE. 

Both  the  principal  branches  of  the  Protestant  family,  the  Lu- 
therans and  the  Reformed,  united  in  the  two  fundamental  principles 
The  Luther-  ^^  justification  by  faith  alone,  and  of  the  exclusive  au- 
nnsandthe     thority  of  the  Bible  as  the  rule  of  faith  and  conduct.  !■ 

The  Church  of  England,  notwithstanding  its  deference 
to  the  fathers  and  the  first  centuries,  was  emphatic  in  the  assertion 
of  these  doctrines.  It  accepts  the  ancient  creeds  on  the  express 
ground  that  they  can  be  proved  by  "  most  certain  warrants  of  Holy 
Scripture  ; "  it  declares  that  the  Church  of  Rome,  as  well  as  the 
great  patriarchates  of  the  East,  have  erred  in  matters  of  faith,  and 
it  affirms  the  same  of  general  councils.  The  Reformers  heard  the 
voice  of  Christ  in  the  Scriptures.  Their  interpretation  of  the  Bible 
verified  itself  to  their  hearts  by  the  light  and  jDeace  which  the  ac- 
ceptance of  it  infused.  The  traditional  belief  in  the  authority  of 
the  Roman  Church  had  to  give  way  on  account  of  the  perceived 
contrariety  of  its  doctrine  to  the  plain  utterances  of  Scripture  on 
the  method  of  salvation.  The  right  of  private  judgment  was  im- 
j)lied  in  the  procedure  by  which  the  teaching  of  Rome  was  rejected, 
and  another  meaning  was  attached  to  the  language  of  the  Bible. 
The  original  point  of  difference  between  the  Lutherans  and  the 
Reformed  pertained  to  the  Lord's  Supper.  Calvinism  was  likewise 
distinguished  by  the  stress  which  it  laid  on  the  sovereignty  of  God 
in  the  bestowal  of  grace,  and  by  its  greater  disinclination  to  rites 
not  expressly  sanctioned  by  Scripture.     Next  to  Luther,  Melanch- 

thon  was  the  leading  expounder  of  doctrine  on  the  Lu- 
Lutheran        therau  sidc.     His  work,  the  "Loci  Communes,"  was  the 

earliest  of  the  Protestant  treatises  on  dogmatic  theology. 
The  "Augsburg  Confession,"  and  the  "Apology"  for  it,  both  of 
which  he   wrote,   continued   to  be   authorities   in   the   Lutheran 


424    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VHI. 

cbm-ches.  But  Melanchthon's  departure  from  Luther  on  the  ques- 
tion of  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  on  the  part  taken  by  the  human 
will  in  conversion,  awakened  intense  hostility  on  the  side  of  the 
strict  Lutherans.  These,  the  "  Auti-Philippists,"  embodied  their 
dissent  from  the  peculiarities  of  Melanchthon  in  tho 
^^'^''-  creed  called  the  "  Form  of  Concord."     The  "  Smalcald 

Ai'ticles,"  drawn  up  by  Luther  in  1536,  and  his  catechisms,  have  an 
honored  place  among  the  Lutheran  symbols.  The  Lutheran 
Church  was  agitated  from  time  to  time  by  other  debates.  Such 
were  the  Antinomian  controversy,  occasioned  by  the  doctrine  of 
John  Agricola,  that  repentance  must  be  produced  by  the  preaching 
not  of  the  law,  but  of  the  gospel ;  the  Osiandrian  controversy,  oc- 
casioned by  the  belief  of  Osiander,  that  the  righteousness  of  the 
divine  nature  of  Jesus  is  actually  communicated  to  the  soul  in  the 
reception  of  him  by  faith  ;  the  Adiaphoristic  controversy,  between 
Lutherans  and  Philippists,  on  the  question  whether  rites,  if  pre- 
scribed by  the  State,  and  not  in  themselves  wrong,  may  be  adopted 
by  the  Church — a  debate  similar  to  the  contention  between  Puri- 
tans and  Churchmen  in  England  ;  the  Flacian  controversy,  jDro- 
voked  by  the  teaching  of  Matthias  Flacius,  an  Anti-Philipj)ist,  to 
the  effect  that  original  sin  has  corrupted  the  very  sub- 
stance of  the  soul — an  extravagance  of  opinion  which  the 
Lutherans  generally  repudiated.  In  the  list  of  Lutheran  theolo- 
gians, Chemnitz,  the  most  learned  follower  of  Melanchthon,  and, 
in  the  seventeenth  century,  Quenstedt,  stand  in  the  first  rank. 

None  of  the  sects  which  sprang  up  in  the  wake  of  the  Eeforma- 
tion  produced  so  great  a  ferment  as  the  Auabai^tists.  The  name, 
The  Anab       "^^lich  signifies  re-baptizers,  was  affixed  to  them  by  their 

tists:  the       adversaries  for  the  reason  that  they  rejected  infant  bap- 
Baptists.  .  .  . 

tism  and  baptized  anew  all  of  their  number  who  had  re- 
ceived the  sacrament  in  infancy.  The  Anabaptists  were  the  radicals 
of  the  Reformation.  They  considered  that  the  Reformers  had 
left  their  work  half  done.  Their  rise  is  owing  partly,  but  not 
wholly,  to  the  Protestant  revolt  against  Rome.  But,  as  Dorner  has 
observed,  "  all  the  different  anti-ecclesiastical  tendencies  which 
.  .  .  had  secretly  pervaded  the  hfe  of  the  people  in  the  middle 
ages  got  vent  after  the  reform  excitement  issued  from  Wittenberg, 
and  obtained  a  wider  extension  under  the  new  movement."  There 
had  been  opposition  to  infant  bajDtism  in  earlier  days  among  the 
Waldenses  and  other  sects,  as  well  as  from  individuals  like  Peter 
of  Bruges,  and  Henry  of  Clugny.  But  this  one  tenet  was  not  the 
sole  characteristic  of  the  Anabaptists  in  which  we  find  the  continu- 


1517-164S.]  THE  HISTORY  OF  DOCTRINE.  425 

ance  or  reproduction  of  former  ideas  and  tendencies.  The  Church, , 
they  insisted,  must  be  comj)osed  exclusively  of  the  regenerate,  and 
religion  is  not  a  matter  to  be  regulated  and  managed  by  civil  rulers. 
Under  the  name  of  Anabaptists  are  included  different  types  of 
doctrine  and  of  Christian  life.  It  is  a  gross  injustice  to  imj)ute  to 
all  of  them  the  wild  and  destructive  fanaticism  with  which  a  por- 
tion of  them  are  chargeable.  This  fanatical  class  are  first  heard  of 
in  Germany,  under  Thomas  Miinzer,  as  a  leader,  who  appeared  in 
the  character  of  a  prophet  at  Zwickau  in  1521,  and  in  the  Peasants' 
War  in  1525  sought  to  establish  his  revolutionary  doctrines.  These 
involved  the  abolition  of  all  existing  authorities  in  Church  and 
State,  and  the  substitution  of  a  kingdom  of  the  saints,  in  which  he 
was  to  be  the  chief.  He,  with  other  leaders,  was  put  to  death  on 
the  suppression  of  the  rebellion.  Very  different  from  the  disciples 
of  Miinzer,  however,  were  Grebel  and  other  Anabaptists  who  or- 
ganized themselves  at  Zurich.  They  rejected  the  government  of 
the  Church  by  the  city,  and  refused  to  acknowledge  infant  bap- 
tism. They  were  enthusiasts,  but  not  fanatics.  They  were  peace- 
ful in  their  spirit,  and,  as  it  would  appear,  were  sincerely  devout. 
These  traits,  however,  did  not  protect  them  from  harsh  and 
unwarrantable  punishment  as  disturbers  of  public  order  and  ad- 
vocates of  pestilent  error.  Some  of  them  were  put  to  death.  It 
was  believed  that  they  aimed  at  the  overthrow  of  the  magistracy. 
They  went  no  farther,  however,  than  to  maintain  that  no  Christian 
could  be  a  magistrate,  or  take  part  in  the  infliction  of  capital  pun- 
ishment. But  Grebel,  if  he  did  not  himself  approve  of  rebellion, 
yet,  by  preaching  among  the  jDeasants  in  a  district  where  they  rose 
in  armed  revolt,  exposed  himself  to  the  charge  of  sympathizing 
with  their  seditious  schemes.  Itinerant  missionaries  diffused  Ana- 
baptist opinions  of  the  i)acific  type  far  and  wide  in  South  Ger- 
many. A  second  violent  attempt  to  found  a  theocracy 
on  the  ruins  of  the  existing  order  was  made  at  Miinster, 
where  the  fanatical  leaders  exercised  extreme  tyranny  and  license, 
until  the  town  was  taken,  and  they,  after  suffering  cruel  tortures, 
were  put  to  death.  In  the  third  and  fourth  decades  of  the  six- 
teenth century,  "  Anabaptism  spread  like  a  burning  fever  through 
all  Germany  ;  from  Swabia  and  Switzerland,  along  the  Ehine  to 
Holland  and  Friesland,  from  Bavaria,  Middle  Germany,  Westphalia, 
and  Saxony,  as  far  as  Holstein."  In  the  Netherlands,  in  the  time 
of  Charles  V.,  Anabaptists  were  guilty  of  offences  against  decency 
and  morality,  which  were  repaid  with  savage  penalties.  After- 
wards, we  find  that  a  numerous  body  who  were  stigmatized  by  the 


426    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.   [Period  VIII. 

same  name,  but  were  of  a  totally  different  spirit,  were  organized 
under  the  guidance  of  Menno  Simonis,  a  religious  and  conscientious 
man.  These  aimed  to  live  strictly  according  to  the  gospel.  There 
were  fraternities  of  the  same  sect  in  fellowship  with  them  in  Ger- 
many. The  Mennonites  did  not  set  up  formal  creeds,  they  dis- 
carded oaths,  the  use  of  weapons,  and  every  sort  of  revenge,  and, 
while  the}'^  aj^proved  of  civil  government,  declined  themselves  to 
hold  office  in  the  state.  They  had  strict  discipline  in  their 
churches ;  but  on  this  subject  there  was  an  extremely  rigorous 
and  a  more  lenient  party.  English  Brownists,  or  Independents, 
who  came  over  to  Holland,  were  brought  into  connection  with  the 
Mennonites.  There  was  a  bond  of  sympathy  in  their  common  op- 
position to  national  churches  and  in  the  demand  that  regeneration 
should  precede  Church  membership.  After  1535  many  Anabaptists 
crossed  over  to  England  and  formed  congregations  at  Norwich 
and  other  places.  They  were  reinforced  by  certain  Brownists  who 
had  espoused  Anabaptist  opinions  in  Holland.  In  1605,  Rev. 
John  Smyth,  who  had  been  vicar  of  Gainsborough,  and  a  com- 
pany with  him,  separated  from  the  Independent  Church  at  Am- 
sterdam. Smyth,  not  acknowledging  the  baptism  which  he  had 
received  in  infancy,  baptised  himself,  and  hence  was  called  the  "  se- 
baptist."  The  church  formed  by  him  was  divided.  A  jDart  of  them, 
first  under  the  pastoral  care  of  Helwys,  and  then  of  Murton, 
crossed  to  England  in  1611,  and  a  few  years  afterwards  (1612-1614) 
formed  a  Baptist  church  in  London.  In  Switzerland,  Grebel  and 
his  associates  are  thought  to  have  adopted,  after  a  time,  the  prac- 
tice of  immersion.  Whether  Smyth  baptized  himself  in  this  man- 
ner, and  when  among  English  Baptists  immersion  began  to  be  the 
form  of  the  rite — whether  in  1641,  as  many  believe,  or  before  that 
date — are  still  subjects  of  dispute. 

Among  the  mystics  who  were  not  satisfied  with  the  Lutheran  ten- 
ets, were  the  followers  of  Caspar  Schwenckfeld,  a  pious  nobleman 
^^g  who,  in  1525,  conceived  himself  to  have  been  enlight- 

schwenck-  eued  from  above  as  to  the  real  meaning  of  the  sacrament 
of  the  Lord's  Supper,  about  which  there  was  so  much 
contention.  His  view  was  more  nearly  that  of  the  Zwiuglians. 
But  his  peculiarities  went  much  further.  Forensic  jiistification,  he 
taught,  was  of  no  account  without  the  renewal  of  the  soul  by  Christ, 
the  internal  Word.  Not  discarding  the  Scriptures  and  the  sacra- 
ments, he  gave  them  a  subordinate  place.  His  principal  point  re- 
lated to  the  Incarnation.  Here  he  held  that  the  human  nature  of 
Christ,  though  truly  human,  is  the  offspring  of  God,  as  well  as  of 


1517-1648.]  THE  HISTORY  OP  DOCTRINE.  427 

the  Virgin,  and  lience  differs  from  tLe  nature  of  men  generally.  It 
is  exalted  to  be  literally  a  partaker  of  the  divine  nature.  It  is  the 
glorified  Christ  dwelling  within  us,  who  is  the  source  of  true 
righteousness,  and  of  a  life  which  includes  a  participation  in  the 
divine  perfections.  Schwenckfeld  had  many  disciples  in  Silesia 
and  other  districts.  Persecuted  in  Germany,  a  great  part  of  them, 
in  1734,  emigrated  to  Pennsylvania. 

A  sect  of  less  importance  was  the  Family  of  Love,  or  the  Fam- 
ilists.  David  George,  or  Joris,  a  native  of  Delft,  who  spent  his  clos- 
TheFami-  ^^o  J^ars  in  Basel,  and  died  in  1556,  claimed  to  be  the 
lists,  second   David,  through  whom  the   prophecies  were  to 

reach  a  complete  fulfilment.  A  second  leader  was  Henry  Niclas, 
or  Nicholas,  who  was  born  in  Amsterdam,  and  in  1533  took  up  his 
abode  in  West  Friesland.  An  escape  from  all  legalism,  and  spirit- 
ual perfection,  were  the  ideal  of  this  sect.  They  made  a  stir  in  Eng- 
land in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth.  Some  of  them  are  allowed  to  have 
been  j)ure  and  devout.  Others  were  accused  of  lax,  licentious 
practices,  the  result  of  a  mystical  antinomianism. 

The  symbols  in  the  Reformed  branch  of  the  Protestant  body 
are  much  more  numerous  than  in  the  Lutheran,  for  the  reason  that 
the  Reformed  Churches  were  established  in  so  many 
Bymbois  and  different  communities.  We  have  the  creeds — as  the  two 
eo  ogians.  g^^gg]^  Coufcssions — which  grew  up  in  the  days  of  Zwingli. 
After  Calvin  acquired  influence,  and  the  Swiss  theology  spread,  the 
confessions  multiplied.  Among  them  is  the  Heidelberg  Catechism, 
which  was  composed  in  the  Palatinate,  where  Melanchthon's  the- 
ology prevailed,  and  where  the  elector,  Fredei'ic  HI.,  left  the  Lu- 
therans and  joined  the  Reformed.  This  Catechism,  and  the  later^' 
Helvetic  Confession,  are  the  symbols  of  the  German  Reformed 
Church,  which  came  into  being  in  the  way  referred  to.  Other 
well-known  Calvinistic  creeds  are  the  Gallic,  the  creed  of  the  Hu- 
guenots ;  the  Belgic  Confession  and  the  Decrees  of  the  Synod  of 
Dort,  the  symbols  of  Dutch  Calvinism  ;  the  Scottish  Confession, 
wi'itten  by  Knox  ;  the  Westminster  Confession  and  the  Catechisms, 
framed  by  the  English  Presbyterians  ;  the  Savoy  Confession,  which 
was  adopted  by  the  English  Independents,  On  the  list  of  in- 
fluential theologians,  besides  the  illustrious  names  of  Zwingli  and 
Calvin,  with  contemporaries  of  high  repute,  such  as  (Ecolampa- 
dius,  Bucer,  and  Bulliuger,  there  is  a  large  body  of  Calvinistic 
teachers  on  the  continent,  belonging  to  the  sixteenth  and  seven- 
teenth centuries,  men  of  ability  and  learning,  whose  names  and 
"WTitings  have  ceased  to  be  familiar  to  any  save  students  of  his- 


428    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VIU. 

torical  theolo<^"y-  By  them  Calvinism  was  defined  and  defended 
•with  logical  precision,  but  in  a  style  too  dry  and  scholastic  to  suit 
the  taste  of  after-times. 

The  German  Reformed  Church,  owing  to  the  circumstances  of 
its  orioin,  was  comparatively  mild  in  its  formulas  of  predestination. 

Federal  Within  the  limits  of  this  school,  but  having  its  prin- 
theoiogy.  cipal  Seat  in  Holland,  the  Federal  theology  arose.  This 
groujDed  the  Calvinistic  doctrines  under  the  scheme  of  the  Cov- 
enants— the  Covenant  of  Redemption  between  the  persons  of  the 
Trinity,  the  Covenant  of  Works  with  Adam,  and  the  Covenant  of 
Grace.  By  the  introduction  of  these  jural  relations,  the  aspect  of 
the  system,  which  had  made  everything  to  rest  on  the  divine  de- 
crees, was  softened.  Cocceius,  one  of  the  leading  ex- 
pounders of  the  Federal  theology,  brought  into  vogue 
the  typical  method  of  interpreting  the  Old  Testament.  An  oj)pos- 
ing  party,  which  clung  to  the  older  form  of  Calvinism,  based  on 
the  naked  decrees,  was  led  by  Boetius.  One  of  the  learned  ex- 
pounders of  the  Federal  system  was  Witsius  (1636-1708).  It 
gained  favor  and  spread  rapidly,  not  only  in  Holland  but  in  Great 
Britain,  and  elsewhere  among  Calvinists,  taking  the  place  of  the 
hard,  scholastic  form  of  Calvinistic  teaching. 

In  the  French  school  of  Saumur,  one  of  the  Huguenot  theo- 
logical academies,  there  appeared  deviations  from  the  current 
The  school  of  statements  of  Calvinism.  John  Cameron,  a  Scotchman 
Saumur.  q£  remarkable  talents,  was  the  first  to  propose  innova- 
tions. His  pupil,  Amyraut  (1596-1664),  taught  the  doctrine  of 
"  hypothetic  universal  grace,"  as  it  was  called,  which  was  really  an 
approach  to  the  idea  of  universal  atonement.  He  was  more  than 
once  charged  with  heresy  before  the  national  S^^nod  of  the  French 
Church,  but  was  each  time  acquitted.  One  of  his  colleagues  La- 
place (Placeus),  raised  a  storm  by  teaching  that  Adam's  sin  is  not 
immediately  imputed  to  his  posterity,  but  that  the  native  depravity 
of  men  is  the  first  ground  of  their  condemnation.  A  third  pro- 
fessor, Cappel,  startled  the  strict  Calvinists  by  the  statement  that 
the  vowel  pointing  of  the  Hebrew  text  of  the  Old  Testament  is  an 
invention  later  than  the  Christian  era,  and  has  no  divine 
authority,  and  that  the  accepted  or  masoretic  text  of 
the  ancient  Scriptures  is  open  to  amendment.  Against  these  opin- 
ions of  the  Saumur  faculty,  the  "Formula  Consensus  Helvetica," 
the  last  of  the  creeds  framed  by  the  Swiss  theologians,  is  levelled. 

Such  modifications  of  Calvinism  were  of  small  moment  when 
compared  with  the  rise  of  the  great  Arminian  revolt.     James  Ar- 


1517-lGlS.]  THE  HISTORY   OF  DOCTRINE.  429 

minius  was  an  able,  accomplished  man,  who  had  sojourned  in  Italy 
and  had  counted  amonjy  his  teachers  Beza,  the  fi'iend 

Arminianisni. 

and  pupil  of  Calvin.  He  was  a  native  of  Holland,  and 
was  made  professor  of  theology  at  Leyden  in  1G03.  Previously, 
while  a  preacher  at  Amsterdam,  and  engaged  in  preparing  a  refu- 
tation of  attacks  on  the  supralapsarian  doctrine  of  decrees,  he  fell 
into  doubt  on  the  whole  subject,  which  resulted  in  his  rejecting 
the  doctrine  of  unconditional  election  altogether.  Disposed  to 
him  at  Leyden  was  Gomarus,  a  high  Calvinist.  The  followers  of 
Arminius  multiplied,  and  the  contest  of  the  two  parties  spread 
through  Holland.  It  was  a  debate  on  the  essential  points  of  Cal- 
vinism. The  successor  of  Arminius  was  Episcopius,  a  theologian 
of  distinguished  ability.  In  the  oi'ganization  of  the  Ai^minians, 
Uytenbogaert  was  chiefly  influential.  Their  creed  was  set  forth 
in  the  Remonstrance,  addressed  by  them  to  the  Estates 
of  Holland  and  West  Friesland,  which  gave  to  them  the 
name  of  "Remonstrants,"  by  which  they  were  commonly  known 
in  Holland.  In  this  document  they  affirm  conditional  election  on  ■ 
the  ground  of  foreseen  faith,  universal  atonement,  regeneration 
by  the  Holy  Spirit,  whose  influences,  however,  are  not  irresistible, 
and  the  doubtfulness  of  the  doctrine  of  the  universal  perseverance 
of  converted  souls.  A  great  political  line  of  division  separated  the 
two  contending  parties.  The  Arminians  were  republicans.  The 
The  Synod  of  Calviuists  adhered  to  Maurice,  Prince  of  Orange.  The 
Dort.  Synod  of  Dort  was  intended  to  be  a  sort  of  general  coun- 

cil of  Calvinistic  churches  to  sit  in  judgment  on  the  Arminian 
theology.  In  it  representatives  from  several  countries  were  actu- 
ally present.  Several  delegates  were  sent  from  England  by  King 
James  I.  The  synod  abstained  from  sanctioning  the  extreme 
dogma  of  Gomarus,  but  it  condemned  the  characteristic  tenets  of 
the  Arminians.  It  asserted  unconditional  election,  limited  atone-^ 
ment,  irresistible  grace,  perseverance  of  all  the  regenerate.  After 
this  time,  the  Arminians  for  a  period  were  forbidden  to  exercise 
their  religion.  Two  hundred  of  their  preachers  were  deposed. 
When  Prince  Henry  became  stadtholder,  they  first  obtained  tolera- 
1025.  tion,  and  then  full  liberty  to  build  churches  and  schools. 

1630.  Among  the  lights   of  the  Arminian  body  were   Hugo 

Grotius,  equally  renowned  as  a  scholar,  diplomatist,  and  theolo- 
gian, who  composed  a  very  important  treatise  on  the  atonement, 
and  commentaries  on  the  Scriptures  ;  Limborch,  who  is,  perhaps, 
the  best  expositor  of  the  Arminian  doctrinal  system  ;  Le  Clerc 
and  Wettstein,  critical  and  exegetical  students  of  exceptional  acute- 


430    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VIII. 

ness  and  erudition.  The  Arminians  did  the  work  of  pioneers  in 
the  critical  study  of  the  Bible  and  of  the  early  history  of  the 
Church.  They  were  averse  to  strict  doctrinal  tests,  and  naturally 
advocates  of  toleration.  They  were  inclined  to  reduce  to  a  mini- 
mum the  requirements  for  Christian  union.  Thus  there  were 
fotmd  among  them  varying  shades  of  opinion.  Many  joined  them 
who  went  much  further  than  Arminius  in  the  denial  of  received 
doctrines.  Socinians,  when  driven  from  Poland,  made  their  way 
to  Holland,  where  they  became  amalgamated  with  the  party 
which  opened  hospitable  doors  to  dissenters  from  the  Calvinistic 
creed.  In  England,  in  the  Caroline  period,  Arminianism  grew  to 
be  the  prevalent  faith  in  the  English  Episcopal  Church.  It  leav- 
ened with  its  scholarly  but  tepid  spirit  the  English  theology  of 
the  eighteenth  century.  In  the  Methodist  revival  it  acquired  a 
peculiar  life  and  fervency  which  had  never  belonged  to  it  either  in 
its  native  home  or  after  it  was  transplanted  to  Great  Britain. 

For  the  origin  of  Socinianism  we  must  turn  to  Italy.     The  writ- 
ings of  Michael  Servetus  no  doubt  had  a  decided  influence  in  dif- 
fusing anti-trinitarian  opinions ;  but  most   of  the  con- 
spicuous Unitarians   who   first  appear  were  of  Italian 
birth.     In  that  country,  as  a  concomitant  of  the  renaissance  cul- 
ture,  rationalistic  beliefs   were   widely  diffused  in  the  cultivated 
class.     It  was  Faustus  Socinus,  born  of  a  noble  family 

1539-1604.  .        _,.  ,  ,  .  X      .1  ni  .        ^. 

m  bienna,  who  gave  his  own  name  to  the  adherents  of 
Unitarianism.  He  first  studied  law  and  then  theology.  He  in- 
herited the  papers  of  his  uncle,  Laelius  Socinus,  who  was  a  man 
of  an  inquiring  mind,  and  indicated  in  his  intercourse  with  Cal- 
vin and  other  Protestant  leaders  whom  he  visited,  a  sympathy 
with  Unitarian  doctrine.  After  a  long  residence  in  Florence,  and  a 
sojourn  of  three  years  in  Basel,  Faustus  went  to  Poland,  where  he 
passed  the  remainder  of  his  life.  There  he  found  Unitarians  who 
had  preceded  him.  He  persuaded  them  to  resume  the  custom  of 
infant  baptism,  which  they  had  discarded,  and  was  accepted  by 
them  as  a  guide  and  teacher.  By  Socinus  and  by  the  scholars  who 
were  trained  in  the  Polish  schools,  Unitarianism  was  defined  and 
ably  defended.  It  spread  among  the  higher  classes  until  its  adher- 
ents were  persecuted  in  the  period  of  the  Catholic  reaction.  Soci- 
nus examined  the  Bible  as  a  text-book  of  Christian  doctrine,  not  so 
much  to  meet  any  deep  spiritual  want  within  him,  or  to  appease  an 
inward  moral  struggle,  but  in  the  peculiar  rationalistic  temper  that 
grew  out  of  his  studies  and  associations.  His  system  was  set  forth 
in  the  Racovian  Catechism  (composed  by  the  Racow  preachers), 


1517-1048.]  THE  HISTORY  OF  DOCTRINE.  431 

and  in  the  works  of  the  Fratres  PoZoni— Socinus  himself,  Crellius, 
jg^jg  Schlictingius,   etc.     The   central   point   of   their   creed 

was  the  denial  of  the  divinity  and  satisfaction  of  Christ. 
His  office  was  made  to  be  that  of  a  teacher  and  legislator.  He  re- 
veals the  immortality  of  the  soul  and  verifies  his  testimony  on  this 
subject  by  rising  from  the  dead.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  among 
the  proofs  of  Christianity,  miracles  had  the  first,  if  not  an  exclu- 
sive, place.  The  rationalistic  tendency  led  here  to  an  extreme  su- 
pernaturalism,  in  which  the  force  of  the  internal  evidence  of  the 
gosj)el  counted  for  little.  The  ordinary  doctrines  of  original  sin 
and  of  native  depravity  Avere  rejected.  It  was  held  that  Satan  and 
the  incorrigibly  wicked  are  at  last  annihilated. 

The  special  character  of  the  English  Eeformation  and  the  ques- 
tions in  dispute  between  Churchmen  and  Puritans  have  already 
Anglican  "^Q^n  described.  In  the  sixteenth  century  the  leaders 
theologians.  ^T^^  were  chiefly  concerned  in  building  up  Protestantism 
— as  Cranmer,  Latimer,  Kidley,  Hooper,  Jewel — were  pi-ominent 
preachers  and  theological  authors.  The  fame  of  Richard  Hooker 
rests  mainly  on  his  "  Ecclesiastical  Polity  ; "  bvit  his  fragmentary 
essays  on  the  sacraments  and  on  predestination  are,  in  point  of 
ability,  on  the  level  of  that  more  elaborate  treatise.  In  the  seven- 
teenth century,  there  is  a  long  catalogue  of  eminent  theologians 
and  divines,  both  in  the  Established  Church  and  in  the  ranks  of 
the  Puritans.  Several  of  the  names  which  it  is  convenient  to 
group  together  here,  carry  us  beyond  the  chronological  limit  of 
the  present  period.  In  patristic  lore,  Archbishop  Ussher  had  no  su- 
perior. His  candor  and  piety  were  equal  to  his  learning. 
He  was  an  Episcopalian  of  the  most  moderate  school. 
From  him,  it  may  be  remarked,  was  derived  the  chi'onology  con- 
nected with  the  authorized  version  of  the  Bible.  To  Bishop  Bull, 
1634-1710  ^^^  erudite  champion  of  the  orthodox  doctrine  of  the 
Trinity,  reference  will  hereafter  be  made.  In  exuber- 
ance of  fancy,  Jerem}'  Taylor,  "the  Shakespere  of 
preachers,"  excels  all  other  contemporary  divines.  His  "Holy 
Living  and  Dying  "  has  remained  a  classic  in  English  devotional 
literature.  His  "Ductor  Dubitantium  " — "  Guide  of  Doubters  " — 
is  one  of  a  considerable  number  of  copious  treatises  on  casuistry 
which  were  produced  in  that  age.  To  the  Puritan  theologians  it 
was  a  theme  of  special  interest.  At  one  time,  at  Oxford,  when  the 
Puritans  were  in  the  ascendant,  there  was  an  office  where  min- 
isters might  be  consulted  in  cases  of  conscience.  Taylor,  like  so 
many  other  divines  in  that  period  of  theological  study  and  strife, 


432    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.   [Period  VIII. 

■was  a  very  voluminous  author.     Isaac  Barrow,   besides  being   a 
preacher  whose  vigorous  style  has  won  the  highest  praise 
1630-16.7.       fj.Qj^  ii^Q  ]jest  judges  of  literary  merit,  was  a  mathe- 
matician of  extraordinary  ability.     He  has  the  distinction  of  having 
been  the  teacher  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton.     Edward  Stilling- 
i63o-    ..       g^^^^  Bishop   of   Worcester,   evinced   his   metaphysical 
acumen  in  a  controversy  with  Locke,  and  his  skill  as  a  theologian 
in  books  on  the  evidences  of  Christianity,  on  the  Atonement,  and 
on  the  Trinity.     In  his  theory  of  Episcopacy  he  was  a  very  mod- 
erate Churchman.     Sherlock  will  come  under  our  notice 

William  Sher-  »    -r-.    • 

lock.  16-11-      as  an  antagonist  of  Deism  and  a  writer  on  the  doctrine 
of  the  Trinity.     Wateiiand  ranks  next  to  Bull  as  the 
defender  of  this  article  of  faith.     John  Pearson,  Bishop 
1612-16S6.       ^^  Chester,  published  an  "  Exposition  of  the  [Apostles'] 
Creed,"  which  deserves  the  high  esteem  that  it  has  always  enjoyed 
as  a  manual  of  theology  in  the  EngHsh  Church.     His  discussion  of 
the  Trinity  in   this  treatise  is   learned   and  instructive.     Bishop 
Burnet  is  famous  for  his  "History  of  the  Eeformation," 
and  for  other  productions,  of  which  one  is  the  "Exposi- 
tion of  the  Thirty-nine  Articles."     On  the  publication  of  the  first 
volume  of  his  history,  he  received  the  thanks  of  both  houses  of 
Parliament,  with  a  request  to  continue  the  work.     In  early  life,  he 
spent  some  time  in  Holland,  where  a  perception  of  the  unfeigned 
piety  to  be  found  in  a  number  of  diiferent  religious  bodies,  in- 
spired him  with  a  catholic  spirit.     His  claims  to  respect  as  a  man 
and  as  a  historian  have  been  vindicated  by  Macaulay,  in  the  second 
volume  of  his  "  History  of  England."     Robert  Leighton, 

1611-1684.  .,,.-,  -  ^,  T-,    •  1  1    i         , 

Archbishop  oi  Glasgow,  was  an  iLpiscopal  prelate  whose 
writings,  especially  his  "  Commentary  on  the  First  Epistle  of 
Peter,"  are  marked  by  spiritual  insight  and  charity.  The  sermons 
of  Robert  South  are  distinguished  for  their  vigor  of  thought, 
and  still  more  for  their  racy  style.  His  sentences  follow  one  an- 
other like  the  blows  of  a  flail.  In  respect  to  force  of  expression 
few  preachers  have  ever  surjDassed  him.  The  vituperative  rhetoric 
which  he  delighted  to  pour  out  on  the  heads  of  the  Puritans,  in 
the  days  of  Charles  II.,  gave  keen  delight  to  his  auditors.  South 
was  a  thinker  of  no  mean  ability,  and  a  Calvinist  in  his  theology. 
His  discourse  on  "Man  in  the  Image  of  God,"  is  one  of  the  best 
of  the  better  class  of  his  pulpit  productions.  In  wide  contrast 
103.3-1716  ^^^^^  South  as  regards  temper,  as  well  as  in  the  charac- 
ter of  their  studies,  were  three  divines  justly  honored 
for  their  scholarly  attainments  :   John  Lightfoot,  a   learned  He- 


1517-1648.]  THE  HISTORY  OF  DOCTRINE.  433 

bralst,  who  sat  in  the  Westminster  Assembly  and  wrote  the  "Horse 
1648-1724  Hebraicse ;  "  Humphrey  Prideaux,  the  author  of  "  The 
Connection  between  the  Old  and  the  New  Testaments," 
an  historical  work  excellent  for  its  time  ;  and  Joseph 
Bingham,  whose  untiring  researches  bore  their  fruit  in  his  "An- 
tiquities of  the  Christian  Church." 

In  the  numerous  company  of  Puritan  divines  and  authors,  a  few 
may  be  singled  out  for  particular  notice.  Pdchard  Baxter  (1615- 
Puritan  di-  1691)  was  too  poor  to  study  at  a  university,  but  ho 
''°®^'  amassed  an  immense  store  of  learning.     Of  the  one  hun- 

dred and  sixty  eight  books  that  he  wrote,  three  of  which  are  large 
folios,  the  two  that  are  best  known  are  the  "  Saints'  Everlasting 
Rest,"  and  the  "  Call  to  the  Unconverted."  In  them  his  religious 
earnestness  impresses  every  reader.  Compared  with  his  copious 
theological  treatises,  they  cost  him  little  labor.  Baxter  was  a 
Presbyterian,  was  for  a  time  chaplain  in  Cromwell's  army,  but  by 
no  means  a  cordial  supporter  of  his  government.  lu  politics  as 
in  theology,  it  was  his  lot  to  take  a  middle  course,  and,  although 
perfectly  upright  and  disinterested,  to  receive  the  blows  of  the 
contending  parties.  He  was  willing  to  submit  to  episcopacy,  but 
preferred  a  larger  number  of  bishops  "and  a  division  of  the  bishop's 
power  with  a  council  of  presbyters.  He  aimed  to  mediate  between 
the  Arminians  and  Calvinists,  for  he  was  a  sincere  lover  of  peace. 
He  thought  that  strife  in  theology  was  principally  caused  by  the 
ambiguity  of  terms.  His  own  type  of  belief  may  be  described  as 
moderate  Calvinism.  He  held  that  sufficient  grace  is  given  to  all 
to  repent,  but  that  the  grace  of  the  Spirit  is  not  given  indiscrim- 
inately or  in  equal  measure  to  all.  Where  it  is  granted  in  larger 
measure,  it  is  partly  on  account  of  a  greater  receptivity,  and  partly 
for  good  reasons  inscrutable  to  us.  Burnet  says  of  Baxter  :  "He 
had  a  very  moving  and  pathetical  way  of  writing,  and  was  his  whole 
Hfe  long  a  man  of  great  zeal  and  much  simplicity,  but  was  most 
unhappily  subtle  and  metaphysical  in  everything."  His  preaching 
was  in  the  highest  degree  stirring  and  persuasive.  He  was  sent  to 
prison  by  the  notorious  Jeffreys,  under  James  H.,  but  was  liberated, 
and  survived  the  Eevolution  of  1688.  At  Kidderminster,  where  his 
continued  labors  as  a  pastor  were  signally  successful,  a  statue  in 
honor  of  him  was  unveiled  in  1875,  bearing  the  inscription :  "  Be- 
tween the  years  1641  and  1660,  this  town  was  the  scene  of  the  labors 
of  Richard  Baxter,  renowned  equally  for  his  Christian  learning  and 
his  pastoral  fidelity.  In  a  stormy  and  divided  age  he  advocated 
unity  and  comprehension,  pointing  the  way  to  everlasting  rest." 
28 


434    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.   [Period  VHI. 

John  Owen  was  the  leader  of  the  Independents.  His  "  Commen- 
tary on  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,"  his  treatises  on  "  Divine  Jus- 
tice  "  and  on  "  Justification,"  and  his  polemical  writings 
1683. '  against  Arminians  and  Socinians,  are  monuments  of  his 

r  erudition.  Owen  was  a  rigid  Calvinist.  He  was  sometimes  opposed 
to  Baxter,  and  measured  swords  with  him  in  a  controversy  on  the 
atonement.  He  also  wrote  controversially  against  John  Goodwin 
(1593-1665)  a  learned  independent,  but  an  Arminian,  and  an  ad- 
vocate of  universal  atonement.  Goodwin  held  that  the  heathen  in 
whom  are  seeds  of  piety  and  of  faith  in  redeeming  mercy,  are 
saved, — a  doctrine  at  that  time  obnoxious  to  Calvinists.  He  is 
not  to  be  confounded  with  Thomas  Goodwin,  also  an  Independent  of 
Howe,  1030-  liig'li  distinction,  and  a  Calvinist.  John  Howe,  the  au- 
^™^-  thor  of  "  The  Living  Temple,"  a  discussion  of  the  founda- 

tions of  theism,  and  of  other  learned  theological  writings,  was  one 
of  the  most  genial  and  attractive  of  the  great  Puritan  divines.  He 
was  at  one  time  a  chaplain  of  Cromwell,  but  he  was  held  in  esteem 
by  all  parties.  Kobert  Hall  said  of  him  :  "  I  have  learned  more 
from  John  Howe  than  from  any  author  I  ever  read."  The  Puritan 
divines  wrote  out  of  full  minds,  and  with  hearts  on  fire  with 
Christian  zeal.  Hence  they 'were  prolix,  and  suffer  the  penalty  of 
neglect,  which  generally  overtakes  this  fault. 

There  were  two  laymen  in  the  Puritan  i)arty  who  are  conspic- 
uous for  their  talents  and  fame  as  authors.  John  Seldeu  was  a 
Seiden.  15S4-  lawyer.  He  was,  also,  an  historian  and  a  theologian,  with 
^^^^"  attainments    as    profound    as   they   were  varied.     Tho 

"Hebrew  Wife  "  is  a  treatise  from  his  pen  on  the  subject  of  mar- 
riage and  divorce  in  the  Jewish  state.  His  "  Table-Talk  "  is  full 
of  nuggets  of  gold.  Seiden  sat  in  the  Westminster  Assembh'. 
He  was  styled  by  Grotius  "  the  glory  of  the  British  nation."  The 
Milton,  160&-  distinction  of  John  Milton  as  a  poet  has  not  availed  to 
^^'^'^-  eclipse  his  merit  as  a  prose  writer  of  unsurpassed  elo- 

quence. The  sj)lendor  of  his  diction  is  suited  to  tlie  elevation 
and  glow  of  feeling  that  inspired  him.  He  was  Latin  Secretary  of 
Cromwell,  and  was  an  Independent,  hardly  less  averse  to  Presby- 
terianism  than  to  Episcopacy.  It  had  been  found,  he  said,  that 
"  new  presbyter  is  but  old  priest  writ  large."  He  mingled  in  the 
controversy  with  prelacy,  in  opposition  to  Bishop  Hall  and  Ussher. 
His  posthumous  treatise  on  "Christian  Doctrine"  was  brought 
to  light  in  1823,  and  was  published  two  years  afterwards.  This 
treatise,  although  he  began  early  to  collect  materials  for  such  a 
work,  was  written  in  his  later  years.     In  middle  life  he  was  Calvin- 


1517-1G48.]  THE  HISTORY  OF  DOCTRINE.  435 

istic  in  belief.  In  the  book  just  named,  lie  distinctly  advocates 
Arian  and  Arminian  opinions.  He  propounds  the  same  lax  view 
of  divorce  that  is  presented  in  writings  which  were  published  in 
his  lifetime.  He  denies  that  the  observance  of  the  Lord's  Day  is 
binding  on  accoimt  of  the  fourth  commandment,  or  of  any  other 
scriptural  law.  He  holds  that  immersion  is  the  proper  form  of 
baptism,  that  there  is  no  Scriptural  warrant  for  the  baptism  of 
infants,  but  that  if  one  has  been  baptized  in  infancy,  he  need  not 
be  baptized  again — even  as  the  baptism  of  John  was  regarded  as 
sufficient  for  the  disciples  of  Jesus. 

In  the  latter  half  of  the  sixteenth  century,  the  Church  of  Rome 
made  great  exertions  to  define  and  to  defend  its  position  against 
Roman  Cath-  Protcstautism.  The  creed  of  the  Council  of  Trent  left 
and  theolo-  i^ooux  for  dissouaut  Opinions  on  the  relation  of  free-will 
gians.  Iq  grace,  but  furnished  statements  of  doctrine  that  were 

in  general  sufficiently  clear.     The  Eonian  Catechism,  framed  by  a 
commission  of  theologians,  was  more  favorable  to  the  papal  interest 
than  the  Tridentine   symbol.     The   Jesuits   did  not  like  its  Do- 
minican theology,  and  often  preferred  to  use  their  own 
Catechism,  written  by  Canisius.     In  the  jDeriod  of  the 
Reformation,  Erasmus  was  the  foremost  writer  in  behalf  of  the 
Roman  Church,  although  there  were  notable  polemics,  like  John 
Eck.     Cajetan,  a  cardinal,  the  same  who  met  Luther  at  Augsburg, 
became  a  thorough  student  of  the  Scriptures,  and  in  his  comment- 
aries did  not  hesitate  to  differ  in  the  interpretation  of  passages 
from  the  Fathers  and  Schoolmen.     In  the  Tridentine  age,  as  an 
indirect  answer  to  the  "Magdeburg  Centuries,"  the  work  of  Lu- 
theran writers,  Baronius  wrote  his   long   and   learned 
"Ecclesiastical  Annals,"  in  the  preparation  of  which  he 
had  access  to  the  Vatican  archives.    The  principal  authority  in  dog- 
matic theology  was  the  work  of  Robert  Bellarmine  (1542-1621), 
which  furnished  an  arsenal  of  weajDons  for  the  defenders  of  the 
Catholic  faith.     He  set  forth  an  exalted  view  of  the  prerogatives  of 
the  pope  in  relation   to   secular   rulers.     Father   Paul 
Sarpi,   in  his  "History  of  the  Council  of  Trent,"  was 
so   liberal  in  his  ideas  of   clerical  and   papal   authority,    and   so 
caustic  in  his  criticism  of  persons  and  proceedings  in  the  Church, 
that  he  was  treated  with  more  hostility  than  favor  in  his  own  com- 
munion.    An  attempt  was  even  made  to  assassinate  him.     He  was 
excommunicated,  but  was  released  from  the  ban  when 
Venice,  his  native  city,  whose  cause  he  steadily  main- 
tained, made  peace  with  the  pope.    To  counteract  the  work  of  Father 


436    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OP  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VIH. 

Paul,  which  gave  so  much  pleasure  to  Protestants,  Pallavicini  wi'ote, 
from  the  papal  point  of  view,  another  and  a  quite  elaborate  "  His- 
tory- of  the  Council."  Francis  Suarez,  a  Spanish  theologian  of  the 
Jesuit  order,  expounded  with  rare  subtlety  the  scholastic  theology 
of  the  Semi-Pelagian  type.  He  taught  the  ethical  principles  of  the 
order  to  which  he  belonged.  His  work  against  the  heresies  of  the 
Anglican  Church  called  out  the  special  thanks  of  Poj^e  Paul  V.,  and 
was  burned  before  St.  Paul's  Church  by  order  of  James  L,  and,  also, 
in  Paris  by  vote  of  parliament,  which  condemned  it  for  its  anti- 
Gallican  assertions  of  papal  supremacy.  Suarez,  with  Bellarmine, 
affirmed  the  right  of  the  pope  to  depose  kings.  The  modern 
science  of  the  histoiy  of  theological  doctrine  owes  a  large  debt  to 
Petavius,  an  erudite  Jesuit,  who  was  one  of  its  principal 
founders.  His  volumes  on  this  subject  are  chai'acterized 
by  vast  learning  and  by  no  small  degree  of  literary  skill.  He 
grasped  distinctly  the  idea  of  a  development  of  doctrine.  In  this 
work  and  in  other  productions  of  his  pen,  it  is  manifest  that  he 
had  profited  by  his  friendship  with  eminent  Protestant  scholars, 
one  of  whom  was  Isaac  Casaubon.  The  mystical  and  devout 
school  in  the  Eoman  Catholic  Church  had  an  influential 
leader  in  Francis  of  Sales.  In  the  neighborhood  of 
Geneva  he  was  active  and  successful  in  converting  Protestants. 
In  1602  he  was  made  Bishop  of  that  city.  He  was  a  simple, 
pointed,  impressive  preacher.  By  devout  women,  of  a  type  of 
2)iety  akin  to  his  own,  he  was  highly  valued  as  a  religious  guide. 
As  an  ecclesiastic  and  politician,  he  showed  himself  an  adroit 
manager.  His  writings  and  example  engendered  in  part  the 
Quietism  of  which  Molinos,  Fenelon,  and  Madame  Guyon  were 
the  representatives.  Within  the  limits  of  this  period  falls  the  life 
of  Jansenius,  Bishop  of  Ypres,  by  whom  the  Augustinian 
theology  was  revived,  and  whose  opinions  were  after- 
wards adopted  by  Pascal  and  the  Port  Koyalists.  Thus  the  Jan- 
senist  party,  so  influential  in  the  history  of  France,  had  its  origin. 

The  philosophy  of  Aristotle  was  so  interwoven  with  the  scholas- 
tic theology  that  in  the  assault  upon  it  he  was  also  an  object  of  at- 
tack.   Luther  calls  him  hard  names,  and  often  inveighs 

Philosophy.  ,        .  .       ,     .         • 

agauist  him  with  full  as  much  vigor  as  against  Aquinas. 
It  was  the  Aristotelian  ethics  that  was  especially  obnoxious  to  the 
Saxon  reformer.  His  treatises  in  other  branches  of  science  Luther 
admitted  to  be  useful.  On  the  basis  of  them  Melanchthon  pre- 
pared several  manuals  of  instruction.  The  two  renovators  of 
l)hilosophy  are  Bacon  and  Des  Cartes.     Bacon  blamed  the  school- 


lol7-lG48.]  THE  HISTORY   OF  DOCTRINE.  437 

men  for  tlieir  neglect  of  natural  and  physical  science,  and  for  the 
Fraricis  Ba-  sterilitj  of  their  method  in  its  application  to  this  class 
16"6  ^^*^^~  ^^  inquiries.  They  had  forgotten  to  search  for  physical 
causes,  and  had  desj^ised  the  path  of  patient  investi- 
gation. But  Bacon  insisted  that  final  causes  "are  worthy  to  be 
inquired,  being  kept  within  their  own  provinces  "  of  metaphysics 
and  theology.  He  would  "  rather  believe  all  the  fables  in  the  Le- 
gend, and  the  Talmud,  and  the  Alcoran,  than  that  this  universal 
frame  is  without  a  mind."  If  the  mind  looks  on  second  causes,  "  con- 
federate and  linked  together,  it  must  needs  fly  to  Providence  and 
Deity."  The  discoveries  of  Copernicus  subjected  those  who  em- 
braced them,  if  they  were  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Church  of 
Rome,  to  the  penalties  of  heresy.  Giordano  Bruno,  a  man  of  brill- 
iant intellect,  an  adherent  of  the  Copernican  theor}^  and  an  as- 
sailant of  Ai'istotle,  develojDed  a  theory  of  Pantheism,  and  Avas 
burned  at  the  stake,  at  Rome,  in  IGOO.  Galileo  was  compelled  by 
the  Inquisition  to  renounce  his  opinions. 

In  metaphysics  the  founder  of  the  modern  schools  was  Des' 
Cartes.  He  used  all  caution  to  avoid  giving  offence  to  ecclesiastics, 
Des  Cartes,  ^^^  ^^  ^^'^  ^1°^  escape  the  censure  of  the  Sorbonne.  In- 
i596-i(i50.  stead  of  beginning  with  a  mass  of  statements  taken  for 
gi-anted,  philosophy  claimed  its  independence.  It  was  no  longer 
to  be  the  handmaid  of  theology.  Des  Cartes  proposed  to  start  with 
a  self-evident  proposition :  "I  think,  therefore  I  am,"  and  on  this 
foundation  to  erect,  by  the  aid  of  logic,  the  entire  metaphysical 
structure.  The  doctrine  of  the  separateness  of  mind  and  matter, 
of  the  immateriality  of  the  soul,  and  of  innate  ideas,  constituted 
the  si^iritual  character  of  his  system.  Its  publication  was  the  ad- 
vent of  a  new  era. 

The  founder  of  modern  Pantheism  was  Spinoza.  He  was  of , 
Jewish  parentage  and  of  Portuguese  descent,  but  was  born  at  Am- 
Spinoza,  sterdam.  He  was  expelled  from  the  synagogue  for  her- 
1632-1677.  ggy_  jjg  ^g^g  inspired  with  a  deep  but  quiet  passion  for 
thought  and  study.  A  man  of  integrity,  he  declined  from  conscien- 
tious motives,  a  professorship  at  Heidelberg,  preferring  to  support 
himself  by  manual  labor.  Spinoza  held  that  there  is  one  and  but 
one  substance,  of  which  all  things  are  the  phenomenal  manifesta- 
tion. It  has  an  infinite  number  of  infinite  attributes,  only  two  of 
which,  thought  and  extension,  are  revealed  to  us.  All  individual 
things,  material  and  mental,  are  modes  of  the  attributes  ;  they 
have  no  substantial  being.  Self-consciousness  and  forethought  are 
denied  to  the  Deity,  and  our  belief  in  free-will  is  called  an  illusion. 


438    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  Vin. 

The  world  is  tlius  identified  with  God,  and  resolved  into  an  ex- 
pression of  his  infinite  but  impersonal  nature.  In  his  "  Tractatua 
Theologico-Politicus,"  Spinoza  entered  into  an  examination  of  the 
Scriptures,  and  was  the  precui'sor  of  the  rationalistic  critics  of  Ger- 
many. Religion  he  affirmed  to  be  the  love  of  God,  and  to  be  inde- 
pendent of  doctrines.  The  state  may  regulate  the  externals  of  re- 
ligion, but  must  leave  thought  free. 

There  were  writers  in  this  j)eriod  whose  place  is  among  the 

men  of  letters,  but  whom  the  history  of  j)hilosophy  cannot  pass  by. 

One  of  these  was  Rabelais,  a  child  of  the  Renaissance,  a 

Franfois 

Kabeiais,  humorist  whose  creed  was  confined  to  bare  theism,  without 
so  much  as  a  clear  acknowledgment  of  the  immortality  of 
Mi  hei  de  ^-^^  ^^^^'  ^'^onta.igne,  by  his  essays,  founded  a  new  de- 
Montaigne,  partment  of  literature,  although  the  essays  of  Plutarch 
furnished  a  sort  of  model ;  and  of  Plutarch  he  was  an  ad- 
mu-ing  student.  In  Montaigne's  genial  and  desultory  dissertations 
on  a  great  variety  of  topics,  there  is  no  hostility  to  Christian  truth, 
but  there  is  a  depreciation  of  the  caj)acity  of  reason,  and  such  a 
remanding  of  religion  to  the  domain  of  unsupported  faith,  as 
amounts  to  an  amiable  scepticism. 

Protestants,  in  oj)posing  the  Roman  Catholic  belief  that  the 
tradition  of  apostolic  teaching  is  on  a  level  with  Scripture,  some- 
^^  „.^,         times  undervalued  or  ignored  tradition  as  a  form  of  his- 

The  Bible  " 

unci  Tradi-      torical  evidence,   and  tacitly  j)ut  traditions  at  a  point 
near  the  apostolic  age  on  a  par  with  those  of  a  later  date. 
A  more  discriminating  statement  on  this  subject  was  made  by  Ar- 
minius  and  Grotius.     The  Council  of  Trent  gave  normal  authority 
to  the  Old  Testament  Apocrypha.     Here  the  Protestants  differed. 
The  Apocryphal  books  were  printed  in  connection  with  the  early 
Protestant  versions.    These  books,  say  the  Thirty-nine  Articles,  "  the 
Church  doth  read  for  examj)le  of  life  and  instruction  of 
manners,  but  yet  it  doth  not  apply  them  to  establish 
any   doctrine."      The    Tridentine   Council,    strange   to   say,    pro- 
nounced the  Vulgate  translation  authoritative  in  controversies,  an 
ordinance  that  has  occasioned  embarrassment  to  Roman  Catholic 
scholars. 

Respecting  the  canon,  there  was  at  the  outset  considerable  free- 
dom of  expression  among  Protestant  leaders.  Luther  placed  He- 
The  Canon:  brews,  James,  Jude,  and  the  Apocalypse  at  the  end  of 
Inspiration,  j^-g  translation.  He  distinguishes  them  from  "  the  Cap- 
ital Books  of  the  New  Testament  "  which  precede,  as  having  "had 
of  yore  a  different  standing."    He  admires  the  Epistle  of  James, 


1517-1G48.]  THE  HISTORY  OP  DOCTRINE.  439 

yet  thinks  that  James  did  not  write  it.  He  says  of  it  that,  com- 
pared with  the  writings  of  John,  Paul,  and  Peter,  "it  is  an  epistle 
of  straw."  In  the  "Table-talk"  he  is  reported  as  saying,  "What 
matter  if  Moses  did  not  write  Genesis  ?  "  Both  Luther  and  Zwingli' 
discarded  the  Apocalyi^se  as  non-apostolic,  and  even  Calvin  takes 
no  notice  of  it.  Luther  was  inclined  to  weigh  the  value  of  each 
of  the  sacred  books  by  the  relation  of  its  teaching  to  the  doctrine 
of  gratuitous  salvation  through  Christ.  This  "  article  of  a  stand- 
ing or  falling  Church"  was  the  criterion  of  the  genuineness  or 
worth  of  a  writing  professing  to  be  apostolic.  There  was  little 
discussion  of  the  doctrine  of  insinration.  It  was  not  one  of  the 
points  of  dispute  with  the  Catholics.  Luther  holds  that  there 
are  historical  discrepancies  in  the  Scriptures.  Even  Calvin  speaks 
of  apparent  dissonances  on  minor  points  as  of  no  account.  The 
Arminians  and  Socinians  propounded  more  lax  views  of  the  nature 
and  extent  of  inspiration  than  wei'e  prevalent.  The  Swiss  theo- 
logians w^ho  framed  the  "  Formula  Consensus  Helvetica  "  went  to 
the  opposite  extreme.  They  claimed  inspiration  for  the  vowel- 
points  of  the  Hebrew  text,  at  least  as  to  their  potentiality.  They 
were  champions  of  the  method  of  philology  inculcated  by  Buxtorf, 
a  distinguished  grammarian.  Among  English  theologians,  Bax- 
ter differs  somewhat  from  the  customary  views.  He  compares  the 
Bible  to  a  man's  body,  some  parts  of  which  have  a  higher  dig- 
nity and  esteem  than  others.  He  blames  those  who  make  the 
Christian  religion  stand  or  fall  on  the  truth  of  "  every  item  of  his- 
tory, genealogy,  numbei",  or  word."  "  The  sense,"  he  declares,  "is 
the  soul  of  Scripture,  and  the  letters  but  the  body  or  vehicle." 
Protestants  generally,  as  the  contest  with  the  Eoman  Catholics 
went  on,  were  disposed  to  plant  themselves  on  fixed  views  of  the 
canon,  and  on  the  doctrine  of  biblical  infallibility.  On  this  subject 
the  tone  of  the  seventeenth-century  theologians  differs  widely  from 
that  of  Luther  and  his  contemporaries. 

As  one  guide  in  interpretation,  the  Protestants  adopted  the 
"analogy  of  faith."  That  is  to  say,  assuming  that  the  Scriptures 
are  in  harmony  as  regards  doctrine,  they  made  it  a  rule 
xegesis.  ^^  interpret  a  passage  of  doubtful  import  in  accordance 
with  the  meaning  of  other  passages  which  are  clear.  AllegoricalN'' 
exegesis  was  for  a  considerable  j)eriod  prevalent.  The  tendency 
was  to  find,  whenever  it  was  possible,  in  the  Old  Testament,  pro- 
phetic anticipations  of  the  Messiah.  Grotius  went  to  the  other 
extreme.  It  was  said  that  Cocceius  found  Christ  everywhere  in 
the  Old  Testament ;  Grotius,  nowhere.     The  Arminian   scholars 


440    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OP  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  Vm. 

did  much  to  liberate  exegesis  from  its  servitude  to  dogmatic  the- 
ology. 

The  Eeformers  taught  that  while  the  natural  understanding  is 
competent  to  judge  of  the  external  evidence  of  Revelation — to  per- 
Bcriptureand  c^ive,  for  example,  the  force  of  the  argument  from 
reason.  miraclcs — jct,  for  a  spiritual  discernment  of  the   con- 

tents of  Scripture,  and  for  an  inward,  living  perception  and  con- ' 
viction  of  the  reality  of  the  gospel  thei'e  unfolded,  the  testimony 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  imparted  directly  to  the  heart,  is  requisite. 
Luther  in  severe  and  extravagant  terms  assails  the  pretensions  of 
reason  to  judge  in  the  sphere  of  divine  truth  ;  but  his  assault  is 
really  directed  against  reason  as  darkened  by  sin  and  swayed  by  an 
unwarrantable  bias.  Yet  possibly  a  reminiscence  of  Occam's 
teaching  on  the  contradictions  of  faith  and  science  may  have  had 
its  influence.  The  Socinians,  who  acknowledged  no  such  blinding 
influence  of  moral  evil,  magnified  the  capacity  of  reason  in  its  re- 
lation to  religious  inquiry.  They  not  only  insisted  that  nothing 
contrary  to  reason  could  be  accepted  ;  they  were  prone  to  attrib- 
ute to  a  false  interpretation  Scripture  doctrines,  like  the  Trin- 
ity, which  seemed  to  their  minds  inconsistent  with  reason.  It  was 
not  the  intention  of  the  Protestants  to  exalt  the  creeds  which  they 
framed,  above  the  Bible.  In  some  of  them  the  possibility  of  fur- 
ther light  is  exjDressly  anticipated.  In  the  contests  of  parties,  how- 
ever, as  well  as  in  the  constant  battle  with  Eome,  there  was  a 
tendency,  esj)ecially  in  the  seventeenth  century,  to  give  to  the  ac- 
credited symbols  a  sort  of  authority  not  consistent  with  Protestant 
freedom,  and  the  professed  right  of  free  inquiry  and  private 
judgment. 

The  Eeformers,  including  Melanchthon  and  Calvin,  teach  that 
some  obscure  knowledge  of  God  and  a  latent  conviction  of  respon- 
The  being  sibility  to  him  are  native  to  the  mind.  Des  Cartes, 
"^^o^-  among  the philosophei-s,  renewed  the  attempt  to  dem- 

onstrate the  existence  of  the  Deity.  We  have,  he  said,  an  innate 
idea  of  an  infinite  and  perfect  being  :  if  there  be  not  such  a  being, 
this  idea  is  false  and  delusive.  Des  Cartes  has  another  a  priori 
argument.  We  have  an  idea  of  an  aU-perfect  being,  which  in- 
cludes in  it  the  element  of  necessary  existence,  just  as  the  equality 
of  the  three  angles  in  a  triangle  to  two  right  angles  is  involved 
necessarily  in  its  idea.  Philosophers  still  difi"er  on  the  question  of 
the  validity  of  these  arguments. 

Calvin  presents  a  j^erspicuous  statement  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
Trinity.     Of  such  words  as  "  person,"  as  they  occur  in  the  formu- 


1517-1648.]  THE  HISTORY  OF  DOCTRINE.  441 

laries,  Calvin  says :  "  I  could  wish  tliem,  indeed,  to  be  buried  in 
.  oblivion,  px'ovided  this  faith  were  universally  received, 
that  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost  are  the  one  God, 
and  that,  nevertheless,  the  Son  is  not  the  Father,  nor  the  Sj^irit 
the  Son,  but  that  they  are  distinguished  from  each  other  by  some 
peculiar  property."  Melanchthon,  while  ho  was  confident  that  di- 
vine honors  ought  to  be  rendered  to  Christ,  confesses  his  perplex- 
ity in  regard  to  defining  the  hypostases.  Like  Baxter  and  others, 
and  after  the  example  of  Augustine,  he  sought  for  analogies  to  the 
Trinity  in  the  constitution  of  the  human  mind. 

The  Lutherans  and  Calvinists  made  the  divine  image  in  Adam 

to  consist  in  his  perfections,  natural  and  moral,  collectively  taken. 

The  Arminians  and  Socinians  differed  in  holding  that 

OngiDal  am.  ° 

his  original  perfection  did  not  embrace  character,  which 
was  his  own  creation.  The  consequences  of  the  fall  involved,  ac- 
cording to  the  old  Protestant  theology,  not  only  a  forfeiture  of 
grace,  and  "the  wounds  of  nature  "  which  resulted,  but,  also,  a  to- 
tal depravation  or  corruption  of  man's  nature.  The  posterity  of 
Adam  are  born  sinful,  and  are  accounted  guilty  of  the  first  trans- 
gression. From  this  doctrine  not  only  the  Socinians,  but  also  the 
Arminians  dissented.  The  native  propensity  of  men  to  sin  they 
denied  to  be,  in  the  proper  sense,  culpable.  The  Arminians  taught 
that,  as  an  effect  of  the  fall,  men  are  born  in  such  a  state  of  blind- 
ness and  weakness  that  without  grace  they  are  not  able  to  do  any- 
thing righteous  or  acceptable  to  God.  The  sinfulness  of  men  is 
the  consequence  of  this  inborn  disability,  and  grace  is  its  remedy. 
Generally,  among  Calvinists  in  the  seventeenth  century,  the  impu- 
tation of  Adam's  sin  to  men  was  considered  the  first  element  in 
original  sin  ;  but  Placeus,  following  Calvin  himself,  regards  inborn 
depravity  as  standing  first  in  order.  In  other  words,  they  held 
that  imputation  is  mediate.  But  all  united  in  the  Augustinian, 
realistic  conception  of  a  participation  of  mankind  in  the  fall  of 
Adam.  The  doctrine  of  the  covenant  headship  of  Adam,  or  of 
Adam  as  a  representative,  submitting  to  jDrobation  for  the  race, 
was  superimposed  on  the  Augustinian  view.  Later,  from  becom- 
ing an  adjunct,  it  came  to  be  a  substitute  for  it,  and  served 
then  as  a  theory  to  explain  why  the  first  sin  of  Adam,  and  no 
other  sins,  were  charged  to  the  account  of  his  posterity.  That 
is  to  say,  the  Federal  theory  took  the  place  of  the  Augustinian. 
That  theory  is  identified  with  the  name  of  Cocceius,  a  Dutch  theo- 
logian, by  whom,  however,  it  was  not  originated,  but  fully  devel- 
oped.     Zwingli   did  not  admit  that  our  native  corruption  is  in 


442    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VIH. 

itself  blameworthy.  In  England,  Jeremy  Taylor  was  one  of  the 
earlier  advocates  of  the  Arminian  views  on  this  topic. 

At  the  outset,  predestination  was  stoutly  affirmed  by  the  Saxon 
as  weU  as  the  Swiss  Eeformers,  although  with  Zwingli  it  was  more 
e^jegtiua-  ^  theory  than  a  part  of  his  practical  teaching.  Mel- 
^°^-  anchthon  renounced  his  former  belief  in  unconditional 

election.  The  Lutherans,  with  the  Arminians,  taught  that  grace 
is  offered  to  all,  that  God  desires  all  to  accept  it,  and  that  the 
influences  of  the  Spirit  are  resistible.  Like  views  prevailed  exten- 
sively among  the  Greeks  and  Roman  Catholics.  The  Jansenists 
revived  the  Augustinian  idea,  but  were  persecuted  for  their  advo- 
cacy of  it.  Among  Calvinists,  the  milder  or  infralapsarian  doctrine 
of  decrees,  was  presented  in  the  creed  of  Dort  and  in  the  creed  and 
catechisms  of  the  Westminster  Assembly.  Li  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church,  Molina,  a  Sx)anish  Jesuit,  published  a  work  to  reconcile 
differences  on  this  theme  of  endless  controversy.  The  ]\Iolinists 
blended  with  the  Semi-Pelagian  view  what  was  called  the  scientia 
media — the  opinion  that  God,  foreseeing  what  each  particular  per- 
son would  be  and  do,  under  aU  possible  circumstances,  sends  to 
perdition  such  as  he  knows  would,  whatever  exertions  were  made 
to  persuade  them,  remain  obdurate.  The  Dominicans,  who  fol- 
lowed their  master,  Aquinas,  in  making  divine  agency  the  real 
efficient  in  conversion,  made  war  on  this  Molinist  tenet.  The 
prolonged  deliberations  of  a  congregation  appointed  by  Clement 
Vni.  to  settle  the  dispute  led  to  no  conclusion. 

The  divinity  of  Christ  and  the  doctrine  of  the  two  natures  were 
accepted  by  all  except  the  Socinians,  by  whom  it  was  held  that  the 
The  person  ^^^^  Christ  Jcsus,  the  appointed  Messiah,  was  exalted 
of  Christ.  i^y  |.]^g  merit  of  his  obedience  to  a  share  in  the  divine 
majesty  and  dominion.  The  Lutherans  differed  from  the  Calvin- 
ists in  teaching  the  mutual  communication  of  the  attributes  of  the 
two  natures.  The  divine  natm-e  imparted  its  attributes  to  the 
human,  wlierebj^  there  i-esulted  the  ubiquity  of  the  Saviour's  glori- 
fied body,  an  essential  part  of  the  Lutheran  doctrine  of  the  sacra- 
ment. The  Calvinists  were  inclined  to  make  the  central  point — 
the  ego — in  the  person  of  Jesus  to  be  the  divine  Logos.  Early  in 
the  seventeenth  centmy,  the  kenosis  controversy  broke 
out  between  two  schools  in  Germany — Tubingen  and 
Giessen.  The  Tiibingen  doctors  contended  that  Jesus,  while  in 
the  flesh,  renounced  the  use  of  divine  attributes  only  in  relation  to 
the  government  of  the  world.  The  Giessen  doctors  extended  this 
renunciation  over  the  entire  field  of  his  activity.     Calvin  was  one 


1517-104S.]  THE  HISTORY  OF  DOCTRINE.  443 

of  those  who  rejected  the  opinion  that  if  sin  had  not  entered  the 
■world,  Jesus  would  still  have  become  incarnate. 

Anselmic  ideas  were  at  the  root  of  the  old  Protestant  repre-  v/' 
sentations  of  the  atonement.     Calvin  teaches  that  "  God  in  a  cer- 
The  Atone-      tain  iueftahle  manner,  at  the  same  time  that  he  loved  us, 
'^^'^^-  was  nevertheless  angry  with  us,  till  he  was  reconciled 

in  Christ,"  by  whom  his  anger  was  appeased.  Luther  laid  stress 
on  the  victory  of  Jesus  over  Satan,  sin,  and  death.  He  presents 
profound  and  interesting  views,  akin  to  the  ideas  of  the  deej^er 
mystics,  on  the  identification  of  Jesus  with  us  in  love,  who  "  de- 
meaned himself  not  otherwise  before  God  his  father  than  if  he  had 
himself  done  all  the  sin  which  we  have  done,  and  as  if  he  had  de- 
served all  that  which  we  have  deserved."  It  was  generally  taught 
that  Christ  bore  for  us  the  full  penalty  of  sin.  The  Arminians, 
however,  in  agreement  with  the  idea  of  "acceptilation,"  the  theory 
of  Scotus,  taught  that  the  death  of  Christ  had  not,  in  itself  con- 
sidered, this  full  value,  but  was,  by  the  compassion  of  God,  taken 
as  an  equivalent,  or  acce^Dted  as  a  ransom.  The  Calvinistic  doc- 
trine was,  that  while  the  death  of  Jesus  was  sufficient  for  the  sal-  \ 
vation  of  all,  it  was  intended  for  the  benefit  of  the  elect  alone.  I 
Theology  distinguished  between  the  Saviour's  active  and  passive 
obedience  ;  the  first,  balancing  the  account  for  positive  infractions 
of  the  law,  the  second,  for  negative  omissions  of  duty. 

Against  the  Anselmic,  or  prevalent  judicial  view  of  the  atonement, 
a  formidable  attack  was  made  by  Socinus.  He  alleged  that  both 
sin  and  punishment  are  pei'sonal,  and  can  neither  of  them  be  trans- 
ferred. He  also  denied  that,  if  the  debt  of  penalty  is  paid,  there  is 
any  grace  in  forgiveness,  or  any  justice  in  requiring  of  the  sinner 
anything  more — for  example,  repentance  and  faith. 

Grotius,  the  eminent  Arminian  jurist,  took  the  field  in  opposi- 
tion to  Socinus.  He  modified  the  received  theory  by  the  iutroduc-*- 
„^  ^   ^.        tion  of  the  governmental  view.     The  reasoning  of  Soci- 

The  Grotian  °  ,  » 

View  of  the     uus  assumcd  that  the  relation  of  the  transgressor  is  that 

Atonement.  ,  ,  ,  ,  .^ 

of  a  debtor  to  a  creditor.  This  Grotius  denied.  His  re- 
lation is  that  of  a  subject  to  a  ruler.  Now  a  ruler  has  the  right 
to  remit  a  penalty,  provided  the  end  for  which  penalty  is  ordained 
is  secured.  This  end  is  the  preservation  of  order  and  the  preven- 
tion of  future  transgressions.  The  death  of  Christ  secures  this 
result  as  being  "  a  penal  example  ; "  that  is,  as  showing  impress- 
ively what  sin  deserves,  what  the  penalty  would  be  if  actually  in- 
flicted. It  is  a  manifestation  of  the  law-giver's  hatred  of  sin. 
Not  being  the  literal  penalty,  God  may  determine  what  further 


444    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.    [Period  VIII. 

conditions  are  proper  and  requisite  for  the  issue  of  a  pardon.  The 
view  of  Grotius  is  substantially  the  "  acceptilation  "  theory.  It 
proceeds  on  a  different  foundation  from  the  Anselmic  doctrine, 
which  assumes  that  the  execution  of  the  penalty  to  the  full  ex- 
tent is  an  inexorable  requirement  of  the  divine  justice,  or  that 
it  would  not  be  righteous  for  God  to  spare  the  law-breaker  until 
the  penalty  had  been  fvdly  and  objectively  borne  by  himself  or  by 
a  substitute. 

The  Protestants  contended  that  justification  is  forensic.  It  is 
the  acquittal  of  the  sinner,  and  his  acceptance  by  consequent  adop- 
tion, on  the  ground  of  the  merits  of  Christ.  Whoever 
is  justified  is  also  sanctified,  but  the  two  parts  of  salva- 
tion are  distinct.  With  the  Eoman  Catholics,  "justify  "  means  to 
make  just.  The  first  element  is  the  infusion  of  the  principle  of 
righteousness.  Pardon  follows  as  an  attendant.  The  imputation 
of  the  righteousness  of  Christ  to  the  believer,  which  was  afiirmed 
by  the  Lutherans  and  Calvinists,  was  not  admitted  either  by  the 
Catholics  or  Arminians.  The  latter  taught  that  faith  is  counted  as 
righteousness  through  a  gracious  act  of  God.  Justification,  ac- 
cording to  the  Protestants,  is  by  faith  alone,  which  in  its  own 
nature  is  productive  of  good  works.  Moreover,  they  generally 
held  that  faith  justifies,  not  on  account  of  any  moral  excellence  in- 
hering in  it,  but  as  an  instrument  bringing  the  sinner  into  con- 
nection with  Christ.  Here  the  Arminians  and  Socinians  differed. 
They  attributed  to  faith  an  intrinsic  worth  in  the  sight  of  God, 
who  accepts  it  as  an  imperfect  degree  of  righteousness,  which, 
on  account  of  Christ,  is  reckoned  as  perfect.  The  Eoman  Catho- 
lics added  to  faith  other  tempers  of  heart,  as  j)enitence,  the  pur- 
pose to  reform,  etc.,  as  conditions  of  salvation.  With  them  it  is 
faith  mingled  with  charity  or  love,  which  justifies.  With  them 
faith  is  historical  and  doctrinal.  Hence  love  must  be  superadded. 
On  the  contrary,  in  the  Protestant  view,  faith  is  an  act  of  self- 
committal  to  Christ  as  a  Saviour  both  from  sin  and  guilt.  Inas- 
much as,  in  the  Catholic  theology,  baptism  cleanses  the  soul  of 
guilt,  justification  is  rather  by  baptism  than  by  faith.  For  all  sins 
committed  after  baptism,  the  offender  must  himself  make  satisfac- 
tion, without  which  the  merits  of  Christ  will  be  of  no  avail  to  him. 

In  the  early  days  of  the  Reformation  it  was  considered  by 

Protestants   an   invaluable  gain  from   the  doctrine  of  gratuitous 

salvation  that  it  sets  the  heart  of  the  believer  at  rest. 

As  he  has  only  to  take  a  gift,  he  is  delivered  from  the 

doubt  as  to  his  forgiveness  and  from  the  consequent  self-torture 


1517-1648.]  THE  HISTORY   OF  DOCTRINE.  445 

which  the  mediaeval  doctrine  of  salvation  by  human  merit  in- 
flicted. The  Eeformers  were  at  first  inclined  to  make  assurance 
to  be  an  essential  element  in  saving  faith.  But  they  came  to  the 
conclusion,  Avhich  Calvin  clearly  expresses,  that  the  comfort  of  the 
believer  may  be  disturbed  by  misgivings  growing  out  of  timidity 
and  self-criticism,  so  that  his  faith  may,  at  intervals,  even  be 
eclipsed  by  the  clouds  of  fear.  The  "Westminster  creeds  dis- 
tinctly state  that  assurance  is  not  "  of  the  essence  of  saving  faith." 
The  Calviuists  differed  from  Augustine  on  one  point  in  the  doc- 
trine respecting  perseverance.  They  held  that  none  of  the  truly 
converted  ever  fall  away  and  fail  of  salvation.  The 
Lutherans  followed  Augustine  in  his  opinion  that  not 
all  the  regenerate  are  elect.  The  Ai-miuians  and  Socinians  called 
in  question  the  dogma  of  the  uniform  perseverance  of  believers. 
The  Protestants  rejected  the  distinction  as  made  by  the  Catholics 
between  evangelical  precepts  and  counsels,  and  with  it  the  su- 
perior merit  attached  to  the  monastic  virtues  of  continence,  obe- 
dience, and  poverty.  They  denied,  also,  that  vows  form  a  part 
of  the  system  of  worship,  and  taught  that  every  vow  taken  by  an 
individual  must  relate  to  something  in  his  power  to  perform,  and 
must  be  freely  and  deliberately  made.  In  the  Protestant  system 
there  were  no  mortal  sins  except  habits  and  offences  Avhich  are 
iucomj)atible  with  the  exercise  of  evangelical  faith. 

The  Eeformers  denied  tliat  the  Church  is  to  be  identified  with 
the  visible  community  of  which  the  Pope  is  the  head.  The  Church 
is  the  society  of  believers  in  which  the  word  is  preached 
and  the  sacraments  are  duly  administered.  It  was 
implied  in  the  Protestant  doctrine  that  members  of  a  visible 
Church  who  are  not  truly  pious  are  to  be  distinguished  from 
believers,  who  are  thus  the  Church  invisible.  This  distinction 
was  first  explicitly  made  by  the  Calvinists.  The  maxim  of  the 
Church  of  Rome,  that  "  beyond  the  Church  there  is  no  salvation," 
was  adopted  in  another  sense  by  the  Protestants,  who  generally 
held  that  the  means  of  salvation  are  confined  within  the  limits 
of  Christian  teaching  and  institutions.  Protestants  refused  to 
consider  the  clergy  as  a  priesthood,  or  as  sejDarated  from  the  laity 
in  any  other  way  than  as  charged  with  cei'tain  official  functions.  It 
was  held  to  be  the  right  of  the  Church  to  call  its  ministers  and 
appoint  them,  in  opposition  to  the  claim  that  the  clergy  are  an 
order  which  appoints  its  own  members,  under  the  suiDerintendence 
of  a  visible  head,  the  Roman  Pontiff.  Protestant  ideas  of  discipline 
and  of  excommunication  were  conformed  to  this  conception  of  the 


446    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OP  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VIII. 

ministry  as  organs  of  tlie  body  of  believers.  The  rise  and  spread 
of  a  modified  view  of  the  clerical  office  in  the  English  EjDiscopal 
Church  have  akeady  been  explained.  It  was  natural  that  Prot- 
estants should  abolish  the  rule  of  celibacy,  which  continued  to 
pi-evail  in  the  Church  of  Eome,  and,  as  regards  bishops,  in  the 
Greek  Church. 

After  the  Keformation,  Bellarmine  and  other  Catholic  theolo- 
gians were  disposed  to  dwell  more  on  the  advantage  and  even  ne- 
The  sacra-  ccssity  of  Certain  states  of  mind,  in  order  that  the  sacra- 
ments, ments  may  exert  their  proper  efficacy.  Penitence  and 
other  feelings,  in  addition  to  freedom  from  the  guilt  of  mortal  sin, 
are  said  to  be  requisite.  Yet  the  sacraments  are  declared  to  be 
operative  of  themselves — effective  ex  opere  operafo.  This  the 
Protestants  did  not  admit.  They  regarded  them  as  signs  of  a 
grace  imparted  in  conjunction  with  them ;  but  in  the  case  of 
adults  they  asserted  that  faith,  in  the  sense  which  they  attached  to 
the  term,  must  be  in  the  heart  of  the  recipient,  in  order  that  any 
benefit  shall  be  received.  They  limited,  likewise,  the  number  of 
sacraments  to  two,  baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper.  The  Armin- 
ians  were  disinclined  to  regard  them  as  vehicles  of  grace,  or  as 
anything  more  than  symbols. 

The  Eeformera,  with  their  view  of  the  sacraments,  at  first  did 
not  find  it  perfectly  easy  to  define  and  defend  the  baptism  of  infants. 
Infant  bap-  Luther  boldly  assumed  that  they  may  exercise  faith  even 
tism.  jj^   infancy.     It  was   agreed  that  baptism  incorporates 

them  into  the  Church  and  renders  them  partakers  of  its  privileges. 
The  analogy  of  circumcision  under  the  old  covenant  was  appealed 
to,  and  baptism  was  declared  to  be  a  substitute  under  the  new, 
Calvin  and  his  followers  are  emphatic  on  this  point.  ZwingH  inter- 
prets infant  baptism  as  a  consecration  of  children  to  God  by  their 
parents.  But  he  appeals,  also,  to  the  analogy  of  cii'cumcision.  Cal- 
^'in  asserts  of  elect  infants  that  baptism  is  a  symbol  of  their  regen- 
ei-ation.  He sajs  that  God  "has  his  different  degi-ees  of  regenerating 
those  whom  he  has  adopted."  The  Liturgy  of  the  English  Epis- 
copal Church  teaches  that  "a  mystical  washing  away  of  sin"  at- 
tends the  baptism  of  infants.  The  prayer  is  offered  that  the 
water  may  be  sanctified  to  effect  this  result.  The  divines  of  this 
Church  held,  in  common  with  most  of  the  Protestant  leaders,  that 
by  this  rite  the  stain  of  hereditary  guilt  is  effaced.  But  it  was 
often  explained  that  the  regeneration  of  the  infant  requires  to  be 
followed  by  his  conversion  through  the  voluntaiy  exercise  of  faith 
and  repentance.    The  seed  sown  at  baptism  may  fall  into  barren  soil. 


1517-1648.]  THE  HISTORY  OF  DOCTRINE.  447 

The  Augsburg  Confession  allowed  the  necessity  of  baptism  for  sal- 
vation, as  the  Catholics  had  held ;  but  afterwards  this  opinion  was 
repudiated  by  most  Protestants.  It  is  emphatically  denied  in  the 
Scottish  Confession.  The  contempt,  not  the  deprivation  of  the 
sacraments,  they  condemned  as  perilous  to  the  soul.  By  avowing 
that  "grace  is  not  tied  to  the  sacraments,"  the  Calvinists  rendered 
it  possible  to  hold  that  infants,  even  the  infant  offspring  of  the 
heathen,  may  be  saved.  This  merciful  opinion  was  actually  fa- 
vored by  both  Zwingli  and  Bullinger.  But  most  Calvinists  went  no 
farther  than  to  believe  in  the  salvation  of  "elect  infants."  They 
even  refrained  from  affirming  that  all  who  are  baptized  in  infancy 
are  of  this  number,  and  held  out  no  promise  respecting  the  chil- 
dren of  Christian  parents  who  have  culpably  neglected  to  bring 
them  to  the  font.  Hooker  teaches  "  the  great  likelihood  "  of  the 
salvation  of  even  unbaptized  offspring  of  Christian  parents,  dying 
in  infanc}'.  But  he  abstains  from  any  utterance  to  this  effect  re- 
sjpecting  the  offspring  of  the  heathen,  whatever,  on  this  point,  his 
opinion  may  have  been. 

The  principal  opinions  adopted  among  Protestants  on  the  Lord's 
Supper  have  already  been  stated.  They  all  abjured  the  doctrine  of 
Tiie  Lord's  trau  Substantiation  and  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass.  The 
Supper.  co-presence  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  with  the 

bread  and  wine,  and  the  actual  reception  of  Christ  by  believer 
and  unbeliever  alike,  continued  to  be  the  Lutheran  tenet.  On 
the  reformed  side,  Calvin's  view  of  a  spiritual  reception  of  Christ, 
by  the  believer  alone,  prevailed  over  the  Zwinglian  opinion,  and 
was  commonly  adopted.  It  is  definitely  stated  in  the  Articles  of 
the  Church  of  England.  In  the  creeds  of  the  Greek  Church,  in 
this  period,  tran substantiation  is,  for  the  first  time,  definitely  pro- 


The  civil  magistracy  is  a  prominent  topic  in  the  Protestant 
creeds.  The  right  and  duty  of  the  civil  authority  to  uphold  the 
The  magis-  Church,  to  providc  for  the  public  teaching  of  the  gospel, 
tracy.  ^^^  ^q  supprcss  daugerous  errors  and  factions,  was  the 

common  doctrine  of  Protestants.  Where  Protestantism  prevailed, 
governments  assumed  the  regulation  of  Church  affairs.  It  was 
from  the  Calvinists  that  resistance  to  the  exercise  within  the 
Church  of  State  control  generally  proceeded.  But  Calvinism  laid 
on  the  State  the  obligation  to  stand  by  the  Church,  and  to  co- 
operate in  carrying  out  its  discipline.  The  Independents,  and  es- 
pecially the  Baptists,  broached  theories  restricting  political  action 
within  narrower  limits. 


448    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA,    [Period  VHI. 

Respecting  the  observance  of  the  Lord's  Day,  the  Reformers, 
including'  Knox  as  well  as  Luther  and  Calvin,  refused  to  identify 
the  New  Testament  institution  with  the  Old  Testament 
Day-  Sabbath,  or  to  found  the  observance  of  Sunday  on  the 

statute  in  the  decalogue.  Generally  they  made  the  fourth  com- 
mandment typical  of  the  entire  rest  and  peace  granted  to  Christians 
under  the  gospel.  This  is  the  explanation  of  Calvin.  The  Synod 
of  Dort  ascribed  validity  to  the  moral  part  of  the  commandment, 
from  which  it  inferred  the  duty  of  observing  a  "  certain  and 
stated  day  appointed  for  worship."  Hooker  inculcates  the  same 
opinion ;  and,  after  his  time,  Ussher,  Pearson,  and  other  noted 
Anglican  divines.  The  Puritan  doctrine  of  a  continued  obliga- 
tion to  obey  the  fourth  commandment  as  being  a  moral  injunc- 
tion, intended,  therefore,  for  all  mankind,  is  said  to  have  been 
first  definitely  expounded  in  1595,  in  a  publication  which  was  sup- 
pressed by  Whitgift.  But  as  early  as  1562,  a  General  Assembly 
in  Scotland  refers  to  Sabbath-breaking  as  a  violation  of  divine 
law  which  the  State  ought  to  punish.  The  perpetual  obligation 
of  the  fourth  commandment  is  incorporated  in  the  Westmin- 
ster Confession.  This  view  was  generally  adopted  in  Great 
Britain,  and  among  Protestants  in  the  United  States.  On  the 
continent,  the  opinion  and  practice  of  the  Reformers  continued  to 
prevail. 

Protestants  rejected  the  doctrine  of  purgatory'.  In  their  prin- 
cipal versions  of  the  Bible,  they  rendered  "Sheol"  in  the  Old  Tes- 
The  future  tament,  and  "  Hades  "  in  the  New,  by  the  word  "  hell," 
world.  ^i^g  ti'anslation,  also,  of  the  term  ■''  gehenna."     The  "West- 

minster creeds  assert  that  heaven  and  hell  are  the  only  "two 
places  for  souls  separated  from  their  bodies  ; "  and  to  the  phi-ase 
in  the  Apostles'  Creed,  "He  descended  into  hell/'  they  attach  the 
unhistorical  sense  that  "He  continued  in  the  state  of  the  dead, 
and  under  the  power  of  death,  until  the  third  day."  But  the  doc- 
trine of  an  intermediate  state,  not  involving,  however,  any  ojopor- 
tunity  for  repentance,  was  advanced  by  English  divines,  among 
whom  are  included  Burnet  and  Pearson.  Later,  the  same  tenet 
was  avowed  by  certain  German  theologians,  and  was  defended  by 
Dr.  George  Campbell,  a  Scottish  theologian,  in  his  "Dissertations 
on  the  Gospels."  The  final  judgment  and  the  eternity  of  reward 
and  punishment  were  generally  affirmed  in  the  Protestant  creeds. 
Individuals  like  Locke  avowed  the  doctrine  of  the  annihilation  of 
the  hopelessly  wicked.  This,  the  Socinians  said,  was  the  meaning 
of  the  "  second  death." 


151T-1648]  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS.  449 

In  the  creeds  of  the  Greek  Church,  departed  souls,  penitent, 
yet  still  owing  satisfaction  and  the  fruits  of  repentance,  receive 
disciplinary  punishment,  but  of  a  purely  spiritual  nature,  in  Hades. 
This  approaches  near  to  the  Komau  doctrine  of  purgatory. 


CHAPTER  XL 

CHEISTIAN    MISSIONS. 


More  than  one  hundred  years  before  the  beginning  of  the  Eef- 
ormation,  the  missionary  activity  of  the  Church  was  suspended.  If 
Loss  of  mis-  much  had  already  been  accomplished  in  the  spread  of 
sionaryzeai.  ^-^e  gospcl,  quitc  as  much  still  remained  to  be  done. 
Although  all  the  countries  of  Europe,  except  Lapland,  were  nomi- 
nally Christian,  Asia  Minor,  Palestine,  and  Northern  Africa,  the 
earliest  homes  of  Christianity,  had  long  since  been  subjected  to  the 
yoke  of  Islam.  Of  the  many  communities  of  believers  which  once 
flourished  in  these  regions,  only  a  few  feeble  churches  or  heretical 
sects  had  sui*vived.  Prominent  among  these  were  the  Armenians, 
the  Nestorians,  and  the  Copts.  From  Asia,  Mohammedanism  had 
advanced  into  Southeastern  Europe,  and  threatened  to  reduce  still 
further  the  bounds  of  Christendom.  But  popes  as  well  as  princes 
were  too  much  absorbed  in  schemes  of  worldly  ambition  to  seek 
earnestly  for  the  triumph  of  the  gospel  over  its  enemies.  In  the 
Spanish  peninsula,  nevertheless,  where  there  was  a  constant  strug- 
gle with  the  Moslems,  something  of  the  old  missionary  ardor  burned 
in  the  hearts  of  the  peoj)le. 

The  great  maritime  discoveries  of  the  fifteenth  centuiy  were 
made  principally  under  the  auspices  of  Portugal  and  Spain,  which 
Maritime  li^ld  the  dominion  of  the  seas.  As  a  motive  in  their  ex- 
discoveries.  peditions,  there  mingled  with  curiosity,  with  the  spirit 
of  adventure  and  cupidity,  the  desire  to  propagate  the  Catholic 
faith  in  regions  unknown.  Vasco  da  Gama  rounded  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope,  and  in  1498  reached  the  Malabar  coast.  This  grand 
achievement  opened  the  way  for  Portuguese  colonization,  and  for 
the  planting  of  the  cross  in  India  and  the  islands  of  the  East.  The 
rapacity  and  cruelty  of  the  explorers  made  the  labors  of  the  Fran- 
ciscans of  comparatively  little  avail,  and  what  religion  existed  among 
the  European  colonists  themselves,  in  the  course  of  a  half-century, 
became  a  lifeless  form  and  interposed  no  check  to  the  worst  sort  of 


450    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.   [Period  VUI. 

immorality.  About  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  centuiy,  as  we  shall 
see,  a  new  enterj)rise  was  undertaken  for  the  diffusion  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  faith  in  these  regions. 

Columbus  was  imbued  with  religious  feelings  when  he  set  out 
on  the  voyage  which  led  him  to  the  West  Indies,  instead  of  the 

India  of  the  East,  which  he  sought.  Of  the  early  mis- 
the  West        siouaries  in  the  lands  which  the  Spanish  navigators  and 

conquerors  seized,  those  of  the  Dominican  order  were 
the  most  effective.  If  in  the  Old  World  the  Dominicans  wielded  the 
cruel  instruments  of  the  Inquisition,  in  the  New  they  were  act- 
uated by  more  humane  sentiments.  Among  them,  and  among  all 
the  missionaries  of  that  day,  the  most  eminent,  and  the  most  worthy 

of  eminence,  was  Bartholomew  de  Las  Casas,  a  native  of 

Las  Casas. 

Seville,  where  he  was  born  in  1474,  His  father  accom- 
panied Columbus  in  his  first  voyage  of  discovery,  but  the  son  first 
came  to  Hispaniola  with  Ovando  in  1502.  There  he  Avas  ordained, 
being  the  first  man  who  received  priestly  ordination  in  America. 
His  career  was  long  and  eventful.  It  was  distinguished  by  the 
most  arduous  and  persevering  endeavors  to  deliver  the  natives  from 
the  oppressive  slavery  to  Avhich  they  were  reduced  by  the  system  of 
repartimentos,  established  by  the  Spaniards,  which  made  them  vir- 
tually the  property  of  the  owners  of  the  land.  Not  accustomed  to 
hard  laboi-,  and  driven  to  work  in  the  mines  and  pearl-fisheries, 
under  barbai'ous  masters,  their  sufferings  were  intolerable.  With 
the  Avickedness  of  this  system  of  slavery  Las  Casas  was  suddenly 
struck,  in  1514,  while  j)reparing  a  sermon  on  Ecclesiastes  xxxiv. 
18-22.  The  last  verse  i-eads  :  "  He  that  taketh  away  his  neighbor's 
living  slayeth  him  ;  and  he  that  defraudeth  the  laborer  of  his  hire 
is  a  blood-shedder."  Las  Casas  had  the  co-operation  of  the  great 
Cardinal  Ximenes,  who  was  regent  after  the  death  of  Ferdinand  ; 
but  for  the  most  of  his  life  he  had  to  contend  against  antagonists 
who  were  bound  together  by  their  common  greed  of  gain,  and 
were  too  often  able  to  baffle,  even  when  they  could  not  directly 
overthrow,  his  plans.  He  was  not  always  discreet,  and  in  adjust- 
ing the  relation  of  the  two  races  he  made,  perhaps,  too  little  allow- 
ance for  diflaculties  that  were  insuperable.  But  of  the  nobleness 
of  his  aims  there  can  be  no  question.  "  He  crossed  the  ocean 
twelve  times  ;  he  traversed  every  then  known  region  of  America 
and  the  islands  ;  he  made  repeated  journeys  from  Spain  to  Flan- 
ders and  Germany,  to  see  the  emperor  on  the  affairs  of  his  mission  ; 
his  literary  labors  Avould  have  been  remarkable  even  in  a  scholar 
who  had  no  calling  outside  of  the  halls  of  his  college  or  the  quiet 


1517-1048.]  CHRISTIAN   MISSIONS.  451 

of  his  private  study."  There  is  one  blot  on  the  reputation  of  Las 
Casas.  He  did  not  originate,  but  he  sanctioned  the  scheme  of  sup- 
plying the  place  of  the  natives  of  the  West  Indies,  whom  the  colo- 
jjppro  nists  were  reducing  to  slavery,  by  negroes  imported  from 

slavery.  Africa.     He  thus  helped  forward  the  African  slave-trade 

and  the  introduction  of  negro  slavery  into  America.  His  reasons 
were  a  desire  to  spare  the  converts,  and  the  fact  that  the  Africans 
could  toil  in  that  climate  without  the  same  danger  to  health  and 
life.  But  in  his  History  of  the  Indies,  which  he  v/rote  in  later 
years,  he  deplores  his  mistake.  He  says  that  if  he  "  had  appre- 
hended the  nature  of  the  thing,"  this  advice  he  "  would  not  have 
given  for  all  he  had  in  the  world.  For  he  always  held  that  they 
had  been  made  slaves  unjustly  and  tyrannically,  since  the  same 
reason  holds  good  of  them  as  of  the  Indians."  During  the  half- 
century  that  preceded  the  discovery  of  America,  the  slave-trade  had 
been  carried  forward  on  the  coast  of  Africa  by  Spain  and  Portugal. 
In  1495  and  1498,  Columbus  sent  home  cargoes  of  slaves  from  the 
West  Indies.  It  was  Isabella  who  forbade  this  practice,  and  ordered 
all  slaves  unjustly  caj)tured  to  be  sent  back  to  Hispaniola.  But 
her  decree  allowed  Indians  who  were  taken  in  a  righteous  war  to 
be  enslaved,  and  thus  opened  a  door  for  the  seizing  of  as  many  as 
the  local  authorities,  by  an  abuse  of  this  pi'ivilege,  might  choose  to 
capture. 

In  the  first  age  of  the  Reformation,  missionary  zeal  was  mostly 
confined  to  the  Roman  Catholics.  The  Protestant  churches  were 
^      .      ,      in  the  process  of  organizing  themselves,  and  for  a  long 

Relation  of  .  -^  .  ^  . 

Protestants  time  they  were  in  a  battle  for  their  existence.  It  may 
be  added  that  there  were  some  of  the  Reformers,  among 
whom  was  Luther  himself,  who  looked  for  the  second  coming  of 
the  Lord  as  soon  to  occur.  The  jDOwer  of  Antichrist  had  reached 
its  climax.  Those  nations  which  were  to  accept  the  message  of 
salvation  were  already  gathered  into  the  Church.  And  now,  after 
the  gospel  had  been  preached  in  its  purity,  the  end  was  to  come. 
The  conversion  of  the  heathen  thus  occupied  no  place  in  the 
thoughts  of  the  great  leader  of  the  Reformation.  In  this  respect 
he  was  far  behind  Erasmus,  who  eloquently,  and  in  a  truly  evan- 
gelical spirit,  urged  the  sending  of  missionaries  to  those  who  had 
never  heard  the  gospel,  and  even  to  its  most  uncompromising 
enemies,  the  Mohammedans.  The  followers  of  Luther  for  more 
than  a  century  entertained  the  same  prejudice  against  missions. 
When  Baron  von  Welz,  in  1664,  published  an  appeal  to.  "  all 
Right-believing  Christians  of  the  Augsburg  Confession  regarding 


452    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VIII. 

a  Special  Society,  through  which,  with  Divine  Help,  our  Evangeli- 
cal Religion  could  be  extended,"  his  plans  were  stigmatized  by  a 
prominent  theologian  as  a  "  dream,"  and  the  idea  of  casting  "  the 
holy  things  of  God  "  before  such  "  dogs  and  swine  "  as  the  heathen 
were,  was  treated  with  indignant  scorn.  This  lack  of  symi^athy 
with  missionary  efforts  was  due  in  some  measure  to  the  fact  that 
the  Germans  took  no  part  in  the  maritime  enterprises  of  the 
a.<^e,  and  were  therefore  not  brought  into  contact  with  the  newly 
discovered  peoples  of  the  East  and  West.  Other  Protestant  na- 
tions— the  English  in  their  American  colonies,  the  Dutch  in  the 
East  Indies — made  praiseworthy  attempts  to  Christianize  the  native 
tribes.  Their  work,  however,  was  not  begun  until  the  seventeenth 
century.  For  a  long  time  after  the  rise  of  Protestantism,  the  mari- 
time ascendency  of  the  Catholic  nations  was  not  subverted.  It 
was  thus  that  the  earliest  opportunities  for  missionary  enterprise 
were  offered  to  the  Church  of  Eome. 

With  the  counter-reformation,  there  appeared,  along  with  the 
passionate  ardor  for  converting  apostates  in  Europe  and  winning 
•Tesuit  mis-  back  lost  territory,  a  burning  desire  to  spread  the  do- 
sions.  minion  of  the  Church  in  the  heathen  world.     The  Jesu- 

its were  the  most  zealous  of  all  the  orders  in  each  department  of 
this  holy  crusade.  The  most  famous  and  the  most  successful  of 
Xavier,  the  Jcsuit  missiouaries  was  Francis  Xavier,  by  whom 

1506-1552.  Christianity  was  carried  to  India  and  the  far  East,  and 
who  is  revered  among  Roman  Catholics  as  another  Apostle 
Paul.  He  was  a  room-mate,  and  one  of  the  earliest  followers,  of 
Ignatius.  In  the  hospitals  at  Venice  he  fought  down  his  instinct- 
ive repugnance  to  contact  with  loathsome  forms  of  disease,  by 
forcing  himself  to  needless  and  nauseating  services  in  ministering 
to  the  sick  and  wounded.  In  obedience  to  the  request  of  the  King 
of  Portugal  that  Ignatius  would  furnish  him  with  missionaries  for 
the  Portuguese  settlements  in  the  East,  Xavier,  who  was  made  by 
the  pope  apostolic  nuncio  for  India,  sailed  from  Lisbon,  and,  after 
touching  at  Mozambique,  Melinda,  and  Socotra,  landed  at  Goa  on 
the  6th  of  May,  1542.  On  the  voyage  he  devoted  himself  to  the 
care  of  the  sailors  who  were  ill.  Wherever  he  preached,  at  the 
places  at  which  he  stopped,  a  marked  effect  was  produced.  Xav- 
ier was  an  ascetic  who  shrunk  from  no  austerities,  but  rather  de- 
lighted in  opportunities  of  self-mortification.  He  would  do  pen- 
ance vicariously,  scourging  himself  with  the  utmost  severity,  in 
order  to  impress  one  whom  he  sought  to  move  to  contrition. 
Resolute,  and  unshaken  by  opposition,  he  was  naturally  kind,  and 


1517-1648.]  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS.  453 

his  religious  feelings  did  not  lack  a  certain  elevation,  as  may  be 
seen  from  bis  hymn,  beginning — 

"Jesus!  I  love  thee, — not  because 
I  liope  for  lieaven  thereby — " 

At  Goa  he  made  the  beginning  of  a  great  evangelizing  work, 
"which  he  efiected  in  the  nominally  Christian  settlements  and  among 
the  natives  in  that  region.  He  won  a  multitude  of  converts  among 
the  Paravas,  a  people  of  low  caste  in  the  extreme  south  of  the 
peninsula.  His  labors  were  extended  to  Malacca,  the  Moluccas,  and 
other  islands  of  the  Eastern  archipelago.  His  method,  as  pursued 
xavier's  ^^  Travancore,  is  thus  described  by  himself  :  "As  soon 

method.  g^g  j  arrived  in  any  heathen  village  where  they  had  sent 

for  me  to  give  baptism,  I  gave  orders  for  all — men,  women,  and 
children — to  be  collected  in  one  place.  Then,  beginning  with  the 
first  elements  of  the  Christian  faith,  I  taught  them  there  is  one 
God — I  made  them  each  make  three  times  the  sign  of  the  cross  ; 
then,  putting  on  a  surplice,  I  began  to  recite,  in  a  loud  voice 
and  in  their  own  language,  the  form  of  general  confession,  the 
Apostles'  Ci'eed,  the  ten  commandments,  the  Lord's  Prayer,  the 
Ave  Maria,  and  the  Salve  Renina.  Two  years  ago,  I  translated  all 
these  prayers  into  the  language  of  the  country,  and  learned  them 
by  heart.  I  recited  them  so  that  all,  of  every  age  and  condition, 
followed  me  in  them.  Then  I  began  to  explain  shortly  the  articles 
of  the  creed  and  the  ten  commandments  in  the  language  of  the 
country.  When  the  people  appeared  to  me  sufficiently  instructed 
to  receive  baptism,  I  ordered  them  all  to  ask  God's  pardon  publicly 
for  the  sins  of  their  past  life,  and  to  do  this  with  a  loud  voice  and 
in  the  joresence  of  their  neighbors  still  hostile  to  the  Christian 
religion,  in  oi'der  to  touch  the  hearts  of  the  heathen  and  confirm 
the  faith  of  the  good.  All  the  heathen  are  filled  with  admiration 
at  the  holiness  of  the  law  of  God,  and  express  the  greatest  shame 
at  having  lived  so  long  in  ignorance  of  the  true  God.  They  wil- 
lingly hear  about  the  mysteries  and  rules  of  the  Christian  religion, 
and  treat  me,  poor  sinner  as  I  am,  with  the  greatest  respect.  Many, 
however,  put  away  from  them  with  hardness  of  heart  the  truth 
which  they  well  know.  When  I  have  done  my  instruction,  I  ask, 
one  by  one,  all  those  who  desire  baptism  if  they  believe  without 
hesitation  in  each  of  the  articles  of  the  faith.  All  immediately, 
holding  their  arms  in  the  form  of  the  cross,  declare  with  one  voice 
that  they  believe  all  entirely.  Then  at  last  I  baptize  them  in  due 
form,  and  I  give  to  each  his  name  written  on  a  ticket.     After  their 


454    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.   [Period  VIH. 

baptism  the  new  ChristiaBs  go  back  to  their  houses  and  bring  me 
their  wives  and  I'amiHes  for  baptism.  When  all  are  baptized  I 
order  all  the  temj^les  of  their  false  gods  to  be  destroyed  and  all  the 
idols  to  be  broken  in  pieces.  I  can  give  you  no  idea  of  the  joy  I 
feel  in  seeing  this  done,  witnessing  the  destruction  of  the  idols  by 
the  very  people  who  but  lately  adored  them.  In  all  the  towns  and 
villages  I  leave  the  Christian  doctrine  in  WTitiug  in  the  language  of 
the  country,  and  I  prescribe  at  the  same  time  the  manner  in  which 
it  is  to  be  taught  in  the  morning  and  evening  schools.  When  I 
have  done  all  this  in  one  place,  I  pass  to  another,  and  so  on  suc- 
cessively to  the  rest.  In  this  way  I  go  all  round  the  country, 
bringing  the  natives  into  the  fold  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  joy  that 
I  feel  in  this  is  far  too  great  to  be  expressed  in  a  letter,  or  even  by 
word  of  mouth." 

In  1549,  under  great  difficulties  and  dangers,  he  made  his  way 
to  Japan.  He  gained  by  conciliation  the  good-will  of  bonzes,  the 
Xavier  in  Buddhistic  rcligious  guides,  a  few  of  whom  were  con- 
japan.  verted.     Three  powerful  nobles  adopted  the  Christian 

religion.  Of  the  Japanese  he  wrote,  "  They  generally  sin  through 
ignorance."  "  The  labors  which  are  undergone  for  the  conversion 
of  a  people  so  rational,  so  desirous  to  know  the  truth  and  be  saved, 
result  in  very  sweet  fruit  to  the  soul."  He  took  special  delight  in 
the  zeal  of  the  neophytes  for  the  conversion  of  others.  He  was  occa- 
sionally allowed  to  preach,  through  an  interpreter,  to  vast  assem- 
blies. Xavier  had  long  been  desirous  of  making  a  missionary  cam- 
paign in  China,  but  just  as  he  was  about  to  enter  that  counti-y  his 
life  terminated.  He  died  on  the  island  of  San  Chan,  December  2, 
1552.  In  his  last  letter,  written  about  three  weeks  before  (November 
13th),  he  expresses  the  confident  hope  that  he  Avill  "place  his  foot 
at  last  on  Chinese  ground."  Of  the  resistance  which  he  conceives 
Satan  to  be  making  to  this  holy  purpose  he  discourses  in  a  vein 
that  reminds  one  of  utterances  of  Luther  in  reference  to  the  war- 
fare waged  by  the  evil  one  against  the  plans  of  God's  people  : 
"  The  devil  has  an  unspeakable  dread  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  enter- 
ing China,  and  every  effort  in  this  direction  seems  to  wound  the 
very  apple  of  his  eye  ;  it  makes  him  I'age  with  impotent  fuiy  and 
boil  over  with  passion.  ...  I  perceive  most  clearly  that  the 
war-cry  has  sounded  in  the  camp  of  hell,  and  the  spirits  of  darkness, 
all  in  consternation,  are  arrayed  against  us  as  if  to  defend  their  last 
intrenchments."  Probably  no  missionary  ever  made  a  larger  num- 
ber of  professed  converts  to  the  Christian  faith.  Concerning  the 
numerous   miracles,  some   of   them  of  an   astounding   character, 


1517-1648.]  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS.  455 

which  were  related  of  him,  he — his  biographers  tell  us,  from  mo- 
tives of  modesty — is  silent.  He  was  beatified — declared  to  be 
already  among  the  blessed — in  1G19,  and  canonized  in  1G22. 

In  India  Robert  Nobili,  a  Jesuit,  in  IGOG  undertook  to  reach 
the  Brahminical  caste  by  assuming  to  belong  to  it  himself,  and  by 
Nobili  in  withdrawing  from  intercourse  even  with  the  Christian 
India.  converts,  who  were  generally  of  the  lowest  caste.     He 

succeeded  by  this  sort  of  conformity  in  winning  proselytes  in  the 
higher  ranks,  but  the  I'esult  of  his  policy  was  vigorous  opposition 
from  other  orders,  and  from  the  authorities  of  the  Church.  This 
finally  led  to  the  breaking  up  of  the  Jesuit  missions.  In  China,  a 
like  accommodating  policy  was  undertaken  in  1582  by 
ill  china^nd  Matthcw  Kicci,  a  member  of  the  same  order,  who  took 
^^"■""  on  him  the  character  of  a  mandarin,  and  by  his  mathe- 

matical and  astronomic  knowledge,  and  by  important  services  to 
the  Chinese  Government,  opened  the  way  for  an  extensive  diffusion 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  system  in  that  empire.  Their  accommoda- 
tion to  the  heathen  usages  involved  the  Jesuits  in  China  in  the 
same  troubles  as  those  which  befell  their  brethren  in  India.  In 
Japan,  Xavier's  converts,  on  account  of  his  ignorance  of  the  lan- 
guage, were  not  numerous.  But  the  Jesuit  fathers  who  followed, 
reaped  where  he  had  sown.  They  won  a  multitude  of  adherents. 
Shinto,  the  native  religion  of  Japan,  offered  no  comfort  in  the  midst 
of  the  anarchy  and  distress  which  had  long  prevailed  in  the  coun- 
try. Buddhism,  with  its  showy  and  magnificent  ritual,  was  little 
more  than  a  lifeless  tradition.  Its  gorgeous  costumes  and  cere- 
monies, and  its  hierarchical  oi'ganization,  were  rivalled,  if  not 
eclipsed,  by  the  corresponding  features  of  the  Roman  Catholic  sys- 
tem that  now  entered  into  competition  with  it.  Circumstances  for 
a  considerable  time  favored  the  Jesuit  preachers.  So  great  was  the 
progress  of  their  cause  that  before  the  end  of  the  century  the  num- 
ber of  Christians  in  Japan  is  said  to  have  been  not  less  than  six  hun- 
dred thousand.  But  fatal  disasters  overtook  the  newly  founded 
church.  The  advance  of  Christianity  had  been  owing  in  no  small 
degree  to  the  support  of  a  powerful  general,  Nobunaga,  who  had 
employed  the  Chi-istian  converts  in  the  contest  which  he  was  wag- 
ing with  the  Buddhistic  chiefs.  By  the  aid  of  two  commanders, 
Hideyoshi  and  lyeyasu,  lie  brought  a  great  part  of  Japan  under 
the  authority  of  the  Mikado,  in  whose  name  he  governed, 
o/christians  But,  at  a  later  day,  lyeyasu  became  hostile  to  the  Chris- 
in  Japan  Hans,  wlio  Were  bold  enough  to  offer  ai'med  resist- 
ance to  daimios,  their  feudal  superiors,  defenders  of  Buddhism. 


456    THE  REFOR^IATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VIIL 

These  began  to  use  force  against  the  cause  which  the  Jesuits  had 
encouraged  their  predecessors  to  promote  by  the  same  sort  of 
coercion.  He  suspected  that  the  Christian  peasants  were  insti- 
gated to  resist  the  lords  by  foreigners.  In  1606  an  edict  was 
issued  from  Yedo  against  Christian  worship.  In  1611  lyeyasu  ob- 
tained evidence,  as  he  believed,  of  a  conspiracy  of  native  converts 
and  foreigners  to  overthrow  the  independence  of  Japan.  The  for- 
eigners, and,  in  particular,  the  Portuguese,  had  embarked  in  the 
slave-trade,  and  had  exported  thousands  of  Japanese,  whom  they 
had  bought  for  the  purpose,  to  Macao  and  to  the  Philippine  Islands. 
The  Dutch  and  the  English,  who  were  Protestants,  were  inimical 
to  the  Sj)anish  and  Portuguese  ;  the  Spaniards  and  Portuguese 
were  ready  to  accuse  one  another ;  the  missionaries  of  rival  orders, 
who  had  come  into  the  country,  quarrelled  with  the  Jesuits.  New 
edicts  against  the  Christian  religion  were  promulgated  by  the  na- 
tive authorities.  The  chiefs  who  espoused  the  cause  of  the  Jesuits 
were  defeated.  This  resulted,  in  1615,  in  an  immense  slaughter  of 
native  converts.  In  1624  all  foreigners,  except  Dutch  and  Chinese, 
were  banished  from  the  country.  Frightful  persecvitions  ensued, 
in  which  the  Japanese  Christians  evinced  an  unshaken  fortitude. 
At  length,  in  1637,  the  Christians  rose  in  revolt,  but  were  defeated 
by  the  Shogun's  troops.  The  result,  it  has  been  believed  until  re- 
cently, was  the  utter  extirpation  of  the  Christian  religion  in  the 
countr}'.  But  French  missionaries  who  came  to  Nagasaki  in  1860, 
found  in  that  district  not  less  than  ten  thousand  Christians,  the 
offspring  of  those  who  survived  the  sanguinary  persecutions  of  the 
seventeenth  century.  The  Christianity  that  was  planted  in  Japan 
by  the  Jesuits  and  by  other  missionaries  of  the  Church  of  Eome, 
left  no  perceptible  mark  on  the  moral  and  spiritual  character  of  the 
Japanese  people. 

Cortez,  the  conqueror  of  Mexico,  like  all  Spanish  cavaliers  of 
that  time,  was  enthusiastic  in  the  desire  to  make  proselytes  of  the 

heathen  whose  land  he  invaded.  The  means  of  achiev- 
sionariesTir    ing  this  rcsult  wcrc  to  be  preaching,  united  with  force. 

Two  ecclesiastics  accompanied  his  expedition,  one  of 
whom,  Bartolomc  de  Olmedo,  was  a  man  of  fervent  charity,  as 
well  as  zeal,  and  did  what  he  could  to  restrain  the  ferocity  of  the  con- 
querors. After  the  country  was  subdued,  Cortez  procured  the  send- 
ing out  of  twelve  Franciscan  friars,  who  reached  Mexico  in  1524. 
He  had  tirgently  requested  that  they  should  be  men  of  godly  lives, 
whose  example  would  reinforce  their  precepts,  and  in  this  wish  he 
was  not  disappointed.    They  engaged  in  their  woi'k  with  ardor  and 


1517-1G48.]  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS.  457 

self-denial.  In  twenty  years  tlie  Mexican  tribes  were  persuaded  or 
coerced  into  a  confonnity  to  the  religion  of  their  masters.  "  The 
Aztec  worship  was  remarkable  for  its  burdensome  ceremonial,  and 
prepared  its  votaries  for  the  pomp  and  splendors  of  the  Roman  rit- 
ual. It  was  not  difficult  to  pass  from  the  fasts  and  festivals  of  the 
cue  religion  to  the  fasts  and  festivals  of  the  other  ;  to  transfer  their 
homage  from  the  fantastic  idols  of  their  own  creation  to  the  beau- 
tiful forms  in  sculpture  and  in  painting  which  decorated  the  Chris- 
tian cathedral."  The  Mexican  converts  understood  little  of  the 
doctrines  of  Christianity,  and  they  might  be  little  affected  by  its 
sjiirit ;  but  it  was  a  great  gain  to  substitute  the  "unsullied  rites" 
of  the  Church  of  Rome  for  the  "  brutal  abominations  of  the  Aztecs." 

The  Franciscans  also  attempted  to  found  missions  in  Paraguay, 
which  had  been  in  possession  of  the  Spaniards  after  153G.  But 
The  Jesuits  their  work  was  overshadowed  by  the  labors  of  the 
in  Paraguay.  Jesuits  among  the  Indians  who  dwelt  beyond  the  banks 
of  the  River  Parana.  There  the  members  of  this  order,  in  the 
early  years  of  the  seventeenth  century,  were  authorized  by  Philip 
III.  of  Spain  to  build  up  a  civil  community,  which  was  to  be  inde- 
pendent of  the  colonial  governors,  and  from  which  all  SjDaniards 
might  be  excluded.  Not  only  the  spiritual  but  the  temporal  desti- 
nies of  each  redaction,  as  a  new  settlement  was  called,  were  in  the 
hands  of  the  father  who  was  its  chief  magistrate  and  who  owed 
obedience  to  none  but  the  superior  of  the  missions.  He  directed 
the  labors  of  the  neoj^hytes  and  distributed  to  them  according 
to  their  necessities  the  products  which  their  toil  had  gathered 
into  the  common  storehouse.  They  possessed  no  private  property. 
Theirs  was  a  communistic  state,  under  the  rule  of  heaven-sent 
guides — a  bondage  during  which  their  souls  were  iDrej^ared  for 
eternal  bliss.  The  hatred  which  brought  about  the  ruin  of  the 
followers  of  Loyola  in  Europe,  likewise  put  an  end  to  this  Jesuitical 
Utopia. 

The  first  half  of  the  sixteenth  century  had  hardly  passed  be- 
fore the  Dominicans,  the  Fi-anciscans,  and  the  Jesuits  had  begun 
to  labor  among  the  Indians  who  lived  in  the  southeni 
Canada  and  part  of  what  is  uow  the  United  States.  The  explorations 
e  a  es.  ^^  Cartier  and  Chamj)lain  along  the  St.  Lawrence  opened 
the  way  for  a  similar  work  there.  Quebec  in  1615,  seven  years 
after  it  was  founded,  and  Montreal  in  1G41,  the  year  of  its  settle- 
ment, became  missionary  centres.  The  region  covered  by  the 
Northeastern  States  and  by  Canada  was  then  inhabited  by  two  great 
families  of  Indians,  the  Algonquins  and  the  Iroquois.     Related  to 


458    THE  KEFORMATIOX  TO  PEACE  OP  WESTPHALIA..  [Period  VIH. 

tlie  latter  in  origin  and  in  language  were  the  Hurons,  who  dwelt 
near  the  lake  which  bears  their  name.  The  attempt  to  convert 
these  tribes  was  beset  by  peculiar  difficulties.  They  were  engaged 
in  fierce  wars  of  mutual  extermination.  The  Hurons  and  the  Iro- 
quois, rivals  and  bitter  enemies,  were  far  in  advance  of  other  Ind- 
ians in  prowess  and  intelligence,  and  in  material  civilization.  They 
had  dee-plj  rooted  ideas  and  cherished  customs  which  wei-e  foreign 
to  the  most  elementally  principles  of  Christianity.  Besides,  they 
were  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  savage  prosperity,  cared  nothing  for 
the  consolations  of  religion,  and  hated  its  resti'aints.  The  labors 
of  the  Jesuits  among  them,  and  especiall}'-  among  the  Hurons,  were 
characterized  by  a  noble  self-denial  and  patience,  by  an  undaunted 
perseverance  in  the  face  of  innumerable  difficulties  and  dangers, 
and  by  a  calm  submission  to  the  appalling  fate  which  Indian  feroc- 
ity often  brought  upon  them.  In  Canada  they  took  up  the  work 
which  the  cajDture  of  Quebec  by  the  English  in  1629  compelled 
the  Franciscans  to  abandon.  But  notwithstanding  their  first  suc- 
cesses, their  efforts  produced  few  permanent  results.  The  prosper- 
ous mission  Avhich  they  began  at  Tadousac  for  the  Algonquins  who 
lived  along  the  banks  of  the  Saguenay  was  destroyed  by  jDestilence 
and  by  the  arms  of  the  Iroquois.  The  other  Algonquin  settlements 
farther  up  the  St.  Lawrence,  likewise  came  to  a  disastrous  end. 
The  Huron  The  most  notable  of  all  the  Jesuit  missions  was  that  es- 
mission.  tabhshed  by  Brebeuf  in  1634  among  the  Hurons.  Here 
he  and  his  brethren  labored  patiently,  but  accomplished  little  ex- 
cept among  the  children,  who  gathered  at  the  chapel  to  learn  the 
commandments  and  the  prayers  of  the  Chui'ch.  Soon  the  terrible 
pestilence  which  everywhere  attended  the  progress  of  the  Europeans 
through  the  Indian  country,  came  to  humble  the  pride  of  the  Hu- 
rons and  make  them  attentive  to  the  message  of  the  priests.  But 
this  humility  was  of  short  duration.  Incited  by  the  medicine-men, 
they  accused  the  Jesuits  of  sorcery,  and  determined  upon  their 
death.  The  fearless  attitude  of  the  missionaries  disarmed  their 
enemies.  Although  the  fathers  were  frequently  repelled  from  the 
cabins  of  the  sick,  and  were  hooted  in  the  streets,  their  lives  were  no 
longer  in  danger.  Gradually  they  gained  a  few  converts.  In  1640 
the  Huron  Christians  numbered  one  hundred.  As  the  miseries 
which  befell  the  tribe — war,  famine,  and  pestilence — increased,  they 
tui'ned  more  readily  to  the  Jesuits  for  guidance  and  instruction. 
But  this  nation,  like  the  Algonquins,  Avas  doomed.  Bands  of  Iro- 
quois in  1648  destroyed  St.  Joseph  and  slew  Father  Daniel,  one  of 
the  first  associates  of  Brebeuf  in  the  Huron  mission.     The  follow- 


1517-1648.]        PROTESTANT  SETTLEMENTS  IN  AMERICA.  459 

ing  year,  mfiny  other  towns  were  either  burned  by  the  same  relent- 
less foe  or  abandoned  by  their  inhabitants.  At  St,  Louis,  Brebeuf 
and  Lalemant  were  captured,  and  put  to  death  after  being  subjected 
to  the  most  horrible  tortures.  Thus  perished  the  Huron  mission. 
In  December,  1649,  a  like  fate  overtook  that  of  the  Tobacco  nation. 
St.  Jean  was  destroyed,  and  Father  Garnier,  a  man  of  noble  birth 
and  sensitive  nature,  was  tomahawked  while  endeavoring  to  drag 
himself  to  the  side  of  a  dying  Indian  that  he  might  administer  to 
him  the  last  consolations  of  the  Catholic  faith.  A  few  years  later, 
Mission  to  ^^^  Iroquois,  wastcd  by  their  continual  wai's,  made  peace 
the  Iroquois,  .^-^j^  ^j^g  French  and  asked  for  missionaries.  The  Jesuits 
did  not  hesitate  to  go  to  this  nation,  at  whose  hands  several  of 
their  brethren  had  suffered  death.  Out  of  the  Hurons  whom  they 
found  scattered  among  the  tribes  of  their  conquerors,  they  formed 
the  nucleus  of  a  Christian  community.  But  these  missionary  ef- 
forts, after  being  repeatedly  interrupted  by  new  wars,  ceased  in 
1687.  In  the  meantime,  other  members  of  the  order  had  pushed 
farther  west,  following  the  retreating  footsteps  of  the  Hurons,  or 
seeking  to  carry  the  gospel  to  tribes  living  along  the  shores  of 
Lake  Michigan.  Father  Marquette,  in  1673,  accompanied  Joliet 
in  his  voyage  down  the  Mississippi.  One  of  the  results  of  this 
memorable  journey  was  the  establishment  of  a  mission  among  the 
Illinois  Indians.  Thus  the  Jesuits  labored  on.  They  were  never 
far  behind  the  daring  men  who  at  this  time  were  eagerly  exploring 
the  wilds  of  America.  Everywhere  they  planted  the  cross  and 
sought  to  teach  the  natives  the  rudiments  of  the  Catholic  faith. 
Their  work  was  brought  to  an  end  by  the  suppression  of  their  or- 
der in  France  in  the  following  century. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

PEOTESTANT  SETTLEMENTS  AND  COMMUNITIES  IN  AMERICA. 

The  Spaniards  took  possession  of  the  Southern  coast  of  America. 
The  French  settlements  were  in  the  North.  The  Middle  Atlan- 
tic coast,  with  its  moderate  and  healthful  climate,  was  left  for  the 
Protestant  nations,  and  especially  for  England,  to  colonize.  The 
founders  of  New  England  were  Puritans,  but  Puritans  of 
of  Puritan  two  quitc  different  classes,  which,  however,  became  amal- 
emigrants.  ^^^^^^^  after  their  settlement  in  the  New  World.  The 
Plymouth  colonists  who  came  over  in  the  Mayflower  in  1620  were 


460    THE  llEFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.   [Period  VIII. 

Indejoendents.  They  belonged  to  the  separatists  from  the  Anglican 
Church  who  had  renounced  the  Establishment  in  England,  and 
abjured  altogether  the  theory  of  a  national  church.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  settlers  of  Massachusetts  Bay  and  of  Connecticut  were 
Puritans  who,  in  the  mother  country,  had  labored  not  to  abolish, 
but  to  reform  the  national  Church,  according  to  their  own  ideas, 
which  corresponded  to  those  of  Calviuists  generally  on  the  Conti- 
nent. Before  their  migration,  much  as  they  objected  to  certain 
features  of  the  Anglican  polity  and  ritual,  they  had  never  re- 
nounced their  connection  with  the  Episcopal  Church  as  estab- 
lished by  law. 

The  Act  of  Uniformity  passed  in  the  first  year  of  Elizabeth's 
reign,  and  the  legalized  supremacy  of  the  queen  in  ecclesiastical 
Rise  of  the  ^s  wcll  as  civil  coucems,  made  all  deviation  from  the 
indcpendeuts.  j^^ojeg  of  belief  and  worship  which  were  ordained  by 
law  punishable  by  the  civil  authority  ;  and  the  Court  of  High  Com- 
mission was  instituted  to  extirpate  dissent  and  heresy.  As  early,  * 
perhaps,  as  1567  there  are  traces  of  a  small  congregation  or  society 
in  London  which  was  made  up  of  devout  persons  to  whom  not 
only  prelacy  was  obnoxious,  but  also  the  whole  system  of  estab- 
lished or  national  churches.  Independents,  as  those  who  em- 
braced this  tenet  were  styled,  attracted  hostile  attention  in  the  dio- 
cese of  Norwich.  In  1583,  two  clergymen,  Thacker  and  Copping, 
who  had  previously  been  shut  up  in  prison,  were  put  to  death  on 
the  charge  of  sedition  ;  their  offence  having  been  the  implied 
denial  of  the  queen's  sujDremacy.  Previously,  another  clergyman, 
Robert  Browne,  a  kinsman  of  the  queen's  great  coun- 

Browne.  ±0 

sellor,  Burleigh,  after  being  once  at  least  in  j^rison  in 
Norwich,  escaped  in  1582  to  Middleburg  in  Holland,  where  he  gath- 
ered a  congregation  of  Lidependents  like  himself,  and  issued  writ- 
ings in  favor  of  "a  reformation  without  tarrying."  Browne  was  a 
man  of  unstable  character.  On  returning  to  England,  in  1591,  he 
saved  his  life  by  submission  to  the  laws,  and  accepted  preferment 
in  the  Church.  He  became  the  rector  of  a  parish,  led  an  idle  and 
profligate  life,  but  was  a  beneficed  clergyman  when  he  died,  which 
was  in  1G30.  The  name  of  "Brownists  "  was  long  attached  to  the 
Independents  by  their  enemies,  from  the  prominence  which  for  a 
time  he  had  among  them.  Of  a  totally  different  spirit  were  the 
Barroweand  Congregatioualist  martyrs,  Henry  Barrowe  and  John 
Greenwood.  Grecuwood,  who  Were  executed  in  1593.  Both  were 
graduates  of  Cambridge.  Barrowe  belonged  to  a  good  family, 
studied  law,  and  was  "  a  flourishino:  courtier  in  his  time  ;  "  but,  after 


1517-164S.]       PROTESTANT  SETTLEMENTS  IN  AMERICA.  461 

his  conversion,  suri^rised  his  friends  by  the  sobriety  of  his  conduct 
and  his  religious  earnestness.  In  his  examinations  before  Whitgift 
and  other  members  of  the  High  Commission  Court,  at  Lambeth,  he 
denied  that  the  Church  of  England  in  its  national  form  is  the  true 
Church  of  Christ.  He  denied  that  the  queen  could  make  any  laws 
for  the  Church  which  were  not  fix'st  made  by  Christ.  He  asserted 
that  each  particular  church  should  govei-n  itself,  and  have  an  elder- 
ship of  its  own.  He  pronounced  the  composition  of  forms  of  prayer 
in  the  Church  to  be  wrong,  and  went  beyond  the  ordinary  Puritans 
by  repudiating  every  "  prescript  stinted  liturgy  "  as  an  undertaking 
'*  to  teach  the  Spirit  of  God  and  to  take  away  his  office."  Barrowe's 
treatment  of  the  laymen  before  whom  he  was  arraigned  was  civil ; 
but  for  the  prelates  he  manifested  no  respect.  He  evidently  re- 
garded them  as  Knox  and  Luther  would  have  looked  on  priests  or 
papal  inquisitors.  He  told  the  archbishop  to  his  face  that  he  was 
"  void  of  all  true  learning  and  godliness."  In  his  case,  as  was  true 
of  other  early  Independent  champions,  a  burning  zeal  begot  a  vitup- 
erative style  of  speech,  as  well  as  whimsies  in  the  sphere  of  opin- 
ion, which  wore  off  in  process  of  time  and  under  the  guidance  of  more 
renr  judicious  leaders.     John  Penry  was  a  young  Welshman, 

who  also  took  his  degree  at  Cambridge,  and  had  i)reached 
in  his  own  country  and  in  Scotland,  and  occasionally  to  the  Inde- 
pendent flock  in  London.  He  was  hanged,  in  1593,  as  a  seditious 
disturber  and  a  sympathizer  with  Barrowe  and  Greenwood.  He 
had  earnestly  complained  of  non-preaching  incumbents  of  livings 
as  no  true  ministers.  This  was  deemed  one  of  his  chief  offences. 
He  Avas  falsely  charged  with  taking  part  in  the  publishing  of  the 
Marprelate  tracts.  Penry  was  in  his  thirty-fourth  year  when  he 
perished  on  the  scaffold.  His  truly  Christian  tempei',  and  the  cruel 
blow  inflicted  by  his  death  upon  a  young  wife  and  a  group  of  children, 
rendered  his  fate  peculiarly  tragic.  Francis  Johnson, 
made  pastor  of  the  Independent  church,  was  cast  into 
prison,  and,  after  Greenwood's  death,  was  banished  from  the  king- 
dom for  life.  He  was  a  clergyman,  educated  at  Cambridge,  and  when 
di'iven  from  England  became  j)astor  of  a  separatist  congregation  at 
Amsterdam,  where  the  learned  Henry  Ainsworth  was  the  teacher.  At 
this  time,  it  was  estimated  that  there  were  about  twenty  thousand 
The  scrooby  Independents  scattered  over  England.  At  Scrooby,  in 
congregation.  Nottinghamshire,  the  humble  church  grew  up  that  was 
destined  to  furnish  the  first  emigrants  to  Nevvr  England.  There 
in  the  manor-house  which  was  occupied  by  William  Brewster,  by 
his  invitation,  meetings  were  held  for  worship  of  such  as  shared 


462    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.   [Period  VIIL 

in  Lis  religious  tenets.  Brewstei*  had  studied  at  Cambridge,  had 
been  attached  to  Davison,  one  of  the  queen's  secretaries  for  foreign 
a£fairs,  and  was  then  "master  of  the  posts,"  or  postmaster,  of  the 
place  where  he  lived.  Later  he  became  a  ruling  elder  in  the  so- 
ciety. Among  the  members  was  William  Bradford,  one  of  those 
who  came  to  the  meetings  in  the  manor-house  from  Austerfield,  a 
neighboring  village.  The  teacher  of  this  Independent  church  was 
John  Robinson,  a  master  of  arts  at  Cambridge,  who  had 
been  a  fellow  at  Corpus  Christi  College.  He,  more  than 
any  other,  is  to  be  considered  the  founder  of  Independency  as  a  de- 
veloped and  organized  system.  Harassed  by  the  prosecuting  officers 
of  the  law,  the  church  at  Scrooby  determined  at  last  to  leave  home 
and  country  in  a  body,  and  to  make  for  themselves  an  abode  in  Hol- 
land. After  undergoing  much  peril  and  suffering — since  their  at- 
tempts to  embark  were  baffled  by  the  agents  of  the  government. — 
they  succeeded,  in  1608,  in  reaching  Amsterdam.  Dissensions 
among  the  Independents  there,  many  of  whom  were  more  radical 
and  less  wise  than  Robinson,  determined  him  and  his  flock,  in  1609, 
to  make  another  change.  They  removed  to  Leyden,  where 

AtLeyden.  p  •'  , 

Brewsterbecame  a  printer  and  teacher,  and  where  the  con- 
gregation of  English  rustics  engaged  in  occupations  to  which  they 
had  never  been  accustomed,  but  which  yielded  them  a  hard-earned 
livelihood.  Eobinsou  was  a  man  of  uncommon  gifts  of  intellect  as 
well  as  rare  virtues  of  character,  a  learned  theologian,  and  an  ac- 
complished writer.  So  highly  was  he  esteemed  that  he  was  chosen 
by  the  university  to  contend  in  debate  with  Episcopius,  the  able 
champion  of  Arminianism.  More  and  more  his  mind  had  become 
liberalized.  Without  changing  his  fundamental  position,  he  aban- 
doned certain  notions  that  he  had  previously  held  in  common  with 
his  brethren — for  example,  that  the  church-edifices  which  had  been 
used  by  Roman  Catholics  should  be  abandoned  and  demolished. 
He  acknowledged  the  parish  churches  in  England  to  be  true 
churches,  although  sadly  defective  in  discipline  ;  did  not  think  it 
wrong  occasionally  to  hear  their  rectors,  and  with  his  people  did 
not  refuse  to  admit  to  communion  with  his  church  Dutch  Chris- 
tians of  approved  i^iety.  He  discerned  and  pointed  out  the  futilify 
of  coercion  in  matters  of  religion,  and  the  duty  and  advantages  of 
toleration.  After  about  ten  years,  he  and  his  congregation,  which 
was  to  keep  up  its  character  as  a  pilgrim  church,  concluded  that  Hol- 
land was  not  the  place  where  they  should  remain  and  bring  up  their 
children.  They  were  an  isolated  community,  with  the  prospect  be- 
fore them  of  dissolution  rather  than  of  growth.     They  could  not 


1517-1G48.]       PROTESTANT  SETTLEMENTS  IN  AMERICA.  463 

go  back  to  England  without  either  forsaking  their  principles  or  be- 
ing struck  clown  as  rebels  against  the  existing  order  of  Clmrch  and 
State.  It  was  resolved  that  a  part  of  the  church  should  depart  for 
America  and  begin  a  settlement,  where  they  were  to  be  joined  by 
Eobinson  and  the  rest  of  their  brethren  as  soon  as  difficulties  in 
the  way  of  their  removal  could  be  overcome.  In  accordance  with 
an  arrangement  made  with  certain  English  merchants,  who  ex- 
pected to  get  the  lion's  share  in  the  profits  of  the  undertaking,  the 
pilgrims  at  last,  after  multiplied  dangers  and  delays,  landed  on  the 
Settlement  at  ^^w  England  coast  ou  December  20,  1620.  Before 
Plymouth.  landing  they  framed  a  compact  of  civil  government  in 
the  cabin  of  the  Mayflower.  The  country  of  which  they  took  pos- 
session lay  within  the  domains  of  the  Plymouth  Company,  which 
divided  with  the  Virginia  Company,  by  royal  grant,  the  Atlantic 
coast  and  the  regions  westward  as  far  as  the  Pacific.  The  lands, 
however,  were  purchased  by  the  Pilgrims — as  was  true  of  the  New 
England  Puritans  generally — of  the  Indians,  for  what,  under  the 
circumstances,  was  a  fair  equivalent.  The  first  winter  passed  by 
the  hei'oic  and  patient  band  of  Christians  who  built  their  log-houses 
on  the  bleak  coast  was  one  of  almost  unexampled  hardship.  No 
man  whose  heart  is  not  of  stone  can  read,  without  deep  emotion, 
the  simple  record  of  one  of  their  number,  the  historian  Bradford. 
They  comprised  only  one  hundred  and  ten  persons.  Before  the 
spring  came,  they  had  buried  under  the  snow  one-half  of  the  little 
company.  At  one  time  only  six  or  seven  were  strong  enough  to 
nurse  the  sick  and  to  attend  to  the  burial  of  the  dead.  In  this 
small  number  of  untiring  helpei'S  of  their  brethren  were  Brewster, 
their  ruling  elder,  who  acted  as  teacher,  and  Miles  Standish,  their 
military  leader.  The  Plymouth  Colony  grew  slowl}'.  It  never  be- 
came strong  in  numbers.  But  the  "  Old  Colony,"  as  it  came  to  be 
called  in  after-times,  made  up  for  its  comparative  weakness  from  a 
material  point  of  view,  by  the  moral  influence  which  flowed  from 
its  example  of  Christian  courage  and  excellence,  and  through  its 
greater  charity  in  respect  to  religious  diiferences.  The  Pilgrims 
did  not  forget  the  parting  counsels  of  Robinson,  j  ust  as  they  were 
Eobinson'a  about  to  Sail  from  Delftshaven.  He  took  occasion  "to 
counsels.  bewail  the  state  and  condition  of  the  Reformed  churches, 
which  had  come  to  a  period  in  religion,  and  could  go  no  further 
than  the  instruments  of  their  reformation,  Luther  and  Cahan." 
He  exhorted  them  "  to  receive  whatsoever  light  or  truth  "  should 
be  made  known  from  God's  written  Word.  It  was  not  possible,  he 
added  "that  the  Christian  world  should  come  so  lately  out  of  such 


464    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.   [Period  VIII. 

thick  Anticliristian  darkness,  and  that  full  perfection  of  knowledge 
should  break  forth  at  once." 

Soon  after  the  beginning  of  the  Plymouth  settlement,  Pui-itans 
in  England  began  to  give  ujj  the  hope  of  relief  from  persecution 
The  Puritan  f^r  non-conformitj  and  for  efforts  to  reform  the  estab- 
emigration.  ifsi^ed  ccclesiastical  system.  Laud  was  coming  into 
power  as  the  principal  adviser  of  Charles  I.  in  matters  ecclesiasti- 
cal, and  as  the  vigilant  and  unsparing  oppressor  of  dissenters  from 
his  system.  These  circumstances  led  to  the  great  Puritan  emi- 
gration to  Massachusetts.  In  1628  "  The  Company  of  Massachu- 
setts Bay  "  purchased  from  "  the  Council  for  New  England  "  the 
lands  between  the  Merrimac  and  the  Charles  Rivers.  Tlie  next 
3'eai',  the  company  obtained  a  charter  from  Charles  I.  They  sent 
out  a  party  of  colonists  under  John  Endicott,  who  settled  at 
Salem.  In  1630  the  company  took  the  bold  step  of  transferring 
themselves  and  their  charter,  and  thus  the  government  of  the  set- 
tlements to  be  established  under  it,  to  New  England.  In  that 
year,  nearly  fifteen  hundred  Puritan  emigrants,  in  thirteen  vessels, 
with  John  Winthrop,  the  governor,  came  over,  and  set- 
chusetts  Col-  tied  Charlestown,  Boston,  and  other  places  in  the  neigh- 
borhood. The  Massachusetts  settlers  were  dissatisfied 
members  of  the  Church  of  England,  their  "  dear  mother  church," 
as  they  did  not  cease  to  call  it.  The  ministers  who  accomj^anied 
them,  or  joined  their  colony  later,  such  as  Higginson,  Cotton, 
Hooker,  were  ordained  clergymen,  and  a  number  of  them  cler- 
gymen honored  and  well  known  in  the  Anglican  Established 
Church.  No  sooner,  however,  did  the  Massachusetts  settlers  find 
themselves  on  the  shores  of  New  England,  and  free  from  restraint, 
than  they  proceeded  to  organize  a  church  system  in  no  essential  par- 
ticulars at  variance  with  that  of  their  neighbors  at  Plymouth,  and 
of  Independents  generall}-.  Robinson  had  told  the  Pilgrims  : 
"  There  will  be  no  difference  between  the  conformable  ministers 
and  you,  when  they  come  to  the  practice  of  the  ordinances  out  of 
the  kingdom  "  of  England.  The  local  church  was  to  be  composed 
of  those  only  who  gave  credible  evidence  of  regeneration.  It  elected 
its  own  officers — a  teacher  to  inculcate  doctrine,  a  pastor  to  exhort 
and  to  console,  and  a  ruling  lay  elder.  These  together  were  the 
inner  presbytery  of  the  church,  having  a  concurrent  authority 
with  the  body  of  its  members  ;  but  all  important  acts  required  the 
votes  of  a  major  part  of  the  communicants,  who  were  united  to- 
gether by  a  covenant.  At  the  very  outset,  at  Salem,  the  minis- 
ters,  who   were   in   orders  in  the  Church  of  England,  were  fii'st 


1517-164S.]        PROTESTANT  SETTLEMENTS  IN  AMERICA.  465 

elected  by  the  congregation,  answering  to  the  parish,  as  its  minis- 
ters, and  then  chosen  by  the  church  to  be  its  overseers  in  spiritual 
things.  Ordination  followed  upon  the  election  of  ministers,  since 
they  were  regarded,  not  as  an  order  but  simply  as  officers  of  the 
local  church.  Their  functions  were  confined  by  its  limits,  and  by 
the  period  in  which  they  held  their  offices.  They  might  not  even 
officiate  in  any  other  church  without  its  consent  and  invitation. 
Moreover,  the  liturgy  and  all  written  prayers  were  discarded.  This 
is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  illustrations  of  the  rapid  movements 
that  took  place  in  that  age  of  change.  Cotton,  the  minister  of 
Boston,  in  1635  wrote  to  his  former  congregation  in  England 
that  if  he  were  with  them  he  should  no  more  dare  to  "  joyne  in 
Book-prayers."  Some  of  the  Puritan  ministers  in  England  wrote 
over  to  the  ministers  of  New  England,  complaining  of  these  alter- 
ations of  opinion  and  practice.  In  Massachusetts  Bay,  and  after- 
wards in  the  New  Haven  Colony,  the  right  to  vote  and  hold  office 
The  political  was  givcu  to  church  members  exclusively.  The  founders 
system.  q£  -^qi^t  England   did  not   adopt   the  modern   doctrine 

of  universal  suffrage.  Eousseau  had  not  written  "  The  Social  Con- 
tract," nor  Locke  his  treatises  on  civil  government.  The  Puritans 
were  led  to  emigrate,  preeminently,  by  religious  motives.  They 
wished  to  lodge  political  power  in  the  hands  of  good  men. 
Hence  the  restriction  just  mentioned  was  established  in  the  civil 
polity  of  these  two  colonies,  which  thus  became,  in  a  sense,  theo- 
cratic communities.  The  civil  authorities,  the  governor  and  as- 
sistants, and  the  house  of  deputies  when  it  was  instituted,  were 
composed  of  members  of  the  churches.  This  constitution  was  not 
adopted  on  the  ground  of  a  theory  that  the  exercise  of  the  powers 
of  government  belongs  of  right  to  the  Church  exclusively.  This 
theory  Davenport  disavowed.  He  distinguished  between  what 
might  be  best  in  "  a  commonwealth  yet  to  be  settled,"  and  one 
"  already  settled."  Let  it  be  obseiwed  that  the  peculiarity  of  the 
system  did  not  lie  in  the  requirement  of  membership  in  the  church 
as  a  qualification  for  enjoying  political  privileges ;  for  the  same 
requirement  existed  in  England.  It  lay,  rather,  in  the  limiting 
of  the  number  of  communicants  in  the  church  to  such  as  were 
judged  to  be  regenerate.  In  the  polity  of  Connecticut,  the  first 
colony  formed  within  the  limits  of  the  State  at  present  bearing 
that  name,  the  suffi-age  was  not  limited  to  church  members,  but 
the  interests  of  religion  in  the  accepted  form  were  sedulously 
guarded  in  its  constitution.  At  the  outset,  in  the  New  Haven 
Colony,  the  laws  of  Moses,  "  being  neither  typical,  nor  ceremonial, 


466    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OP  WESTPHALIA.   [Period  VIII. 

nor  having  any  reference  to  Canaan,"  were  provisionally  adopted 
as  the  civil  code,  "  till  they  be  branched  into  particulars."  One 
consequence  was  that  the  English  laws  of  entail  and  primogeniture 
were  avoided.  Another  result  was  that  the  number  of  capital  of- 
fences, which,  at  that  time,  in  England  was  thirty-one,  and,  accord- 
in"-  to  Mackintosh,  came  to  be,  in  1819,  two  hundred  and  twenty- 
three,  was  at  once  reduced  to  twelve.  In  all  the  colonies,  except 
Rhode  Island,  it  was  made  the  right  and  duty  of  the  government 
to  interfere  for  the  remedy  of  gTave  abuses  in  the  conduct  and 
management  of  churches,  and  for  the  repression  of  heresy  and 
schism.  The  Puritan  founders  were  not,  and  never  pretended  to  be, 
the  advocates  of  universal  toleration.  They  came  into  the  wilder- 
ness because  they  saw  no  prospect  that  England  would  conform  its 
ecclesiastical  system  to  their  view  of  the  true  principles  of  Protest- 
antism and  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Scriptures,  and  they  were  bent  on 
framing  institutions  corresponding  to  this  view.  At  that  time  no 
political  community  existed  in  which  religious  liberty  was  recog- 
nized, and  it  was  no  part  of  the  design  of  the  Puritans  to  frame  one. 
While  the  local  church  was  held  to  be  a  distinct  ecclesiastical 
body,  a  relation  of  fellowship  in  religious  activities  and  functions 
TheConsrrega-  between  the  several  churches  in  a  community  was 
tionai  system,  deemed  obligatory,  and  was  formtilated  by  a  synod  rep- 
resenting the  churches  of  the  four  confederate  colonies,  which  met 
at  Cambridge,  and  in  1618  made  the  "  Cambridge  platform." 
The  danger  at  that  time  W"as  from  attempts  to  establish  Presbyte- 
rianism  in  England  and  its  dependencies.  There  was  a  faction  in 
New  England  in  sympathy  with  these  attempts.  The  Cambridge 
synod  substituted  for  the  authoritative  church  assemblies  which 
belong  to  the  Presbyterian  system,  councils  which  are  only  em- 
powered to  give  advice  and,  in  extreme  cases,  to  recommend  to 
the  churches  a  renunciation  of  fellowship  with  any  one  of  them 
that  is  chargeable  with  grave  error  or  misconduct,  and  is  incorri- 
gible by  fraternal  expostulation.  The  union  between  the  Connecti- 
cut and  the  New  Haven  Colonies  was  consummated  in  1665.  In 
1708  a  synod  of  the  "  elders  and  messengers  "  of  the  churches  of 
the  united  community  was  held  at  Saybrook.  There  a  form  of 
Congregationalism,  midway  between  the  system  of  the  Cambridge 
platform  and  Presbyterianism,  was  constituted,  and  was  approved 
by  the  government,  under  whose  auspices  the  synod  had  been 
assembled.  Consociations,  or  permanent  councils,  composed  of 
ministers  and  delegates,  were  created  within  each  of  the  districts 
into  which  the  colony  was  divided.     But  as  to  the  amount  of  au- 


1517-1648.]        PROTESTANT  SETTLEMENTS  IN  AMERICA.  467 

tliority  possessed  by  these  local  bodies,  there  was  a  difference  of 
opinion.  Some  held  that  their  decisions  were  final,  and  others 
that  they  were  only  advisory.  The  consociational  system  was  grad- 
ually weakened  in  process  of  time,  and  the  tendency  since  the  be- 
ginning of  this  century  has  been  for  the  ecclesiastical  system  of 
the  Congregational  churches  of  Connecticut  to  assimilate  itself  to 
that  set  forth  in  the  Cambridge  platform. 

The  assembling  of  the  Long  Parliament,  in  1640,  stopped  the 
tide  of  emigration  to  the  Puritan  colonies.  At  that  time,  or  ten 
Character  of  ysars  after  the  migration  of  Winthrop  and  his  company, 
the  ministers.  ^^^^.^  Q^^^  twenty  thousand  Englishmen  had  planted 
themselves  in  New  England.  Among  them  were  about  eighty 
ministers,  not  less  than  one-half  of  whom  wei-o  graduates  of  Cam- 
bridge or  Oxford.  Among  them  were  divines  of  conspicuous 
ability,  like  John  Cotton  and  Thomas  Hooker,  who  had  achieved, 
or  were  capable  of  achieving,  celebrity  in  their  native  country. 
When  the  Westminster  Assembly  was  about  to  be  convened,  a 
number  of  the  New  England  ministers  were  urgently  solicited  to 
return  to  England,  and  to  take  part  in  reconstituting  the  English 
Church.  They  preferred,  however,  to  prosecute  the  work  which 
they  had  so  auspiciously  commenced  in  America. 

Next  to  religion,  education  was  valued  by  the  Puritan  settlers 
of  New  England.  As  early  as  1G3G,  in  the  midst  of  their  struggles 
Education  in  ^'^^h.  penury,  they  established  the  college  at  Cambridge 
New  England.  ^^  ^j^-^j^  ^^^  afterwards  attached  the  name  of  Harvard. 
Grammar  schools,  aided  by  the  public,  were  soon  founded,  and  in 
1642  and  1643  common  schools  were  begun  in  Massachusetts  and 
Connecticut.  Efforts  to  evangelize  the  Indians  were  earnestly 
made,  and  with  no  inconsiderable  degree  of  success.  The  man 
most  venerated  in  connection  with  such  efforts  is  John 
Eliot  (1604^1690),  who  was  a  minister  in  Roxbury,  but 
devoted  his  energies  largely  to  the  conversion  and  religious  train- 
ing of  the  nativies.  Settlements  of  "praying  Indians  "  were  formed 
at  Natick  and  in  other  j^laces.  Twenty-four  of  his  converts  became 
IDreachers  to  the  native  tribes.  He  was  not  less  noted  for  his 
kindness  and  profuse  liberality  than  for  his  evangelical  zeal.  The 
principal  monument  of  his  labors  is  the  translation  of  the  Bible 
into  the  Indian  language. 

The  New  England  Puritans  in  their  ecclesiastical  customs  made 
Puritan  wor-  ^  protest,  in  the  most  emphatic  and  practical  forms, 
^'I'p-  ^  against  sacerdotalism  in  the  Church.  Marriage,  in  the 
earlier  days,  was  solemnized  by  the  civil  magistrate  without  the  par- 


468    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  Vin. 

ticipation  of  a  clergyman.  The  dead  were  buried  in  unconsecrated 
ground,  and  without  prayer  or  any  other  reHgious  rite.  'Whatever 
was  thought  to  savor  of  "will-worship,"  or  was  considered  a 
human  invention,  having  no  sanction  in  the  Bible,  was  discarded. 
The  fasts  and  feasts  of  the  Christian  year  which  could  not  plead 
an  express  warrant  of  Scripture  were  abolished.  Days  of  fasting 
or  of  thanksgiving  were  specially  apijointed,  from  time  to  time,  by 
the  magistrates.  The  custom  was  established  of  ai^pointing  by 
pubKc  proclamation  an  annual  autumn  festival  of  thanksgiving, 
and  a  fast-day  in  the  spring.  Instrumental  music  was  not  allowed 
in  the  "meeting-houses,"  as  the  places  of  public  worship  were 
termed,  nor  anywhere  in  religious  services.  Even  the  reading  of 
the  Bible  was  not  permitted  in  public  worship,  unless  it  were 
accompanied  with  exposition.  The  Lord's  Day  was  strictly  kept 
as  a  Sabbath,  according  to  the  Puritan  view  that  its  observance 
was  enjoined  in  the  decalogue.  The  Sabbath  extended  from  the 
sunset  of  Saturday  to  the  sunset  of  Sunday,  according  to  the  Jewish 
method  of  reckoning  days.  As  among  Calvinists  generally,  and 
the  Puritans  especially,  the  Old  Testament  was  studied  with  an 
absorbing  interest  and  reverence.  There  was  not  generally  a  clear 
or  consistent  view  of  Kevelation  as  a  gradually  developing  system, 
the  higher  and  final  stage  of  which  is  the  gospel. 

The  early  penal  codes  of  New  England  have  often  been  de- 
nounced as  remarkably  sevei*e  for  that  age.     This  is  an  erroneous 
impression,  as  anyone  may  see  who  will  look  at  the  con- 

ruritan  laws.  ,.  ,.. 

temporaneous  English  laws,  which  in  the  long  list  of 
capital  offences  included  larceny  above  the  value  of  twelve  pence, 
and  punished  various  minor  transgressions  with  branding.  The 
false  impression  respecting  the  exceptional  harshness  of  the  Pu- 
ritan codes  has  been  derived  partly  from  the  apociyphal  "  Blue 
Laws,"  which  were  published  in  1781,  in  a  "  History  of  Connecti- 
cut," an  odd  medley  of  fact  and  fiction,  of  which  Samuel  Peters, 
a  mendacious  refugee  from  that  colony,  was  the  author.  These 
fictitious  statutes,  the  invention  of  Peters,  have  been  quoted  as 
genuine  by  not  a  few  respectable  writers,  even  in  recent  times.  It 
is  only  just  to  remark  that  the  laws  in  New  England  did  not  ex- 
ceed in  rigor  the  statutes  in  force  in  other  American  colonies.  In 
Maryland,  an  assembly,  composed  of  Roman  Catholics  and  Prot- 
estants, in  1649  passed  a  law  against  blasphemj^,  a  crime  which 
included  the  denial  of  the  doctrine  of  the  trinity  or  the  use  of  any 
reproachful  words  respecting  it.  For  the  second  offence,  the 
penalty  was  branding  on  the  forehead,  and,  for  the  third  offence. 


1517-1648.]        PROTESTANT  SETTLEMENTS  IN  AMERICA.  469 

death  and  the  confiscation  of  goods.  In  New  York,  under  the 
government  of  the  Dutch,  cases  are  on  record  in  which  torture 
was  used  to  eUcit  confessions.  No  other  code  in  those  da^-s  was 
so  severe  as  that  adopted  in  IGIO  and  1611  for  Virginia.  It  was 
ordained  that  one  guilty  of  blasphemy  for  the  second  time  should 
"  have  a  bodkin  thrust  through  his  tongue."  Laws  requiring 
attendance  on  public  worship  existed  at  that  time  in  old  England 
as  well  as  in  New  England.  The  penalties  imposed  on  transgres- 
sors of  like  enactments  were  more  severe  in  Virginia  than  in  the 
Puritan  colonies.  The  following  statements  are  from  the  pen  of 
Jefferson,  in  his  "Notes  on  Virginia  :"  "The  first  settlers  [of  Vir- 
ginia] were  emigrants  from  England  of  the  English  Chui-ch,  just  at 
a  point  of  time  when  it  was  flushed  with  complete  victory  over  the 
religions  of  all  other  persuasions.  Possessed,  as  they  became,  of 
the  powers  of  making,  administering,  and  executing  the  laws,  they 
showed  equal  intolerance  in  this  country  with  their  Presbyterian 
[i.e.,  Congregationalist]  brethren  who  had  emigrated  to  the  north- 
ern government.  .  .  .  Several  acts  of  the  Virginia  Assembly 
of  1659,  1G62,  and  1693,  had  made  it  penal  in  parents  to  refuse  to 
have  their  children  baptized  ;  had  prohibited  the  unlawful  assem- 
bling of  Quakers  ;  had  made  it  penal  for  any  master  of  a  vessel  to 
bring  a  Quaker  into  the  State  ;  had  ordered  those  already  here, 
and  such  as  should  come  thereafter,  to  be  imprisoned  until  they 
should  abjure  the  country — provided  a  milder  penalty  for  the  first 
and  second  return,  but  death  for  the  third.  If  no  capital  executions 
took  place  here,  as  [there]  did  in  New  England,  it  was  not  owing 
to  the  moderation  of  the  Church,  or  the  spirit  of  the  legislature, 
as  may  be  inferred  from  the  law  itself  ;  but  to  historical  circum- 
stances, which  have  not  been  handed  down  to  us."  The  foregoing 
statements  of  Jefferson  should  be  qualified  by  the  remark  that  the 
enforcement  of  uniformity  in  Virginia  varied  with  the  fluctuations 
of  party  in  England,  and  that  for  long  intervals  the  spirit  of  intol- 
erance was  dormant. 

The  alleged  intolerance  of  the  Massachusetts  Colony  has  given 
rise  to  much  sincere  regret,  and  to  no  small  amount  of  not  very  in- 
telligent declamation.  It  is  true  that  danger  to  the  State  has  been 
the  ordinary  pretext  for  the  exercise  of  coercion  against  religious 
dissent.  But  the  distinction  between  a  colony  and  a  full-fledged 
commonwealth  ought  to  be  remembered.  Things  may  be  proper 
and  even  requisite  in  an  infant  settlement,  midway  between  a  fam- 
ily and  a  state,  which  are  needless,  as  well  as  unjust,  in  a  mature 
community.     A  spirit  of  exclusion  may  be  at  least  a  venial  offence, 


470     THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VIIL 

if  not  a  necessit}^  in  the  one,  which  would  be  a  grievous  wrong  in 
the  other.  Churches,  in  the  view  of  almost  all  Protestants  at  that 
time,  were  national,  or  territorial.  The  Massachusetts  colonists 
felt  at  liberty  to  organize  Church  and  State  to  suit  their  own  views. 
At  the  very  begining,  in  1629,  two  persons,  named  Browne,  pro- 
tested against  the  form  given  to  the  church  at  Salem,  and  set  up  a 
separate  worship,  using  the  Prayer  Book.  Refusing  to  3'ield,  they 
were  shipped  back  to  England.  The  position  of  the  colonists  was 
surely  a  trying  one.  "  A  conventicle  of  a  score  of  persons  using 
the  liturgy  might  be  harmless  ;  but  how  long  would  the  conven- 
ticle be  without  its  surpliced  priest,  and  when  he  had  come,  how 
far  in  the  distance  would  be  a  bishop,  armed  vdth  the  powers  of 
the  High  Commission  Court  ?  " 

In  1631  Roger  Williams  arrived  in  Massachusetts.  He  was 
then  about  thirty  years  of  age,  was  a  graduate  of  Cambridge,  and 
Roger  wiu-  ^^'^  probably  taken  orders.  He  had  become,  neverthe- 
iams.  jggg^  ^^  Independent  of  an  advanced  type.     He  was  a 

man  of  marked  ability,  and  of  a  generous,  disinterested  spirit.  His 
religious  sincerity  no  one  who  knew  him  ever  had  reason  to  doubt. 
It  must  be  admitted,  also,  that  he  was  restless,  contentious,  and 
precipitate  in  judgment  and  action.  The  fact  of  capital  importance 
in  considering  the  controversy  which  led  to  his  expulsion  from  the 
colony,  is  that  he  was  a  separatist  of  the  most  radical  school,  hold- 
ing a  position  quite  as  extreme  as  that  of  Barrowe,  and  of  Robinson 
in  his  earlier  days.  The  first  stej)  he  took  was  to  refuse  to  officiate 
as  a  minister  in  Boston,  because  the  church  had  not  publicly  re- 
nounced fellowship  with  the  English  Church,  which  he  regarded 
as  antichristian.  He  maintained  that  it  was  a  sin  to  hear  the  par- 
ish ministers  in  England  preach,  since  it  implied  fellowship  with  a 
corrupt,  prelatical  cluu-ch,  and  that  the  New  England  Christians 
were  bound  to  repent  for  not  wholly  breaking  off  communion  with 
it  while  they  were  in  England,  Next,  he  wrote  a  treatise  denying 
the  right  of  the  King  of  England  to  grant  the  patent  on  which  the 
government  of  the  colony  rested.  The  patent,  he  affirmed,  ought 
to  be  sent  back.  Another  opinion  which  he  proclaimed  was  that 
the  cross  oiight  not  to  be  allowed  in  the  royal  ensign  ;  and  Endi- 
cott,  at  Salem,  where  Williams  had  been  chosen  as  teacher  of  the 
church,  was  persuaded  to  cut  it  out  of  the  colors.  With  the  mo- 
tives of  this  act  many  felt  a  sympathy,  who  nevertheless  looked  on  it 
as  in  the  highest  degree  inexpedient  and  dangerous.  Williams, 
moreover,  denied  the  moral  lawfulness  of  administering  an  oath 
to  the  non-freemen  of  the  colony  who  did  not  profess  to  be  con- 


1517-1648.]       PROTESTANT  SETTLEMENTS  IN  AMERICA.  471 

verted.  He  added  to  this  declaration  the  general  doctrine  that  a 
government  has  no  right  to  punish  violations  of  the  first  table  of  the 
law — under  which  were  included  perjury  and  blasphemy  as  well  as 
Sabbath-breaking — except  where  civil  disturbances  result  from  such 
practices.  The  sincerity  and  eloquence  of  the  young  preacher  won 
for  him  disciples,  especially  in  Salem,  where  a  majority  of  the 
church  were  ready  to  follow  him.  The  leaders  of  the  colony  be- 
lieved that  the  entire  social  fabric  which  they  had  begun  to  erect 
was  in  danger  of  being  overturned  by  internal  dissension,  and  by 
the  interference  which  the  principles  and  measures  urged  by  Will- 
iams would  inevitably  provoke  at  the  hands  of  the  authorities  in 
England.  They  were  suspicious  of  the  colony,  and  needed  only  a 
plausible  pretext  for  taking  away  the  self-government  which  it  had 
quietly  assumed  on  the  foundation  of  its  charter  as  a  trading  cor- 
poration. Hence  the  colonists  exercised  the  privilege,  which  in 
common  with  the  other  colonial  communities  they  exercised  on  other 
occasions,  of  requiring  him  to  depart.  He  was  not  even  a  freeman 
of  the  colon}',  not  having  taken  the  oath  which  admitted  him  to  its 
franchise.  In  order  to  prevent  them  from  sending  him  back  to 
England,  he  fled,  journeyed  through  the  forests,  and  founded  a 
settlement  which,  in  token  of  gratitude,  he  named  Providence. 
Grounds  of  his  The  main  grounds  of  his  banishment,  as  he  himself 
banishment,  gtates.  Were  liis  extreme  views  on  the  subject  of  separa- 
tion and  his  denunciation  of  the  patent.  The  statements  of  his 
adversaries,  which  do  not  differ  essentially  from  his  own  testimony, 
make  it  plain  that  the  reasons  for  his  expulsion  were,  first,  his  at- 
tack on  the  patent,  and  secondly,  his  condemnation  of  the  oath,  as 
implying  Christian  fellowship  with  the  unregenei-ate.  The  threat- 
ening attitude  of  the  English  Government  had  suggested  to  the 
magistrates  the  need  of  demanding  an  assurance  of  loyalty  from  all 
the  inhabitants  of  the  little  community.  The  theory  relative  to  the 
restricted  function  of  the  magistrate,  or  the  doctrine  of  religious 
libert}',  was  a  subordinate  motive  in  the  banishment  of  Williams, 
and  it  has  no  prominence  in  his  own  account  of  the  matter.  In  a 
dangerous  crisis  in  the  situation  of  the  colony,  his  pi'esence  was  felt 
to  involve  great  peril,  in  view,  especially,  of  his  "  turbulent "  oppo- 
sition to  the  patent  and  to  the  oath.  Williams  would  be  styled,  in 
modern  parlance,  a  doctrinaire  in  politics.  His  doctrine  of  the 
rights  of  conscience  would  not  of  itself  have  produced  his  expulsion ; 
yet  to  the  assertion  of  this  doctrine  as  it  ripened  in  his  mind  to 
a  definite  form,  and  to  the  realization  of  it  in  a  new  political  com- 
munity, where  not  toleration  but  full  I'eligious  liberty  was  incor- 


472    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OP  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VHL 

porated  in  the  fundamental  law,  lie  owes  Lis  distinction  in  history. 
His  later  ^^^  Subsequent  career  evinced  both  the  magnanimity 
career.  r^y^^  bcnevolence  of  his   heart  and  the  restless  activity 

and  controversial  habit  of  his  intellect.  At  Providence,  in  1639,  a 
layman  named  Holliman  baptized  him  by  immersion,  and  then 
Williams  in  turn  baptized  Holliman,  and  "some  ten  more."  This 
was  not  a  strange  step,  for  Roger  "Williams  had  been  anticipated 
in  his  favorite  tenet  of  "  soul-liberty  "  by  the  Baptists,  who  were 
pioneers  in  the  assertion  of  the  doctrine  of  religious  freedom.  But 
he  soon  withdrew  from  the  Baptists.  He  stood  aloof,  in  the  closing 
years  of  his  life,  from  all  church  fellowship.  He  discarded  the 
rite  of  baptism  altogether,  and  waited  for  a  revived  spiritual  apos- 
tolate.  Like  his  friend  Vane,  and  others  of  like  temperament,  he 
became  one  of  the  "seekers  "  who  looked  for  a  new  heaven  and  a 
new  earth.  He  had  separated  from  the  Massachusetts  churches 
for  recognizing  in  any  way  the  jDarish  churches  of  England  ;  he 
had  separated  from  his  own  church  at  Salem  for  not  renouncing 
communion  with  the  other  Massachusetts  churches  ;  and  at  last  he 
sundered  fellowship  with  the  Baptist  church  of  his  own  formation 
and  from  all  other  organized  Christian  bodies.  Yet  through  all 
these  differences  he  carried  an  unruffled  sweetness  of  temper, 
wrote  and  discussed  in  a  truly  Christian  spirit,  and  by  his  genius, 
his  services  even  to  the  colonies  who  cast  him  out,  whom  he  be- 
friended at  the  risk  of  his  life,  and  by  what  he  did  for  the  cause  of 
freedom,  he  is  entitled  to  the  noble  place  which  he  holds  in  Ameri- 
can history. 

In  the  ferment  of  the  times,  when  England  was  on  the  verge  of 
an  ecclesiastical  and  political  revolution,  it  was  natural  that  persons 
Ann  Hutch-  decjDly  interested  in  new  ideas  in  religion  should  set  sail 
inson.  fQp  ^i^Q  Puritan  colony.     A  far  more  serious  disturbance 

than  was  produced  by  the  crusade  of  Eoger  Williams  against  the 
royal  ensign  and  the  patent,  resulted  from  the  arrival  in  Boston,  in 
1634,  of  Mrs.  Ann  Hutchinson.  She  was  a  woman  of  superior 
talents,  who  had  been  an  admiring  parishioner  of  Cotton  in  Eng- 
land. After  establishing  herself  in  Boston,  she  held,  twice  in  the 
■week,  meetings  of  women  in  her  own  house  for  the  discussion  of 
the  sermons  which  they  heard  in  the  church.  Soon  the  whole 
community  was  alive  with  excitement  on  account  of  her  novel  opin- 
ions and  her  free  comments  on  the  teaching  of  the  clergy.  She 
had  indicated  what  her  views  were  to  fellow-passengers  on  the  voy- 
age from  England,  and  now  brought  them  out  more  distinctly. 
She  held  that  the  Holy  Spirit  is  personally  united  with  the  soul  of 


1517-1648.]       PROTESTANT  SETTLEMENTS  IN  AMERICA.  473 

every  true  Christian  in  such  a  way  that  his  holiness  is  identified 
with  the  hoHness  of  the  Spirit,  and  that  justification  is  not  proved 
by  sanctification,  but  rather  is  the  acceptance  of  the  beHever  as- 
sured by  a  more  immediate  testimony  or  inward  revelation.  She 
accused  the  ministers,  with  the  exception  of  Cotton  and  her 
brother-in-law,  Wheelwright,  of  preaching  a  "covenant  of  works" 
instead  of  the  "  covenant  of  grace,"  or,  in  a  woi'd,  of  being  legal- 
ists. Her  doctrine  was  denounced  as  Antinomian,  but  it  was  not 
charged  that  immoral  consequences  had  been  drawn  from  it  by 
herself  or  her  followers.  In  accord  with  the  mystical  and  subjec- 
tive drift  of  her  theology,  she  embraced  the  opinion  that  the  resur- 
rection is  not  of  the  body,  but  is  the  rising  of  the  soul  to  a  new 
spiritual  life,  through  its  union  to  Christ,  and  that  it  takes  place, 
therefore,  at  conversion.  Vane,  the  young  governor,  and  some 
other  persons  of  influence,  were  in  sympathy  with  her,  and  Cotton 
himself,  the  teacher  of  the  Boston  church,  at  first  made  no  oppo- 
sition to  her  tenets.  So  high  did  the  excitement  iniu  that  Wheel- 
wright preached  a  vehement  sermon  on  her  side,  which  was  judged 
by  the  other  party  and  by  the  magistrates  to  be  seditious  in  its 
character,  and  even  to  threaten  violence.  But  her  adversaries  were 
much  too  strong  for  her  supporters,  who  were  mostly  confined  to 
Boston,  and  she  was  banished.  Previously,  at  her  examination  by 
the  ministers  in  the  church,  in  which  John  Davenport,  soon  to 
be  the  founder  of  New  Haven,  took  part,  she  partially  retracted 
her  expressions  in  regard  to  the  resurrection  ;  but  the  charge  of 
mendacity,  based,  it  is  reasonable  to  believe,  on  nothing  more  than 
a  pardonable  confusion  of  memory  on  her  part,  was  added  to  the 
accusations  of  heresy,  and  she  was  excommunicated.  The  clergy 
saw  in  her  notions  a  revival  of  the  loose  ideas  ascribed  to  the 
Familists.  But  it  is  plain  that,  besides  the  sincere  belief  of  her 
clerical  judges  that  her  opinions  would  lead  to  immorality,  and  the 
offence  given  by  her  alleged  contemj)t  shown  to  the  magistrates,  her 
disesteem  of  the  ministers,  whom  she  was  accused  of  denouncing 
as  "  nobodies,"  had  much  to  do  with  her  condemnation.  She  went 
at  first  to  Ehode  Island,  where  it  is  stated  that  she  aflSrmed  the 
unlawfulness  of  a  civil  magistracy.  From  there  she  went  into  the 
territory  of  the  Dutch,  where,  in  1643,  she,  with  her  whole  family, 
was  murdered  by  the  Indians.  In  Massachusetts  the  victory  of 
the  conseiwatives  was  complete.  Vane  was  superseded  by  Win- 
throp  as  governor,  and  returned  to  England.  The  anarchy  which 
they  feared  from  attacks  upon  the  clergy  and  their  teaching  by  the 
clever  woman  who  had  secured  the  support  of  a  majority  of  the 


474    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.   [Period  VIII. 

Boston  cliurcla,  was  escaped.  It  deserves  to  be  recorded  tliat  in 
the  heat  of  the  conflict  some  of  her  allies  had  actually  threatened 
an  appeal  to  the  king  against  the  local  authorities,  which  would 
have  been  a  blow  at  the  iudejjendence,  if  not  the  existence,  of  the 
infant  commonwealth. 

The  trouble  with  the  Quakers  is  a  third  chapter  in  the  history  of 
the  conflict  of  the  Massachusetts  colony  with  dissenters  coming  from 
abroad.  The  grotesque  behavior  and  the  fanatical  ex- 
in  Massachu-  travagauccs  of  many  of  the  early  disciples  of  Fox  had 
created  among  the  Puritans  an  impression  which  is  set 
forth  in  the  law  against  them  passed  by  the  General  Court  of 
Massachusetts  in  1G57,  wherein  they  are  described  as  the  "  cursed 
sect  of  heretics  lately  risen  up  in  the  world,  which  are  commonly 
called  Quakers,  who  take  upon  them  to  be  immediately  sent  of 
God,  and  infalliby  assisted  by  the  Spirit  to  speak  and  write  blas- 
phemous opinions,  despising  government  and  the  order  of  God  in 
chui'ch  and  commonwealth,  speaking  evil  of  dignities,  reproaching 
and  reviling  magistrates  and  ministers,  seeking  to  turn  the  people 
from  the  faith,  and  gain  proselytes  to  their  pernicious  ways."  Be- 
fore the  coming  of  the  Quakers,  the  notoriety  w^hich  they  had 
gained  by  their  disorderly  proceedings  elsewhere  filled  the  col- 
onists with  alarm.  The  commissioners  of  the  four  colonies  recom- 
mended the  general  courts  to  enact  the  laws  which  Massachusetts — 
the  colony  always  most  exposed  to  the  incursions  of  sectaries,  and 
most  in  peril  from  the  precarious  character  of  its  government 
under  the  charter — proceeded  to  frame.  The  dread  of  what  might 
follow  from  the  coming  of  "Banters  and  Quakers,"  whose  doings 
were  regarded  as  of  a  piece  with  those  of  the  wild,  anarchical 
Miinsterites  of  Germany,  caused  a  day  of  public  humiliation  and 
prayer  to  be  held.  The  statute  making  it  a  capital  offence  for  ban- 
ished Quakers  to  return  to  the  colony  was,  however,  much  opposed, 
and  passed  the  house  of  deputies  by  only  one  majority.  No  doubt 
it  was  thought  that  the  law  would  inspire  such  tei'ror  as  would 
prevent  anyone  from  exposing  himself  to  its  penalty.  The  law  was 
unjust  and  unwise,  although  it  is  unquestionably  the  legal  right 
of  a  civil  community  to  exclude  any  class  of  obnoxious  immigrants 
coming  into  its  temtory.  A  law  of  the  same  tenor,  making  it  a 
capital  offence  for  a  Quaker  to  come  back  for  the  third  time,  was 
passed,  in  1G60,  in  the  Episcopalian  colony  of  Virginia.  There  the 
penalty  of  entertaining  a  Quaker  in  a  man's  house,  to  preach  or  to 
teach,  was  five  hundred  pounds  of  tobacco.  In  New  Amsterdam 
[New  York],  at  about  the  same  time,  Quakers  were  imprisoned. 


1517-1648.]       PllOTESTANT  SETTLEMENTS  IN  AMERICA,  475 

whipped,  and  banished.  But  in  Massachusetts  they  insisted  on  re- 
turning the  second  and  the  thii-d  time  ;  and,  it  is  lamentable  to  re- 
late, several  of  them  were  hanged.  It  was  soon  perceived  that  meas- 
ures so  extreme  were  as  inefi'ectual  as  they  were  cruel,  and  they 
were  abandoned.  "At  first,"  says  Palfrey,  "  after  the  discontinu- 
ance of  capital  punishment,  the  antics  of  the  Quakers  became  more 
absurd  than  before.  Far  and  near,  they  disturbed  the  congrega- 
tions at  their  Avorship."  One  young  woman  walked  through  the 
town  of  Salem,  naked,  "  as  a  sign,"  and  another  entered,  stark 
naked,  the  meeting-house  at  Newbury,  "  as  a  sign  to  them  " — that 
is,  to  the  church  at  that  place.  Such  developments  of  half-insane 
enthusiasm  were  confined,  it  is  needless  to  say,  to  the  earliest 
stage  in  the  history  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  which  has  rendered 
invaluable  services  to  the  cause  of  religion  and  morality. 

The  first  settlers  of  Virginia  were  Episcopalians,  with  no  taint 
of  disafiection  towards  the  Established  Church  of  England.  Among 
The  Church  them  wcre  several  ministers  of  godly  lives.  One  of  the 
in  Virginia.  gj,gj-  emigrants,  and  the  first  to  hold  public  worship  at 
Jamestown,  was  Kobert  Hunt,  described  as  a  "religious  and  cour- 
ageous divine."  The  company  which  came  over  with  him  was 
made  up  of  men  without  families,  and  had  in  it  forty-eight  gentle- 
men to  four  carpenters.  Its  character  was  such  that  the  clergyman 
had  a  hard  task  to  perform.  But,  at  the  outset,  he  read  jjrayers 
and  preached  under  a  roof  of  canvas.  After  a  time  a  small  build- 
ing was  erected  for  common  worship.  We  read  that  after  the  ar- 
rival of  Loi'd  Delaware,  in  1610,  "  the  little  church  was  kept  neatly 
trimmed  with  the  wild  flowers  of  the  country."  Another  clergy- 
man who  was  honorably  distinguished  in  the  early  annals  of  the 
Virginia  Colony  was  Alexander  Whitaker,  by  whom  Pocahontas 
was  baptized.  The  colonists  were  warned  by  the  patentees  to 
avoid  the  "  novelties "  of  Puritanism.  In  1G19  delegates  from 
the  eleven  plantations  met  in  an  assembly.  The  Church  of  Eng- 
land was  confirmed  as  the  established  church  of  the  colony.  All 
persons  were  required  by  law  to  attend  church  in  the  morning  and 
afternoon.  There  was  a  plan  for  the  erection  of  a  college  at  Hen- 
rico, and  of  a  school  for  the  education  of  Indian  youth.  Much  in- 
terest was  felt  in  the  project  in  England,  and  liberal  contributions 
were  made.  But  the  character  of  the  colony  was  weakened  by 
sending  over  large  numbers  of  outcasts  and  felons.  In  March, 
1622,  there  was  a  great  Indian  massacre.  These  things  reduced 
the  number  of  the  inhabitants  from  four  thousand  to  twenty-five 
hundred.    The  plans  for  the  educational  institutions  were  given  up. 


476    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA,  [Peuiod  VIII. 

In  1624  there  were  but  four  resident  clergymen  in  the  colony,  only 
one  of  whom  was  bred  at  a  university.  The  administration  of  the 
laws  af^ainst  dissent  was  milder  than  the  laws  themselves.  Puri- 
tans found  their  way  into  the  country.  At  the  beginning  of  the  civil 
war  in  England,  thei'e  were  members  of  the  council  who  favored 
nonconfoi'mity.  There  were  invitations  sent  by  some  to  Puritan 
ministers  in  Boston  to  come  into  the  colony.  But  the  governor, 
Sir  "William  Berkeley,  was  hostile  to  nonconformists.  In  1643 
conformity  "  to  the  order  and  constitution  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land "  was  required  of  all  ministei'S.  The  governor  and  council 
were  to  take  care  that  "all  nonconformists  upon  notice  to  them 
shall  be  compelled  to  depart  out  of  the  colony  with  all  convenience." 
Some  of  the  pastors  of  the  Independents  were  fined,  others  were 
imprisoned.  Nearly  all  were  driven  away.  Eeference  has  already 
been  made  to  the  treatment  of  Quakers  by  the  Virginia  govern- 
ment. Baptists  were  stigmatized  as  "  schismatical  persons,  filled 
with  the  new-fangled  conceits  of  their  heretical  inventions."  All 
who  refused  to  carry  their  children  to  a  "lawful  minister  "  to  have 
them  baptized  were  to  "be  amerced  two  thousand  pounds  of  to- 
bacco." 

In  New  England  there  was  a  division  of  the  people  into  towns, 
each  with  a  distinct  political  organization.  The  congregation  of 
„^  „  the  town,  or  of  the  parish  when  the  town  was  so  larsre 

The"congre-  '  •■•  & 

gation:"  the  that  there  was  more  than  one  place  of  worship,  acted 
concurrently  with  the  church  in  the  choice  and  dis- 
missal of  ministers.  It  was  the  congregation,  or  "  society,"  which 
held  the  propei-ty,  and  paid  the  assessments  for  the  support  of 
religious  services.  It  stood  somewhat  in  the  relation  of  patron  to 
the  church  or  the  body  of  communicants.  In  Virginia,  the  planters 
lived  by  themselves  on  their  large  estates.  The  "vestry"  exer- 
cised the  function,  which  belonged  in  New  England  to  the  congre- 
gation and  the  church. 

The  two  colonial  settlements  of  Rhode  Island  were  united  under 
the  charter  obtained  by  Eoger  Williams  in  1643.  Ehode  Island  was 
a  place  of  refuge  for  all  disaffected  or  banished  inhabi- 
tants of  the  neighboring  colonies.  The  disorders  that 
existed  there  were  not  greater  than  might  have  been  expected,  in 
Adew  of  this  cii'cumstance,  and  of  the  unrestricted  freedom  of  its 
polity'.  The  inhospitable  reception  afforded  to  the  Baptists  in  Mas- 
sachusetts contributed  to  the  growth  of  the  community  founded  by 
Williams,  where  they  became  numerous.  For  a  like  reason,  the 
Society  of  Friends  grew  in  numbers  there. 


1517-1648.]       PROTESTANT  SETTLEMENTS  IN  AMERICA.  477 

The  Middle  Atlantic  coast,  between  Virginia  and  Connecticut, 
was  occupied  by  other  settlements.  The  Dutch  brought  with 
New  York  ^^^^  *°  "^^^^  Nethevlaud  the  doctrine  and  polity  of  the 
Keformed  Church  as  it  existed  in  their  native  country. 
They  manifested  that  concern  for  the  cause  of  religion  and  of  edu- 
cation which  was  characteristic  of  the  countrymen  of  William  the 
Silent.  Their  Calvinism  was  as  strict  as  was  the  creed  of  their  New 
England  brethren  ;  but  they  were  somewhat  less  austere  in  their 
views  of  the  Christian  life,  and  from  the  situation  of  their  colony 
they  were  less  exposed  to  perils  which  were  adapted  to  provoke  an 
exclusive  or  intolerant  policy.  Kefugees  from  Connecticut  and 
Massachusetts,  like  Mrs.  Hutchinson,  were  permitted  to  reside 
within  their  bounds.  Yet  a  different  spirit  sometimes  prevailed. 
When  Stuyvesant  was  lord  director,  Lutherans  were  prohibited  by 
law  from  holding  worship  according  to  their  own  forms.  In  1656 
it  was  ordained  that  all  parishes  should  be  forbidden  to  hold  con- 
venticles not  in  harmony  with  the  established  reHgion  as  set  forth 
by  the  Synod  of  Dort.  Fines  were  imposed  on  every  preacher 
who  broke  this  law,  and  on  eveiyone  who  should  attend  a  meet- 
ing thus  prohibited.  But  the  directors  of  the  company  at  Am- 
sterdam rebuked  the  "  over-preciseness  "  of  Stuyvesant,  and  hin- 
dered the  pursuance  of  this  narrow  course.  Among  other  reasons, 
it  was  perceived  that  such  intolerance  would  stand  in  the  way 
of  immigration.  Against  the  Quakers  there  was  an  outbreak  of 
hostility.  As  in  Massachusetts,  a  day  of  fasting  and  pra3^er  was 
observed  on  account  of  the  evils  which  it  was  feared  that  their 
coming  would  bring  upon  the  colony.  After  the  conquest  of  New 
Amsterdam  by  the  English,  the  Episcopal  Church  was  established 
by  law.  It  was  ordained  in  1693  that  all  the  inhabitants  should 
be  taxed  for  the  support  of  the  ministry  and  for  the  building  of 
churches.  It  was  found  imj)racticable,  however,  to  carry  out 
strictly  or  uniformly  this  requirement.  In  1674  it  was  ordained 
that  "all  persons,  of  what  religion  soever,"  should  be  treated  alike. 
Jews  were  not  allowed  to  serve  as  soldiers,  but  in  other  respects 
they  stood  on  a  level  with  the  rest  of  the  colonists.  The  relations 
between  tbe  Dutch  ministers  and  the  English  Episcopal  ministers 
were  often  of  a  friendly  and  fraternal  character. 

The  first  Lord  Baltimore,  the  founder  of  Maryland,  was  one  of 
the  secretaries  of  state  under  James  I.,  and  supported  his  despotic 
measures  of  government.  He  joined  the  Roman  Cath- 
ary  an  .  ^^^^  Cliurch,  but  was  not  inclined  to  an  intolerant  treat- 
ment of  Protestants.     The  second  Lord  Baltimore,  under  whose  di- 


478    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OP  ^VESTPHALIA.    [Period  VIH. 

rection  Maryland  was  settled,  was  of  the  same  liberal  turn.  The 
colony  was  designed  as  a  place  of  refuge  for  Koman  Cath- 
olics, but  a  great  part  of  the  first  colonists  were  Prot- 
estants, and  it  was  stipulated  in  the  grant  of  the  king  that  the  re- 
ligion of  the  Church  of  England  should  be  protected.  Both  from 
inclination  and  from  poHcy,  full  religious  liberty  was  established 
by  the  founders.  The  Puritan  element  in  the  colony  gradually  be- 
came strong,  and  allied  itself  with  Claiborne,  a  Virginian  who  had 
been  dispossessed,  by  the  Maryland  proprietary,  of  the  island  which 
he  had  held  in  the  Chesapeake.  The  sympathies  of  Baltimore  were 
naturally  rather  with  the  king  than  with  the  Parliament,  and  under 
the  Commonwealth  the  Parliamentary  Commissioners,  in  1G52,  de- 
posed his  officers,  and  placed  the  government  of  the  province  in 
the  hands  of  a  Puritan  council.  The  Catholics  were  even  disfran- 
chised. These  troubles  ended  in  a  civil  war  in  1655,  in  which  the 
Catholics  were  worsted  ;  but  fi.ve  years  later  the  old  liberties  were 
restored.  At  the  Eevolution  of  1688,  the  failure  of  Baltimore  to 
give  in  his  adhesion  to  William  and  Mary  brought  on  a  revolt  and 
revolution  in  the  colony,  in  which  he  was  deprived  of  his  authority. 
The  Episcopal  Chm-ch  was  now  established,  and  civil  disabilities 
•were  imposed  on  the  Koman  Catholics. 

In  1681,  William  Penu,  in  consideration  of  a  debt  due  fi'om  the 

government  of  England  to  his  father,  an   admiral  in  the  British 

.     Navy,  received  from  Charles  II.  a  grant  of  the  territory 

Pennsylvania.         ■,■,-,  -r^  ,  .  ,.,,  ,,'' 

called  Pennsylvania,  which  he  was  to  possess,  under  the 
king,  as  proprietor  and  ruler.  The  next  year  PhiladeliDhia  was 
founded.  Penn's  primary  motive  in  seeking  for  such  a  place  of  set- 
tlement was  to  provide  an  asylum  for  persecuted  Christians  of  his 
own  faith.  He  allowed  the  Dutch  and  Swedes  on  the  west  of  the 
Delaware  to  retain  their  lands.  The  Swedes  had  settled  there  in 
1638,  and  surrendered  to  the  Dutch  in  1655.  The  Swedish  settle- 
ments had  been  formed  in  pursuance  of  a  purpose  of  Gustavus 
Adolphus  to  plant  a  colony,  which  was  carried  out  under  the  aus- 
pices of  Oxenstiern.  After  the  Dutch  conquest,  they  were  subject 
to  Holland  until  the  surrender  of  New  Netherland  to  the  Eughsh, 
in  1664.  Penn  established  freedom  and  equality  of  rights  in  all 
matters  of  religion.  By  his  fair  treatment  of  the  Indians  he  laid 
the  foundation  of  a  lasting  peace.  He  thus  was  enabled  to  attract 
emigi-ants,  in  large  numbers,  from  various  religious  bodies  besides 
that  of  which  he  was  the  honored  leader. 

The  founders  of  Maryland  deserve  credit  for  their  tolerant  tem- 
per.    In  that  period,  however,  for  an  English  colony  of  Eoman 


1517-1648.]        PROTESTANT   SETTLEMENTS   IN  AMERICA.  479 

Catholics  to  exclude  or  persecute  Protestants  would  have  been  im- 
possible. Penn  was  a  sincere  advocate  of  religious  liberty  ;  but 
his  colonizing  enterprise  was  two  generations  later  than  the  settle- 
ments in  New  England  and  Virginia.  It  is  Rhode  Island  that  is 
especially  distinguished  for  the  early  and  full  incorporation  of  relig- 
ious freedom  in  the  framework  of  civil  polity.  But,  at  some  time 
after  the  English  Revolution  of  1688,  a  law  in  Rhode  Island  was 
passed  forbidding  Roman  Catholics  to  vote. 

We  return  to  New  England  to  notice  the  witchcraft  delusion,  a 
painful  chapter  of  history,  which  belongs  later  than  the  close  of  this 
The  witch-  period,  but  earlier  than  the  end  of  the  century.  At  that 
craft  deiu-       time  there  was  a  universal  belief  in  the  reality  of  witch- 

Bion.  _  _  "^ 

craft,  which  everywhere  in  Christendom  was  punished  as 
a  crime.  Magic,  as  the  word  imports — which  is  derived  from  the 
name  given  to  the  Persian  priesthood — is  of  Oriental  birth.  It 
properly  signifies  the  use  of  the  aid  of  supernatural  beings,  or  of 
occult,  powerful  forces  in  nature,  for  the  purpose  of  foretelling  the 
future,  or  of  bringing  good  or  evil  on  living  beings,  men  or  ani- 
mals. Magic  and  necromancy  were  forbidden  in  the  Hebrew  laws, 
as  being  identified  with  the  idolatrous  beliefs  and  practices  of  the 
heathen.  In  the  unrest  and  infidelity  which  were  prevalent  in  the 
Roman  Empire  when  Christianity  appeared,  there  was  an  open  door 
for  credulity  and  superstition  to  enter.  The  East  and  the  West 
were  brought  together,  and  numerous  professional  magicians  and 
dealers  in  the  preternatural  were  roving  in  all  parts  of  the  Roman 
world,  with  whom,  as  we  see  from  the  Book  of  Acts,  the  first  preach- 
ers of  the  gospel  frequently  came  in  contact.  By  Christians  the 
heathen  gods  were  considered  to  be  e\i\  demons.  The  increase  of 
the  popular  faith  in  diabolical  agency  of  all  sorts,  in  the  middle 
ages,  is  one  of  the  chai'acteristic  features  of  that  period.  Yet,  from 
the  sixth  to  the  twelfth  century,  there  was  comparatively  little  per- 
secution based  on  alleged  compacts  with  Satan.  This  circumstance 
has  been  explained  by  the  persuasion  then  current  that  Satan  could 
be  instantly  driven  away  or  disarmed  by  talismans,  or  the  repeti- 
tion of  a  few  holy  words.  But  after  the  twelfth  century,  and  to  the 
end  of  the  century  that  followed  the  Reformation,  death  was  in- 
flicted in  numberless  instances  on  the  alleged  confederates  of  the 
evil  one.  It  is  supposed  that  prior  to  the  witchcraft  epidemic  in 
Massachusetts,  thirty  thousand  persons  had  been  put  to  death  in 
England  on  this  charge,  seventy-five  thousand  in  France,  and  a 
hundred  thousand  in  Germany. 

Before  1692  twelve  persons  had  been  executed  in  New  Eng- 


480    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  VIU. 

land  on  this  charge  of  witchcraft.  In  the  summer  of  1692,  when 
the  trials  took  place  at  Salem  (now  Danvers  Centre),  nineteen  per- 
sons suffered  the  same  fate.  It  is  not  true  that  the  ministers  were 
the  prime  instigators  of  these  proceedings,  which  were  conducted 
by  a  special  court  constituted  for  the  purpose.  Increase  Mather 
and  his  son,  Cotton  Mather,  were  prominent  ministers  who  believed 
in  the  reality  of  witchcraft  and  wrote  on  the  subject ;  but  they  were 
not  active  in  promoting  the  trials.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  only  just 
to  say  that  their  influence  was  rather  sedative  than  stimulating, 
in  this  brief  period  of  superstitious  excitement.  Increase  Mather's 
discovery  that  the  accusers,  rather  than  the  accused,  might  be  the 
real  victims  of  the  arts  of  Satan  did  much  to  put  an  end  to  the  pros- 
ecutions. There  had  been  a  strong  feeling  against  them,  and  there 
ensued  a  reaction  which  led  almost  all  the  prominent  actors  in  the 
tragic  drama  to  repent  most  sincerely  of  the  way  in  which  they  had 
been  misled.  The  whole  community  shared  in  this  feeling  of  shame 
and  contrition. 

Yet  the  persecution  of  the  witches  in  Massachusetts  was  not 

in  the  least  at  variance  with  the  convictions,  or  revolting  to  the 

,  humanity,  of  the  best  men  of  the  time  in  other  countries. 

Prevalence  ot  •" 

the  belief  in  The  Same  opiniou  was  still  cherished  that  lay  at  the  ba- 
sis of  the  bull  of  Pope  Innocent  VIII.,  in  1484,  in  which 
he  complained  that  even  then  there  were  "  some  Sadducees  in  the 
Church,  who  threw  obstacles  as  far  as  they  dared  "  in  the  way  of 
the  punishment  of  witches  and  wizards,  and  which  inspired  Bishop 
Jewel's  sermon  before  Queen  Elizabeth  on  the  dangerous  prevalence 
of  such  offences.  In  1G81,  only  eleven  years  before  the  Salem 
tragedy,  Henry  More,  the  genial  Oxford  Platonist,  published,  with 
an  accompanying  letter,  Glanvil's  "Sadduceeism  Conquered." 
More  praises  the  wisdom  of  Providence  in  providing  a  practical  con- 
futation of  "  Hobbians  and  Spinozians  and  the  rest  of  that  rabble  " 
who  disbelieve  in  angels  and  spirits,  by  giving  "  ever  and  anon  such 
fresh  examples  of  apparitions  and  witchcrafts  as  may  rub  up  and 
awaken  their  benumbed  and  lethargic  minds  into  a  suspicion  at 
least  that  there  are  other  intelligent  beings  besides  these  that  are 
clad  in  heavy  earth  or  clay."  So  strongly  moved  is  this  usually 
mild  writer  at  the  course  taken  by  the  wanton  and  arrogant  disbe- 
lievers in  witchcraft,  that  he  styles  them  contemptuously,  "  The 
small  philosophic  Sir  Foplings  of  this  present  age,"  who  "  are  as 
much  afraid  of  these  stories  [of  wizards  and  witches]  as  an  ape  is 
of  a  whip." 

More  remarkable  still  is  the  tone  of  the  author  whom  the  pref- 


1517-1648.]       PROTESTANT  SETTLEMENTS  IN  AMERICA.  481 

ace  just  quoted  introduces.  Glanvil  was  one  of  the  earliest  mem- 
bers elected  to  the  Royal  Society.  He  was  a  warm  champion  of 
the  experimental  philosophy.  His  "  Skepsis  Scientifica  "  is  a  vigor- 
ous attack  upon  the  Aristotelian  system  and  upon  its  founder,  and 
a  zealous  plea  for  the  Baconian  method.  In  philosophy  he  is 
counted  among  the  advanced  men  of  that  day.  But  he  trembled 
for  religion  if  the  belief  in  witches  and  apparitions  were  allowed 
to  be  assailed  with  impunity.  "Those,"  he  says,  "that  dare  not 
bluntly  say  there  is  no  God,  content  themselves  (for  a  fair  step 
and  introduction)  to  deny  there  are  si^irits  or  witches."  They 
comprise  "most  of  the  looser  gentry,  and  the  small  pretenders  to 
philosophy  and  wit :"  "atheism  is  begun  in  Sadducism."  In  sup- 
port of  the  proposition  that  there  have  been  unlawful  confederacies 
with  evil  spirits,  "b^'  virtue  of  which  the  hellish  accomplices  per- 
form things  above  their  natural  powers,"  Glanvil  appeals  to  all 
histories,  which  abound  in  the  exploits  of  the  instruments  of  dark- 
ness ;  to  thousands  of  eye-  and  ear-witnesses,  some  of  them  discern- 
ing and  grave,  and  having  no  interest  to  contrive  a  lie ;  to  stand- 
ing public  records  ;  to  the  laws  of  many  nations  ;  to  the  verdicts 
of  wise  and  honored  judges  ;  to  the  fact  that  thousands  in  England 
had  suffered  death  for  their  "  vile  compacts  with  apostate  spirits." 
To  reject  this  belief,  supported  by  all  this  vai'ied  evidence,  is  "  to 
make  laws  built  ujDon  chimeras,"  to  hold  that  wise  men  are  jugglers, 
that  the  gravest  judges  are  murderers,  and  the  "  sagest  persons, 
fools  or  designing  impostors."  After  the  theoretical  discussion 
upon  the  nature  of  spirits,  which  involves  the  metaphysics  of 
the  matter,  follow  the  proofs  from  Scripture,  extending  from  the 
record  of  the  magicians  of  Egj'j^t  down  to  the  account  of  the 
demoniacs  of  the  Nev/  Testament.  An  elaborate  examination  of 
the  narrative  of  the  Witch  of  Endor  takes  into  view  the  different 
solutions  which  ignore  diabolic  agency  in  that  transaction.  These 
are  denounced  as  untenable  and  rationalistic  evasions  of  clear 
statements  of  Scripture.  The  concluding  portion  of  the  volume 
presents  a  copious  "  collection  of  Relations " — facts  going  to 
verify,  beyond  all  reasonable  dispute,  the  reality  of  witchcraft. 

Glanvil's  work  displays  the  views  which  had  long  been  current. 
Richard  Baxter  published  narratives  of  witchcraft  which  he  had 
received  from  Cotton  Mather,  and  pronounced  that  man  "an  ob- 
durate Sadducee  "  who  was  not  convinced  by  these  irresistible 
proofs.  In  his  later  work,  on  "The  Certainty  of  the  World  of 
Spirits,"  he  reiterated  the  same  judgment,  which  is  expressed  in 
other  places  in  his  writings.  The  friend  of  Baxter,  Sir  Matthew 
31 


482    THE  REFORMATION  TO  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.    [Pekiod  VIII. 

Hale,  sent  witches  to  the  scafibld.  "  That  there  were  such  creat- 
ures as  witches,"  he  said  to  a  jury,  "he  made  uo  doubt  at  all." 
lu  the  trial  in  which  he  spoke  thus,  so  liberal-minded  a  man  as 
Sir  Thomas  Browne,  a  physician  and  the  author  of  the  "  Religio 
Medici,"  expressed  to  the  court  his  opinion,  which  carried  great 
weight,  that  the  prisoners  were  guilty.  That  prodigy  of  learning, 
Ealph  Cudworth,  one  of  the  foremost  of  English  i:)hilosophical 
theologians,  asserts  that  the  evidence  of  the  reality  of  these  dark 
confederacies  between  men  and  devils  is  so  great,  both  from  Script- 
ure and  human  testimony,  that  disbelievers,  "in  this  present  age, 
can  hardly  escape  the  susj)icion  of  having  some  hankering  towards 
atheism."  John  Wesley,  as  late  as  1768,  utters  his  "solemn  pro- 
test "  against  conceding  to  enemies  of  the  Bible  the  unreality  of 
witchcraft.  "They  well  know,"  he  says,  "whether  Christians 
know  it  or  not,  that  the  giving  up  of  witchcraft  is  in  effect  giving 
up  the  Bible."  Nor,  even  at  so  late  a  time,  do  such  professions  of 
faith  come  from  the  clergy  exclusively.  Blackstone  published  his 
"Commentaries  on  the  Laws  of  England"  in  17G5-69,  or  at  just 
about  the  date  when  Wesley  wrote  the  passage  quoted  above.  In 
this  work  Blackstone  asserts  that  "to  deny  the  possibility,  nay, 
actual  existence  of  witchcraft  and  sorcery,  is  at  once  flatly  to  con- 
tradict tlie  revealed  Word  of  God  in  various  i^assages  both  of  the 
Old  and  New  Testament." 

In  New  England,  in  the  closing  decades  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  there  were  special  reasons  why  such  a  delusion  might 
natui-ally  arise.  It  is  perfectly  in  keeping  with  the  Puritan  opinion 
of  that  day  for  Cotton  Mather  to  say  :  "  The  devils  have  doubtless 
felt  a  more  than  ordinary  vexation  from  the  arrival  of  those  Chris- 
tians, with  their  sacred  exercises  of  Ckristianity,  in  this  wilder- 
ness; but  the  sovereignty  of  heaven  has  permitted  them  still  to 
remain  in  the  wilderness,  for  our  vexation  as  well  as  their  own." 
The  scape-goat  was  sent  to  Azazel  in  the  desert.  Regions  of  this 
kind  were  favorite  haunts  of  devils.  The  arrival  of  the  Puritan 
emigrants  was  an  invasion  of  them  in  their  own  abodes.  This  is 
certain,  that  the  idea  of  the  New  England  settlers  that  Satan  had 
a  special  hostility  to  their  enterprise  was  sanctioned  by  English 
Puritan  divines  of  the  highest  repute.  The  gloomy  experience  of 
Indian  wars,  and  of  the  terror  engendered  by  them,  and  even  the 
physical  aspect  of  the  country,  with  its  deep  solitudes  and  vast, 
unbroken  forests,  might  easily  affect  the  imagination  of  the  colo- 
nists, in  whom  these  ideas  relative  to  Satan  were  deeply  planted. 

The  belief  in  witchcraft  gradually  passed  away.     The  advance 


1517-1G4S.]        PROTESTANT  SETTLEMENTS  IN  AMERICA.  483 

of  inductive  science  accounted  by  natural  causes  foi*  occurrences 
once  considered  preternatural,  and  excluded  diabolic  agency  from 
the  field  of  material  phenomena.  Witches  and  wizards,  with  their 
compacts  with  the  devil,  signed  in  blood,  the  midnight  convoca- 
tions, the  careering  through  the  air  on  broomsticks,  the  tortures 
inflicted  by  apparitions,  the  incubi  and  succubi,  have  been  banished 
to  the  realm  of  fable.  In  behalf  of  the  reality  of  witchcraft,  a  vast 
array  of  authorities  can  be  adduced  from  the  records  of  the  past. 
What  the  actual  proofs  were  on  which  the  prevailing  opinion  rested 
is  another  question.  As  regards  a  certain  class  of  the  phenomena 
— strange  experiences  which  cannot  be  explained  by  the  supposi- 
tion of  fraud — much  light  is  thrown  by  recent  studies  respecting 
hysteria,  hystero-epilepsy,  and  hypnotism.  Hallucination  enables 
us  to  solve  much  that  w^as  once  unaccountable.  As  regards  the 
prodigies  of  a  more  grotesque  character  and  miraculous  aspect,  the 
recorded  evidence  for  them,  when  it  is  sifted,  is  not  found  by  care- 
ful students  to  be  of  much  strength.  Lecky  in  the  interesting 
chapter  on  this  subject,  in  his  "  History  of  Rationalism  in  Europe," 
does  not  take  account  of  the  distinction  in  the  weight  of  evidence 
for  the  two  classes  of  phenomena,  relatively  considered. 


PERIOD  IX. 

FROM    THE    PEACE    OF    WESTPHALIA     TO    THE 
PRESENT  TIME   (1648-1887). 

CHANGES  AND  CONFLICTS  CONSEQUENT  ON  A  NEW  EEA  IN 
CULTURE  AND  SCIENCE  :  SOCIAL  REFOEM  :  A  NEW 
STAGE  OF  MISSIONARY  CONQUEST. 


CHAPTER   I. 


ECCLESIASTICAL    EVENTS    IN  THE    LAST  HALF   OF   THE   SEVEN- 
TEENTH CENTURY. 

Afteb  the  downfall  of  the  English  monarchy  and  the  execution 

of  Charles  I,  the  Independents,  of  whom  Cromwell  was  the  chief, 

attained  to  supreme  power  in  the  State.     He  was  more 

Eni^nd  un-    favorable  to  religious  liberty  than  most  of  his  contem- 

der  the  Com-  porarics,  including  even  the  members  of  his  own  sect. 

monwealth.  . 

"Is  it  ingenuous,"  he  said,  "to  ask  for  Hberty  and  not 
to  give  it  ?  "  Under  the  Commonwealth,  however,  Eoman  Cath- 
olics were  deprived  of  the  privilege  of  voting  or  holding  office. 
The  use  of  the  Prayer  Book  was  forbidden.  But  whatever  was 
done  by  the  Protector  against  the  Episcopal  clergy,  as  Bishop 
Kennet  said,  was  more  on  account  of  their  being  Royalists  than  be- 
cause they  were  Churchmen.  Presbyterianism  was  prevented  from 
being  fully  established.  A  commission  of  "  Triers  "  was  constitut- 
ed for  the  examination  and  approval  of  candidates  for  the  minis- 
try. There  were  Presbyterians  and  Baptists  on  this  board,  although 
a  majority  were  Independents.  Even  Episcopalians  were  admit- 
ted to  membership,  notwithstanding  the  ordinance  against  tlie  use 
of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer.  Another  commission  was  framed 
for  the  ejection  of  ministers  whose  lives  were  scandalous.  Under 
Cromwell,  religion  was  sustained  and  fostered  by  the  State  ;  the 


lG48-18Sr.]        EVENTS  IN  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY.  485 

ministry  were  supported  by  tithes ;  but  only  to  tLis  extent  can  there 
be  said  to  have  been  an  estabHshed  Church.  The  Protector  de- 
clared that  he  would  not  suffer  one  Christian  to  trample  on  the 
heels  of  anothei",  or  to  revile  him.  He  withstood  the  efforts  of 
Presbyterians  to  exercise  rule,  and  rebuked  Independents  when 
they  manifested  a  like  temper.  He  wrote  to  Mazariu,  the  prime  min- 
ister of  France,  that  he  had  shown,  and  desired  to  show,  all  the 
indulgence  to  Catholics  that  the  impediments  in  the  way  of  such 
action  would  allow.  Sir' Henry  Vane  was  a  Republican,  and  refused 
to  acquiesce  in  the  dictatorshij)  of  Cromwell.  He  was  in  advance 
of  the  times  in  his  advocacy  of  religious  liberty,  and  in  1G56  he 
published  his  "  Healing  Question,"  in  which  he  set  forth  his  ideas 
on  this  subject.  The  magistrate,  he  says,  "  is  to  be  a  minister  of 
terror  and  revenge  to  those  who  do  evil  in  matters  of  outward  prac- 
tice, converse,  and  dealings  in  the  things  of  this  life  between  man 
and  man,"  but  beyond  this  he  has  no  right  to  go.  Such  views 
found  little  sympathy  in  any  party.  Episcopalians,  prohibited 
from  using  their  own  book  of  devotion  in  public  services,  some- 
times broke  the  law  and  used  it  in  secret,  sometimes  held  their 
services  without  using  the  formularies,  and  in  some  cases  wrote 
prayers  on  the  basis  of  those  which  they  were  forbidden  to  repeat. 
While  this  persecution  is  condemned,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  how 
closely  religious  diffei-ences  were  mingled  with  political  aims.  To 
be  a  "prelatist "  was  to  be  a  foe  to  the  government  and  to  be  anx- 
ious to  overthrow  it.  The  energy  of  the  Protector  gave  to  England 
a  commanding  influence  abroad.  "  She  was  the  head  of  the  Prot- 
estant interest.  All  the  reformed  churches  scattered  over  Roman 
Catholic  kingdoms  acknowledged  Cromwell  as  their  guardian." 
The  Huguenots  of  Lauguedoc,  says  Macaulay,  were  rescued  from 
oppression  "  by  the  mere  terror  of  that  great  name.  The  pope 
himself  was  forced  to  preach  humanity  and  moderation  to  popish 
princes  ;  for  a  voice  which  seldom  threatened  in  vain  had  declared 
that  unless  favor  were  shown  to  the  people  of  God,  the  English 
guns  should  be  heard  in  the  Castle  of  St.  Angelo." 

The  English  people,  after  Cromwell's  death,  were  weary  of  the 
control  of  the  army  and  yearned  for  the  restoration  of  the  mon- 
archy. The  Presbyterians  had  never  been  satisfied  with 
fiandun-  the  Protector's  government.  The  common  people 
der Charles II.  j^-^gg^^  ^^^^^j,  familiar  fcstivals  and  sports,  and  disliked 
generally  the  strictness  of  the  Puritan  rule.  In  the  bringing  back 
of  Charles  H.,  the  Presbyterians  bore  a  prominent  part.  But  too 
much  reliance  was  placed  ou  fair  words,  and  no  formal  guarantees 


486  PROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

were  exacted  of  the  good-natured,  but  immoral  prince.  Even  had 
he  been  more  disposed  than  he  was  to  a  moderate  and  liberal 
policy  in  matters  of  religion,  the  Anglican  reaction,'in  which  a  long- 
smothered  jDassion  of  loyalty  was  mingled  with  deep  resentment 
a"-ainst  the  party  at  whose  hands  Churchmen  had  sufi'ered,  would 
have  prevented  him  from  carrying  out  such  an  inclination.  The 
influence  of  the  able  minister.  Clarendon,  was  thrown  on  the  side 
The  Savoy  ^f  arbitrary  and  intolerant  measures.  The  Savoy  Con- 
conference.  ferencc,  in  1661,  between  twenty-one  Anglican  and  as 
many  Presbyterian  divines,  served  only  to  bring  out  the  unrelent- 
ing antagonism  of  the  Episcopal  party.  They  would  make  no  con- 
cessions. An  opportunity  was  lost  for  a  comprehension  which 
would  have  retained  in  the  Established  Church  a  great  number  of 
the  best  ministers  in  England,  and  have  saved  it  from  disasters  and 
perils  in  store  for  it.  The  leading  Presbyterians,  like  Baxter, 
would  have  been  content  with  a  moderate  Episcopacy,  after  Ussh- 
er's  model,  in  which  the  suffragan  bishops  should  be  increased 
in  number,  and  each  of  them  preside  over  a  council  of  presbyters. 
The  Act  of  The  Act  of  Uniformity,  passed  in  1662,  required  all 
Uniformity,  ministers  to  receive  Episcopal  ordination  and  make  a 
declaration  of  unfeigned  assent  and  consent  to  the  Prayer  Book, 
and  to  the  whole  system  of  the  Church  of  England.  They  were 
required,  moreover,  to  take  the  oath  of  canonical  obedience,  to  ab- 
jure the  Solemn  League  and  Covenant,  and  to  abjure,  also,  the 
doctrine  of  the  lawfulness  of  taking  up  arms  against  the  king 
under  any  circumstances  whatever.  For  declining  to  comply  with 
these  hard  tests,  two  thousand  godly  ministers  were  in  one  day 
ejected  from  their  livings.  When  a  like  measure  was  adopted  by 
the  Long  Parliament  against  the  Episcopal  clergy,  a  fifth  of  their 
income  had  been  given  them  as  a  provision  for  their  instant  neces- 
sities. In  their  case,  moreover,  a  civil  war  was  imjDending,  in 
which  they  stood  against  the  Parliament.  The  ministei's  cast  out 
by  the  Act  of  Uniformity  were  loyal  supporters  of  the  monarchy, 
without  whose  cordial  aid  Charles  11,  would  probably  have  re- 
mained an  exile.  The  vengeance  of  the  triumphant  faction  was 
eager  in  the  pursuit  of  political  offenders.  Among  them  was  Vane, 
whose  life  the  king  had  promised  to  spare.  Crowds  of  people  on 
the  house-tops  and  in  the  windows  greeted  him  on  his  way  to  the 
scaffold.  "  The  Lord  go  with  you,  the  great  God  of  heaven  and 
earth  appear  in  you  and  for  you,"  was  the  shout  that  he  heard.  He 
responded  by  lifting  his  hat  and  bowing.  His  bearing  to  the  end 
was  noble  and  even  cheerful.     His  last  words  were  an  expression 


1648-1887.]         EVENTS  IN  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY.  487 

of  thauks  to  God  that  he  had  been  counted  worthy  to  suffer. 
E  i=co  ac  Episcopacy  was  forced  on  Scotland.  After  Cromwells 
forced  on  victory  at  Dunbar,  Scotland  had  been  virtually  depend- 
ent upon  England.  The  Scotch  rejoiced  in  the  acces- 
sion of  Charles,  which,  as  they  expected,  would  set  them  free.  But 
the  two  ambassadors,  Lauderdale  and  Sharp,  whom  they  sent  to 
London  to  secure  the  re-establishment  of  Presbyterianism,  be- 
trayed their  cause.  Sharp  went  home  as  Archbishop  of  St.  An- 
drews. Lauderdale,  by  rescinding  all  statutes  passed  in  the  Par- 
liament of -104:0,  and  subsequently,  restored  the  Episcopal  system. 
Argyle,  who  had  been  most  efficient  in  the  restoration  of  Charles, 
jgg^  but  who  was  feared  as  well  as  hated  for  his  previous 

course,  was  brought  to  the  block  on  the  char^-e  of 
treason.  A  series  of  cruel  measures  completed  the  subjugation  of 
Scotland.  All  public  officers  were  required  to  abjure  the  Cove- 
nant. Episcoi^al  ordination  was  imposed  on  all  who  had  livings. 
The  consequence  of  this  measure  was  that  three  hundred  and  fifty 
ministers  were  driven  from  their  places.  A  "  Mile  Act "  forbade 
any  recusant  minister  to  reside  within  twenty  miles  of  his  parish 
or  within  three  miles  of  a  roj^al  borough.  A  High  Commission 
Court  was  established  for  the  purpose  of  crushing  all  insubordina- 
tion, in  act  or  speech,  against  these  church  arrangements.  Charles 
himself  had  no  religious  principles.  His  preferences  were  on  the 
side  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  to  which,  on  his  death-bed,  he 
conformed.  He  wanted  to  govern  with  absolute  authority,  like 
Louis  XIV.  He  would  have  been  willing  to  grant  indulgence,  or 
dispense  with  laws  in  part,  if  by  this  favor  to  the  nonconformists 
he  could  gain  as  much  for  the  Roman  Catholics.  But  the  House 
of  Commons  would  not  lend  its  aid  for  the  relief  of  either  of  the 
TheConven-  partics  obuoxious  to  it.  lu  1664,  the  Conventicle  Act 
tide  Act.  .^jj^g  passed,  which  prohibited  any  religious  meeting  at- 
tended by  more  than  five  persons,  except  according  to  the  practice 
of  the  Episcopal  Church.  Nonconformists  in  large  numbers  were 
lodged  in  the  jails.  The  bi-ave  and  generous  conduct  of  this  class 
during  the  great  plague  in  Londou,  in  1665,  had  no  effect  on  the 
implacable  faction  that  had  the  power  in  its  hands.  The  Five  Mile 
Act  forbade  any  clergyman  who  had  not  subscribed  to  the  Act  of 
Uniformity  to  teach  in  schools  or  to  come  within  five  miles  of  any 
corporate  town  or  Parliament  borough.  He  must,  moreover,  swear 
to  be  loyal  to  the  doctrine  of  passive  obedience  to  the  sovereign, 
and  pi'omise  not  to  try  to  alter  the  government  of  Church  and 
State.     Clarendon  became  unpopular.     The  sale  of  Dunkirk  to  the 


488  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Pekiod  IX. 

French  awakened  indignation.  The  naval  victories  of  the  Dutch 
over  the  Enghsh  made  this  feehng  a  hundred-fold  more  intense. 
The  Covenanters  in  Scotland  rose  in  arms,  and  their  spirit  was  not 
subdued  by  defeat.  The  debauchery  of  the  court  was  regarded  by 
all  o-ood  men  with  profound  disapprobation  and  disgust.  In  con- 
nection with  hatred  of  Puritan  austerities,  the  floodgates  of  j^rof- 
Hgacy  were  opened  to  a  degree  without  example  in  English  his- 
tory. The  diaries  of  Evelyn,  a  high-toned  Eoyalist,  and  of  Pepys, 
a  competent  witness,  show  to  what  a  depth  of  degradation  the 
morals  of  the  king  and  Lis  court  had  fallen.  Vast  sums  of  jDublic 
money  were  diverted  from  the  objects  specified  by  Parliament  in 
the  appropriation  of  them.  Clarendon,  who  had  gratified  neither 
Parliament  nor  the  advocates  of  absolutism,  was,  in  16G7,  dis- 
missed from  ofiice,  impeached,  and  banished.  The  nest  year,  sub- 
servience to  France  was  exchanged  for  an  alliance  with  Holland 
and  Sweden.     But  this  was  a  temporary,  reluctant  concession  of 

Charles.  In  1670  he  formed  a  secret  treaty  with  Louis 
with  Louis      XIV. ,  by  which  it  was  agreed  that  at  the  fitting  time 

Charles  should  avow  himself  a  Roman  Catholic,  and, 
with  the  help  of  Louis,  establish  the  Catholic  religion  and  abso- 
lute government  in  England.  In  return,  Charles  was  to  help  Louis 
in  his  designs  on  the  Netherlands.  In  1672,  war  was  declared 
against  Holland.  Charles,  before  it  commenced,  had  sought  to 
conciliate  dissenters  by  an  illegal  declaration  of  indulgence.  Among 
the  prisoners  who  were  set  fi-ee  by  this  declaration  was  the  most 
celebrated  of  English  authors  in  the  field  of  practical  religion,  the 
tinker  of  Elstow  and  the  author  of  "Pilgrim's  Progress,"  John 
Bunyan.  His  imprisonment,  with  a  relaxation  of  confinement  at 
intervals,  had  continued  for  twelve  years.  To  secure  the  means  of 
living  for  his  blind  child  and  the  other  members  of  his  impover- 
ished family,  he  learned  to  make  long-tagged  thread  laces,  and  in 
Bedford  jail  had  patiently  labored  at  this  emplo^-ment.  He  wrote  : 
"  I  have  had  sweet  sights  of  the  forgiveness  of  my  sins  in  this 
place,  and  of  my  being  with  Jesus  in  another  world.  .  .  . 
I  have  seen  that  here  which  I  am  persuaded  I  shall  never  while  in 
this  world  be  able  to  express."  His  immortal  work  was  written 
during  a  later  imprisonment,  which  began  three  years  after  his 
release.  Parliament  obliged  Charles  to  recall  the  Declaration  of 
Indulgence,  after  victories  gained  by  the  Dutch,  and  passed  the 
Test  Act,  requiring  of  all  officials  to  partake  of  the  sacrament  in 
the  Church  of  England,  and  to  declare  their  disbelief  in  the  doc- 
trine of  transubstantiation.     The  king's  brother  James,   Duke  of 


1648-1887.]        EVENTS  IN  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY.  489 

York,  who  was  a  Roman  Catholic,  gave  up  bis  office  of  high  ad- 
miral. Charles  continued  to  be  the  vassal  of  France,  except  as  ho 
was  thwarted  and  overruled  by  Parliament.  The  oppressions  in 
Scotland  led  to  the  murder  of  Ai'chbishop  Sharp,  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal authors  of  them.  In  1G79,  the  Covenanters  were  defeated  by 
Monmouth  at  Bothwell  Bridge.  Afterwards  the  Duke  of  York  took 
his  place,  and  practised  cruelties  to  which  the  more  lenient  temper 
of  Monmouth  was  not  inclined.  " 

James  11.,  who  began  to  reign  in  1685,  had  the  same  purpose 
to  govern  according  to  an  arbitrary  system  as  his  brother  had 
Persecution  chcrished.  He  was  more  desirous  to  bring  England 
under  James.  -^^^^  ^^  allegiaucc  to  the  Chuvch  of  Eome,  of  which  he 
was  an  open  adherent.  He  was,  however,  not  disposed  to  be  the 
servant  of  France  and  her  sovereign,  unless  the  pressnre  of  cir- 
cumstances should  drive  him,  under  a  choice  of  evils,  to  this  humili- 
ating position.  The  trial  and  conviction  of  Eichard  Baxter,  and 
the  scurrilous  abuse  heaped  on  him  by  Jeffreys,  who  sat  on  the 
bench,  showed  what  treatment  even  the  most  religious  and  loyal  of 
dissenters  might  expect.  "Even  men,"  writes  Baxter,  "that  had 
been  taken  for  sober  and  religious,  when  thoy  had  a  mind  for  pre- 
ferment and  to  be  taken  notice  of  at  court,  and  by  the  prelates, 
did  fall  on  preaching  or  writing  against  me."  One  after  another 
of  his  clerical  brethren  died  in  Newgate.  In  recording  this  fact, 
he  calmly  says:  "The  prison,  where  so  many  are,  suffocateth  the 
spirits  of  aged  ministers  ;  but  blessed  be  God  that  gave  them  so 
long  time  to  preach  before,  at  cheaper  rates."  In  Scotland  a 
Parliament  of  Episcopalians,  elected  by  Episcopalians  alone,  made 
the  act  of  preaching  at  a  conventicle  under  a  roof,  or  being  j^resent 
at  a  conventicle  in  the  open  air,  a  capital  offence.  The  cruelties 
practised  on  the  Covenanters  by  Claverhouse  and  others,  and  the 
heroism  of  the  sufferers,  form  a  thrilling  tale.  One  of  the  martyrs, 
Margaret  Wilson,  who  was  drowned  at  Solway  Firth,  when  asked, 
as  the  waters  closed  about  her,  if  she  would  abjure  the  Covenant, 
replied:  "Never.  I  am  Christ's;  let  me  go."  Gradually,  James,  by 
his  zeal  in  behalf  of  his  own  rehgion,  ahenated  his  Episcopalian 
supporters  in  England.  There  was  not  only  a  brutal  persecution 
of  dissenters,  but  also  an  attempt,  by  legal  machinery,  to  introduce 
Roman  CathoHcs  into  English  benefices.  In  "1686  the  king  re- 
established the  Court  of  High  Commission,  and  placed  at  its  head 
the  iniquitous  Jeffreys.  In  Ireland  he  did  his  best  to  supersede  in 
places  of  trust  and  influence  English  Protestants  by  Irish  Catholics. 
In  1687  the  king  sought  to  win  the  support  of  Protestant  non- 


490  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

conformists  by  an  unlawful  declaration  of  indulgence,  which  an- 
nulled penal  laws  and  religious  tests.  It  was  ordered  to  he  read 
in  the  churches.  Seven  bishops  petitioned  against  being  obliged 
to  read  in  public  an  illegal  declaration.  Their  petition  got  into 
print.  Their  arraignment  on  the  charge  of  publishing  a  seditious 
libel  called  out  genei-al  and  enthusiastic  exj)ressions  of  sympathy  for 
them.  These  were  redoubled  at  the  news  of  theii*  acquittal.  An 
invitation  went  over  to  William,  Prince  of  Orange,  who  was  the 
TheEevoiu-  husbaud  of  Mary,  the  king's  daughter,  to  bring  an  army 
tion  of  1688.  j^^q  England  and  to  deliver  the  nation  from  tyranny. 
A  combination  of  parties,  which  was  effected  on  account  of  the  king's 
plain  purpose  to  overthrow  liberty  in  the  State  and  to  estabhsh 
popery,  produced  the  Revolution  of  1688.  James  fled,  the  throne 
was  declared  vacant,  and  William  and  Mary  acceded  to  power. 
The  Act  of  Toleration  exempted  from  the  penalties  of  laws  against 
conventicles  such  as  should  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  and  sub- 
scribe to  the  docti-iual  portion  of  the  Thirty-nine  Articles.  An 
indulgence  was  given  to  Quaker-s  without  this  condition.  Meeting- 
houses, if  registered,  were  protected  by  law.  This  toleration  was 
not  extended  to  papists  or  to  those  who  denied  the  Trinity. 

In  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century  a  new  element  sud- 
denly made  its  appearance  in  the  religious  life  of  England.  In  the 
"Enthusi-  midst  of  political  contests  and  the  debates  of  learned 
asm."  Q^^^  argumentative  divines,  there  occurred  an  outbreak 

of  what  was  called,  in  the  language  of  the  time,  "  enthusiasm."  The 
name  continued  to  be  given  to  whatever  was,  or  was  deemed  to  be, 
an  extravagant  claim  to  supernatural,  divine  influence,  esj)ecially 
if  it  involved  an  intuition  of  divine  things,  or  an  exalted  state  of 
the  emotions.  Under  the  head  of  "  enthusiasm  "  was  included,  not 
only  zeal  passing  the  ordinary  or  approved  limit,  but  also  whatever 
is  now  termed  mysticism.  The  first  manifestation  of  this  type  of 
religion  was  the  rise  of  Quakerism, 

The  founder  of  the  Quakers  was  George  Fox.  His  father  was 
a  weaver  at  Drayton.  By  him  the  son  was  religiously  trained.  He 
Lf  d  h  ^^^  apprenticed  to  a  shoemaker,  who  had,  however",  a 
acteristics  o£  variety  of  employments,  and  Fox  spent  much  of  his  time 
in  tending  sheep  for  his  master.  In  1G43  his  mind  was 
suddenly  struck  with  the  vanity  of  worldly  pursuits  and  pleasures, 
and  with  the  feeling  that,  literally  as  well  as  in  spirit,  he  must  "for- 
sake all,  both  young  and  old."  He  accordingly  left  his  relatives, 
and  for  several  years  wandered  from  place  to  place,  for  the  most 
part  avoiding  society.     In  1646  he  began  to  have  new  revelations 


1648-18S7.]        EVENTS  IN  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY.  491 

in  his  soul  of  the  hght  and  grace  of  the  gospel,  and  in  the  follow- 
ing 3'ear  he  began  his  career  as  an  itinerant  preacher.  In  1G49,  in 
a  church  at  Nottingham,  he  felt  moved  to  interrupt  the  preacher 
in  the  midst  of  the  sermon,  and  to  proclaim  the  need  of  an  illu- 
mination from  above  for  the  understanding  of  the  Bible  and  the 
ascertainment  of  divine  truth.  He  was  lodged  in  jail  for  this  of- 
fence, and  this  brief  detention  was  the  beginning  of  a  series  of 
imprisonments  for  like  disturbances.  For  a  jieriod  of  forty  years 
Fox  was  active  with  pen  and  voice,  travelling  in  England  and  Scot- 
land, and  visiting  Holland  and  America.  In  1656,  the  number  of 
preachers  whom  he  had  associated  with  him  as  itinerant  helpers 
was  not  less  than  fifty-six.  He  early  adopted  the  jieculiaritics  of 
attire  and  of  speech  that  characterize  the  Quakers.  This  name  was 
given  them  by  their  enemies.  As  to  the  precise  origin  of  the  ap- 
pellation there  are  different  accounts. 

Fox  was  reinforced  by  two  able  men.  One  of  them  was  the 
.second  founder  of  the  Society  of  Fi-iends,  as  they  preferred  to  be 
Career  of  Called,  "William  Penn.  Penn  was  the  son  of  a  Bi'itish 
wiuiam  Penn.  admiral.  His  family,  after  the  fall  of  Cromwell,  sup- 
ported the  Stuarts,  and  earned  their  favor.  The  charges  against 
Penn  which  Macaulay  made  have  been  disproved.  His  career  was 
an  eventful  one.  He  played  an  important  and  a  useful  part  on 
both  sides  of  the  ocean.  In  1667  he  became  a  minister  of  the 
Quaker  denomination,  and  from  that  time  exerted  the  influence 
which  wealth  and  high  social  station  afforded  him,  in  behalf  of  his 
persecuted  brethren  and  in  the  dissemination  of  their  tenets.  By 
his  agency  in  founding  Pennsylvania,  he  added  much  to  the  strength 
and  growth  of  the  body  of  which  he  was  so  powerful  a  leader.  He 
repeatedly  suffered  imprisonment  for  his  opinions  and  for  his  con- 
sistency in  carrying  them  into  practice.  He  published  pamphlets 
and  treatises,  of  Avhich  "No  Cross,  no  Crown,"  is  the  most  valued. 
The  most  eminent  writer  among  the  Quakers  was  Robert  Barclay. 
He  was  educated  partly  in  Paris.  His  "Apology  for  the  True  Chris- 
tian Divinity  "  is  a  work  of  more  than  common  theological  ability. 
It  is  an  instructive  exposition  of  the  Quaker  opinions. 

The  prime  feature  of  the  Quaker  system  is  the  doctrine  of  the 
inner  light.  It  is  the  doctrine  that  the  Holy  Spirit  not  only  opens 
Tenets  of  the  to  the  mind  the  spiritual  contents  of  the  Scriptures,  and 
Quakers.  crcatcs  a  Hviug  conviction  of  their  inspiration  and  of  the 
reality  of  the  gospel— so  much,  Protestants  generally  held— but 
also  imparts  truth  supplementary  to  biblical  teaching.  This  ad- 
ditional truth  cannot  contradict  the  Bible.     Hence  the  Bible  is  the 


492  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

umpire  in  controversies.  In  keeping  with  the  general  charcter  of 
the  system,  the  sacraments  are  discarded.  The  vocation  to  the 
ministry  is  an  inward  call,  which  may  be  given  to  a  woman  as  well 
as  to  a  man.  A  view  not  essentially  different  from  the  Arminian 
is  adopted  on  the  subject  of  original  sin.  Justification  is  gratuitous 
and  is  by  faith,  but  is  incomplete  and  void  of  benefit  without  the 
inward  reception  of  Christ  and  a  mystical  union  with  him.  Every 
soul  has  its  time  of  visitation,  when  the  Spirit  comes  to  it  with  en- 
lightening power,  and,  if  not  resisted,  brings  to  it  holiness  and 
peace.  The  Quakers  followed  the  letter  of  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount.  War  is  pronounced  to  be  in  all  cases  unrighteous.  It  is 
considered  WTong  to  take  an  oath.  Simplicity  in  speech,  as  well  as 
dress  and  manners,  is  inculcated. 

Many  converts  were  made  by  the  Quaker  preachers.  The  un- 
seemly proceedings  of  some,  especially  in  interrupting  public  wor- 
Treatmentof  ship  and  in  denouncing  the  clergy,  provoked  against 
the  Quakers.  i]^q^  measurcs  of  cocrcion.  The  convulsions  and  other 
physical  manifestations  which  often  followed  upon  the  preaching 
of  the  Quakers  excited  opposition.  But  none  of  the  extravagances 
into  which  many  of  the  early  Quakers  fell,  much  less  their  refusal 
to  pay  tithes  and  to  comply  with  other  ecclesiastical  demands,  fur- 
nish an  excuse  for  the  merciless  persecution  which  pursued  these 
eccentiic  but  devout  Christians.  They  were  shut  up  in  pestilent- 
ial cells.  At  one  time,  four  thousand  Quakers  are  said  to  have 
been  in  pi-ison  in  England.  Many  of  the  early  preachers  died  in 
prison.  Women  as  well  as  men  were  attacked  by  savage  mobs. 
Their  meeting-houses  were  pulled  down,  sometimes  by  the  order 
of  the  church  authorities.  Very  heavy  fines  were  extorted  from 
them.  In  1G56,  Quakers  came  to  Massachusetts  from  the  Bar- 
badoes.  Several  of  them,  including  one  woman,  under  circum- 
stances ah-eady  stated,  were  hanged.  In  Virginia,  and  other  col- 
onies also,  as  we  have  seen,  very  severe  laws  were  framed  against 
them.  In  England  it  was  not  until  the  Declaration  of  Indulgence 
in  1G87,  by  James  11.,  that  the  long  persecution  of  them  came  to 
an  end.  After  that  date,  they  simply  shared  in  the  disabilities 
which  affected  in  common  all  dissenters.  In  process  of  time,  their 
Christian  temper  and  their  active  labors  of  philanthropy  disarmed 
the  prejudice  which  had  been  so  bitter  against  them. 

The  Quakers  were  organized  in  "  meetings,"  which  were  sub- 
ordinate to  one  another,  and  had  provisions  for  careful  discipline. 
In  their  assemblies  for  worship  the  men  and  women  sat  apart. 
The  congregation  waited  in  silence  for  individuals  to  be  "  moved 


164S-18S7.1        EVENTS  IN  THE  SEV:ENTEENTH  CENTURY.  493 

by  the  Spirit "  to  speak.     For  profitable  utterance  it  was  held  that 
direct  inspiration  was  needful. 

After  the  death  of  Henry  IV.,  the  Huguenots  in  France  were 
not  infrequently  subject  to  persecution.  Their  churches  were 
kept  in  a  state  of  agitation  and  alarm.  In  1G21,  there 
of  the  Hu-  was  a  rising  of  Huguenots,  which  was  put  down  ;  but 
guenots.  Montauban  and  Kochelle  were  still  left  in  their  j^osses- 
sion.  It  was  natural  that  a  spirit  of  hostility  to  the  crown  should 
increase  among  them,  although  it  was  just  at  the  time  when  such 
a  feeling  was  more  than  ever  perilous,  since  the  monarchy  was 
entering  on  the  work  of  subjugating  feudalism.  This  work  was 
carried  forward  successfully  by  the  famous  minister  of  state,  Car- 
dinal Kichelieu,  By  him  the  Huguenots,  as  a  distinct  political 
organization,  were  suppressed.  In  IG'28,  Eochelle,  the  last  of  their 
fortified  towns,  fell  into  his  hands.  The  emigration  of  Protestants 
now  set  in — the  process  by  which  France  forced  beyond  its  borders 
the  most  valuable  portion  of  its  population.  Under  Louis  XIV., 
Mazarin  took  up  the  policy  of  Richelieu.  After  Mazarin's  death, 
the  king,  who  had  not  been  insensible  to  what  he  owed  to  the  sup- 
port of  the  Huguenots  in  the  War  of  the  Fronde,  tiu'ned  against 
them.  This  was  owing  to  a  torment  of  conscience,  which  his 
ignoble  and  superstitious  mind  sought  to  allay  by  the  persecution 
of  heretics.  Madame  de  Maintenon,  whom  he  had  secretly  mar- 
ried, urged  him  to  this  course,  although  she  had  once  been  a  Hu- 
guenot herself.  The  king,  moreover,  in  his  arrogance,  was  irri- 
tated that  insidious  efforts  to  entice  his  Protestant  subjects  into  a 
voluntary  surrender  of  their  chartered  privileges  had  proved  abor- 
tive. His  father-confessoi',  La  Chaise,  and  his  war-minister,  Lou- 
vois,  spurred  him  on  to  the  adoption  of  cruel  measures  of  repres- 
sion. In  1679,  an  extensive  system  of  proselytizing  was  organized. 
All  professed  converts  to  the  Roman  faith  who  fell  back  were 
visited  with  severe  penalties.  Harsh  punishment  was  threatened 
to  every  Roman  Catholic  who  should  go  over  to  the  Protestant 
Church.  Marriages  between  the  adherents  of  the  two  confessions 
were  forbidden.  The  Huguenots  were  by  degrees  excluded  from 
all  offices  and  dignities.  All  these  Avere  among  the  many  afflictions 
which  they  had  to  endure.  At  length  the  atrocious  scheme  of  the 
dragonnade,  or  the  billeting  of  soldiers  in  Huguenot  families,  was 
resorted  to.  It  is  impossible  to  enumerate  here  the  various  forms 
of  Tinbearable  brutality  which  were  inflicted  on  an  innocent  and  re- 
ligious people  by  the  fanaticism  of  the  rulers  of  France,  who  were 


494  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

instigated  and  applauded  by  the  Church  to  which  they  belonged. 
In  the  course  of  three  years,  fifty  thousand  families  had  fled  from 
the  country.  Those  who  yielded  to  terror  were  chiefly  from  the 
lower  class  or  from  the  nobles.  The  middle  class,  including  a 
great  number  of  skilled  artisans,  generally  remained' 
ofThTS  steadfast.  In  1685,  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  the  great  charter 
of  Nantes.  ^^  Hugxienot  rights,  was  revoked.  Emigration  went  on 
in  spite  of  hindrances  placed  in  its  way.  Not  far  from  a  quarter 
of  a  million  of  refugees  escaped  fi'om  France  to  enrich  England, 
Holland,  and  other  countries  with  the  fruits  of  their  industries. 
Among  them  was  Schomberg,  one  of  the  best  generals  of  the  time. 
"The  French,"  said  Voltaire,  "were  as  widely  dispersed  as  the 
Jews."  France  was  impoverished,  not  only  by  this  direct  loss,  but 
by  the  discouragement  and  the  prostration  of  energy  of  their  har- 
assed brethren  who  remained  behind. 

Louis  XIV.  had  been  determined  to  extend  his  absolute  author- 
ity over  the  Church  as  well  as  over  the  State.  This  purpose  brought 
Contest  of  On  a  Controversy  between  him  and  the  papacy.  His  real 
with\hJ^"  ^^^  "^^^^  ^°  exercise  such  power  in  ecclesiastical  matters 
papacy.  [^  France  as  Henry  VIH.  had  taken  to  himself  in  Eng- 

land, but  not  to  effect  a  comx:)lete  rupture  with  Eome.  Tbe  occa- 
sion of  the  dispute  was  the  attempt  of  Louis  to  exact  the  vassal's 
oath  from  ecclesiastics  in  parts  of  France  where  it  had  not  before 
been  rendered,  and  to  manage  vacant  sees  in  those  districts,  as 
well  as  to  appi-opriate  their  revenues.  This  claim  of  the  king  was 
resisted  by  Innocent  X.  Under  the  pontificate  of  Innocent  XL,  the 
Assembly  of  the  French  Clergy  supported  the  king's  pre- 
tensions, and  enacted  the  four  Articles  of  Galilean  free- 
dom in  affairs  ecclesiastical.  These  denied  the  pope's  authority 
over  kings,  or  in  aught  but  spiritual  matters,  and  asserted  that  the 
pope  is  bound  by  canon  law,  and  by  the  laws  and  usages  of  the 
French  Church,  and  that  the  pope's  decisions  in  doctrine  are  not 
irreformable,  unless  they  have  the  concurrence  of  the  whole  Church. 
Under  Innocent  XH.  there  was  an  accommodation.  Louis  retained 
the  prerogative  which  had  given  rise  to  the  quarrel,  but  yielded  up 
the  four  obnoxious  propositions.  In  the  memorable  contest  with 
the  papacy  and  in  behalf  of  Galilean  liberty,  the  champion  of  Louis 
BoBsuet.  "^^^  Bossuet,  Bisliop  of  Meaux,  one  of  the  ablest  and  most 
eloquent  theologians  and  most  powerful  prelates  of  the 
time.  He  was  born  at  Dijon  in  1G27.  In  his  boyhood  he  was  a 
brilliant  scholar,  and  versed  in  the  classical  authors.  The  prophecies 
of  Isaiah  kindled  in  his  mind  an  ardent  interest  in  the  study  of  the 


1648-1887.]        EVENTS  IN  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY.  495 

Scriptures.  As  a  student  at  Paris,  and  as  a  priest,  he  extended  the 
range  of  his  studies.  He  made  himself  familiar  with  the  Fathers, 
especially  with  Augustine.  While  tutor  of  the  Dauphin,  he  wrote 
his  "  Discourse  on  Universal  History."  In  the  pulpit  his  oratorical 
powers  elicited  universal  applause.  Bossuet  was  a  most  accom- 
plished polemic.  His  knowledge  was  completely  at  his  command,  so 
that  he  did  not  shrink  from  oral  disputation  with  the  most  learned 
adversaries.  His  "  Exposition  of  the  Catholic  Faith  "  presents  the 
doctrines  of  Rome  in  a  liberal  and  plausible  form.  His  book  on 
the  "Variations  of  Protestantism  "  is  an  ingenious  attempt  to  show 
that  Protestantism  is  nothing  but  an  open  door  to  a  chaos  of  clash- 
ing opinions,  and  that  there  is  no  escape  from  a  hopeless  jangle 
of  conflicting  views,  except  in  submission  to  the  authority  of  the 
Church.  His  quotations  from  the  reformers  are  not  infrequently 
garbled.  Reference  has  been  made  to  the  countenance  which  Bos- 
suet gave  to  the  unrighteous  and  savage  measures  of  Louis  for  the 
conversion  and  extermination  of  the  Huguenots.  Another  stain 
was  left  on  the  reputation  of  Bossuet  by  the  part  which  he  took 
against  Fenelon  and  the  Mystics. 

This  development  of  mysticism  in  France  has  some  connection 
with  an  earlier  movement  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  with 
Mysticism :  which  the  name  of  Molinos  is  identified.  Molinos  was 
Moiinos.  i^Qj.j^  jj^  1640,  of  a  noble  family,  in  Aragon.  In  Rome 
he  became  highly  esteemed  as  a  spiritual  director  whose  counsels 
were  very  much  in  request.  In  1675  he  published  "  The  Spiritual 
Guide,"  in  which  are  unfolded  his  ideas  relative  to  a  devout  life 
and  the  true  source  of  inward  peace.  This  haven  is  to  be  sought 
in  the  retirement  of  the  soul  and  in  contemplation,  in  the  renuncia- 
tion of  all  desires  for  self,  and  in  a  complete  self-surrender  into  the 
hands  of  God.  Abstinence,  maceration  of  the  body,  penances,  could 
only  be  of  use  at  the  beginning  of  the  course  of  self-discipline  that 
leads  up  to  the  state  of  inward  repose.  The  influence  of  the  book 
of  Molinos  was  immense.  "  Quietism,"  as  the  type  of  devotion  was 
called  which  it  recommended,  won  a  great  number  of  votaries  in 
Spain  and  Italy.  But  the  suspicions  of  the  Jesuits  were  aroused. 
The  inquisitors  examined  the  book,  arrested  the  author,  and  con- 
demned his  doctrines.  In  1687  he  was  sentenced  to  perpetual 
imprisonment,  and  remained  in  prison  until  his  death.  It  was  as- 
serted that  he  abjured  his  doctrines,  or  the  doctrines  imputed  to 
him;  but  this  remains  to  be  proved.  Among  the  accusations 
were  charges  affecting  the  purity  of  his  conduct.  These  are  not 
credible.     They  may  have  grown  out  of  a  perverse  construction  of- 


496  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

expressions  relative  to  the  indiflference  of  exterior  acts  -when  the 
soul  is  -weddecT  to  God — a  notion  not  uncommon  among  mystics. 
But  that  he  taught  even  this,  there  is  no  good  evidence.  The  real 
ground  of  hostihty  to  Quietism  was  its  tendency  to  lead  to  the 
dispensing  with  aui'icular  confession,  penances,  and  outward  rites 
altogether. 

Ideas  not  unlike  those  of  Molinos  were  cherished  by  Madame 
Guy  on,  a  French  lady  of  noble  descent.  She  was  born  in  1648 
and  died  in  1717.  A  decided  religious  and  ascetic  turn 
Guyon'and  inclined  her  in  childhood  to  take  the  veil.  But  she  was 
Feueion.  niarried  against  her  will,  and  thus  prevented  from  carry- 
ing out  her  cherished  desire.  On  the  death  of  her  husband,  how- 
ever, she  devoted  herself  to  Christian  activities,  mingled  with  de- 
vout contemplation,  first  at  Gex,  near  Geneva,  then  at  Thonon,  and 
afterwards  at  Paris.  Like  Molinos,  she  taught  that  our  aim  should 
be  perfection.  This  is  to  be  attained  by  the  absolute  absorption 
of  the  human  will  in  the  divine,  a  rest  of  the  soul  in  God.  Bos- 
suet  and  other  prelates  examined  her  writings,  and  pronounced 
them  heretical.  On  the  contrary,  Funelon,  who  had  become  her 
friend,  refused  to  join  in  this  judgment  against  the  mystical  teach- 
ing. He  was  in  sympathy  with  it,  and  in  his  "  Maxims  of  the  Saints "' 
inculcated  its  characteristic  ideas.  Feuelon  was  born  in  1651 
and  died  in  1715.  When  this  controversy  arose  he  deservedly  en- 
joyed a  high  reputation.  He  had  done  a  great  work  in  Poitou  in 
reclaiming  Protestants  by  the  use  of  persuasion  and  by  kindly 
ways.  He  was  an  eloquent,  sj)iritual  preacher.  He  had  been  the 
tutor  of  the  king's  grandsons,  in  which  capacity  he  wrote  his 
"  Telemachus."  In  1695  he  was  made  Archbishop  of  Cambray. 
He  and  Bossuet  had  been  friends.  The  difference  respecting  the 
teachings  of  Madame  Guyon  and  the  value  of  the  mystical  system 
set  them  at  variance.  Fenelon  appealed  to  Kome.  Bossuet  sent 
there  an  answer  to  his  plea.  The  Sorbonne  condemned  the  prop- 
ositions of  Fenelon.  Then  the  pope,  in  1699,  declared  that  the 
doctrines  of  his  book  were  erroneous.  He  at  once  publicly  re- 
tracted them.  In  refinement,  gentleness,  and  in  all  the  graces 
of  Christian  character,  he  excels  his  great  antagonist,  whose  robust 
intelligence  and  polemical  skill  equipped  him  for  victory  in  a  doc- 
trinal encounter. 

Another  important  transaction  in  the  reign  of  Louis  XTV.  was 
the  conflict  with  the  Jansenists,  the  school  of  Augustiuian  theologi- 
ans, of  whom  Pascal  was  the  most  renowned.  The  victory  which 
the  Jesuits  gained  in  this  contest  was  achieved  through  the  aid 


1G48-1S87.]         EVENTS  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY.  497 

rendered  by  the  king.    The  circumstances  of  this  conflict  with  the 
Port  RoyaHsts  will  be  related  hereafter. 

Efforts  and  projects  looking  towards  union  between  Protestants 
and  Catholics  deserve  notice.  Earnest  but  abortive  endeavors  of 
Schemes  of  ^^^^  nature  are  associated,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  with 
Church  union.  ^^^  ^^^^  ^f  Gcorge  Cassauder  (1515-156G),  a  moderate 
Caiixtns  Roman  Catholic,  who  was  encouraged  by  the  Emperor 
(Jl^*^  Ferdinand  I.,  and,  in  the  seventeenth,  with  the  name  of 

George  Calixtus,  a  Lutheran  of  the  school  of  Melanch- 
thon.  Gi'otius  became  a  warm  advocate  of  ecclesiastical  reunion, 
and  published  several  writings  in  which  he  tried  to  soften  the  an- 
tipathy of  Protestants  to  the  Church  of  Rome  and  to  prepare  the 
way  for  a  universal  council  at  which  all  parties  might  be  represent- 
ed. In  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century,  Spinola,  a  Span- 
ish ecclesiastic,  resident  at  Vienna,  labored,  in  connection  with  a 
Lutheran  theologian,  Molanus,  to  devise  a  plan  of  union  between 
Catholics  and  Protestants.  Out  of  this  effort  there  grew  an  inter- 
esting correspondence  between  Leibnitz  and  Bossuet  on  the  same 
theme.  Leibnitz  was  in  favor  of  a  general  council,  according  to 
the  idea  of  Grotius.  He  insisted  on  the  need  of  reducing  the  es- 
sentials of  the  faith  to  such  a  degree  as  to  leave  room  under  the 
same  roof  for  the  divergences  of  the  antagonistic  parties.  The  point 
on  which  these  two  representatives  of  the  opposing  parties  could 
not  come  together  was  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation. 


CHAPTER  11. 

ECCLESIASTICAL  EVENTS  ON  THE  CONTINENT  OF  EUROPE  IN 
THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  PRIOR  TO  THE  FRENCH  REVO- 
LUTION. 

The  eighteenth  century  was  signalized  by  a  breaking  away  from 
the  traditions  of  the  past  in  every  department  of  thought  and  in- 
quiry.    It  is  commonly  designated  by  the  Germans  as^ 

Character  of      , ,        '^        .     ,        „     ,.  .„         .     .  „        a     j^  i  ■  ht 

the  eighteenth  the  period  of  "  illuminism  — Aufklarung.  Men  were 
ceil  ury.  elated  by  the  persuasion  that  the  clouds  of  ignorance 
and  prejudice  which  had  before  darkened  the  human  mind  were 
now  dispersed.  They  could  gaze  up  to  a  cloudless  sky.  Com- 
mon-sense, it  was  claimed,  was  at  last  to  have  a  chance  to  exercise 
its  prerogative.  The  prevalent  rationalizing  spirit  brought  on 
everywhere  a  conflict  with  established  opinions  and  with  ti-aditional 


498  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA,  [Period  IX. 

usages  and  institutions.  The  tone  of  literature  changed.  Clerical 
control  in  matters  of  culture  was  abjured.  The  freedom  of  the 
days  of  the  Eenaissance  was  restored,  yet  with  a  lack  of  depth  and 
imao-inative  power.  Culture  took  on  a  brilliant  but  superficial 
character.  Superstitions  which  were  responsible  for  much  tyranny 
and  distress  were  exploded.  But  in  connection  with  this  measure 
of  wholesome  progress,  the  spirit  of  free  inquiry,  instead  of  being 
tempered  by  religious  aspirations,  was  infected  with  a  bias  towards 
scepticism  and  unbelief.  There  ensued  a  literary  crusade  of  deistic 
infidelity,  springing  up  first  in  England,  transplanted  and  taking 
root  in  France,  and  fi'om  there  spreading  over  the  Continent.  In 
France  the  outcome  was  a  materialistic  atheism.  In  the  higher 
circles  of  society,  indiffei'entism  and  a  mocking  disbelief  were 
coupled  with  profligacy.  Among  the  clergy  a  frigid  or  lukewarm 
temper  prevailed.  The  writers  who  figured  as  the  heralds  of  new 
ideas  in  letters  and  philosophy  were  personally  intimate  with  sov- 
ereigns, such  as  Frederic  11.  of  Prussia,  Charles  HE.  of  Spain,  and 
Catharine  11.  of  Russia.  They  had  the  ear  of  statesmen  who  stood 
at  the  helm  in  public  affairs,  like  Pombal  in  Portugal,  Choiseul  in 
France,  and  Aranda  in  Spain.  Paris  was  the  centre  whence  fash- 
ions in  opinion  as  well  as  in  social  customs  were  diffused  through 
Europe.  The  spread  of  the  French  language,  which  was  every- 
where the  speech  of  courts  and  of  polite  society,  and  took  the  place 
of  Latin  as  a  vehicle  of  literary  and  diplomatic  intercourse,  is  a  sym- 
bol of  the  extension  of  French  influence,  not  only  in  reference  to 
matters  of  etiquette,  furniture,  gardening,  and  building,  but  also 
in  the  field  of  practical  morals  and  religious  siDeculation.  The 
causes  of  the  state  of  things  thus  indicated  are  not  far 
decline  of  to  scck.  The  prolonged  theological  conflicts  of  the  pre- 
rehgion.  ceding  period  had  been  succeeded  by  a  lassitude  of  spirit 
as  regards  religion,  and  a  reaction  against  whatever  savored  of 
dogmatism  in  belief.  Men  were  tired  of  the  warfare  of  creeds.  The 
civil  wars  of  the  seventeenth  century  had  chilled  the  spirit  of  piety. 
The  conflicts  of  the  eighteenth  century  were  dynastic  struggles, 
caused  mainly  by  the  ambition  of  Louis  XTV.,  and  by  the  efforts 
of  Frederick  the  Great  to  build  up  the  power  of  Prussia.  Gener- 
ally speaking,  they  called  into  exercise  no  exalted  patriotic  j^assion, 
no  deep-rooted  moral  sentiment.  The  grand  discoveries  of  New- 
ton, following  upon  the  philosophical  teaching  of  Lord  Bacon  a 
century  earlier,  had  ushered  in  a  new  era  of  investigation  in  phys- 
ical science.  Many  inquisitive  minds  were  turning  fx-om  the  rea- 
sonings of  the  schools  to  the  fresh  and  alluring  domain  of  experi- 


1648-1887.]         EVENTS  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY.  499 

mental  study.  Notwithstanding  the  obvious  defects  and  faults  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  there  is  much  to  be  set  down  to  its  credit. 
If  it  was  the  age  of  Bolingbroke  and  Voltaire,  it  was  also  the  age  of 
Addison  and  Johnson.  The  delusions  and  pei'secutions  connected 
with  the  belief  in  witchcraft  came  to  an  end.  A  beneficent  work 
of  reform  in  criminal  jurisprudence  began.  Above  all,  there  were 
great  religious  movements,  especially  Moravianism  in  Germany  and 
Methodism  in  England,  the  influence  of  which  was  profound  and 
durable. 

An  event  highly  important  in  itself,  and  at  the  same  time  well 
adapted  to  illustrate  the  altered  character  of  the  age,  was  the 
Downfall  of  downfall,  and  the  temporary  extinction  in  all  Catholic 
the  Jesuits,  countries,  of  the  Society  of  Jesus.  In  the  middle  of  the 
eighteenth  centviry  this  famous  body  comprised  not  far  from  twenty 
thousand  members.  They  were  busily  at  work  in  all  parts  of  the 
world.  They  had  possessed  themselves  of  a  great  amount  of  prop- 
erty. The  education  of  youth  in  many  lands  was  to  a  large  extent 
in  their  hands.  Several  universities — for  example,  Vienna  and 
Prague — were  completely  subject  to  their  control.  The  father- 
confessors  of  kings  and  princes,  they  exerted  a  powerful  influence  in 
the  civil  administration  of  European  states.  In  the  latter  part  of 
the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.,  they  had  been  dominant  in  France.  But, 
owing  to  various  causes,  the  spirit  of  opposition  to  them  at  length 
rose  to  a  great  height.  The  teaching  of  the  Spaniard,  Mariana, 
one  of  their  writers,  that  regicide  is  lawful,  was  believed  to  have 
led  to  the  murder  of  Henry  IV.  of  France.  The  assassination 
of  his  predecessor,  Henry  HI.,  as  well  as  of  "William  of  Orange, 
was  traced  by  many  to  the  poisonous  doctrine  of  Jesuit  teachez'S. 
The  lax  theology  of  Jesuit  doctors,  who  were  of  the  Semi-Pelagian 
school,  stirred  up  an  antagonism  among  the  more  orthodox  Do- 
minicans, who  clung  tenaciously  to  the  system  of  Aquinas.  Especi- 
ally the  loose  moral  maxims  which  became  current  among  the 
Jesuits,  brought  upon  them  deserved  odium.  The  doctrine  of 
"  moral  probableism,"  which  made,  in  doubtful  questions  of  duty, 
the  opinion  of  a  single  doctor  of  authority  a  warrant  for  an  action 
which  he  had  pronounced  innocent,  was  specially  obnoxious.  This 
theory  had  not  been  originated  by  the  Jesuits  :  it  was  of  earlier 
date.  They  made  so  great  use  of  it,  however,  that  it  was  con- 
sidered a  distinctive  part  of  their  system.  Some  of  their  leaders 
did  not  hesitate  to  avow  that  they  had  made  the  means  of  salva- 
tion easier,  and  had  opened  a  more  facile  way  to  absolution  for  such 
as  resorted  to  the  confessional  when  they  sat  iu  judgment.     The 


gQO  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

Port  Eoyalists  had  been  overthrown  by  the  force  which  the  Jesuits 
were  able  to  invoke  in  aid  of  their  cause  from  a  cruel  and  supersti- 
tious monarch ;  but  the  satire  of  Pascal,  in  the  "Provincial  Letters," 
continued  to  move  the  admiration  and  symj)athy  of  a  multitude  of 
cultivated  persons  by  whom  Escobar,  Sanchez,  and  other  Jesuit 
authorities,  who  stood  in  the  pillory  on  his  pages,  were  regarded 
with  mingled  hatred  and  contempt.  More  than  one  pontiff,  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century,  had  interposed  to  condemn 
the  ethical  precepts  which  had  been  promulgated  by  members  of 
the  order.  More  than  one  had  directly  or  indirectly  sought  to 
curb  their  ambition  and  keep  within  bounds  their  greed  for  gain. 
Considered  as  the  champions  of  "  obscurantism,"  they  were  exposed 
to  the  determined  hostility  of  all  the  advocates  of  free-thinking. 

The  Jesuits  at  the  outset,  and  for  a  long  period,  had  been  obe- 
dient to  the  pontiffs  and  devoted  to  building  up  then-  authority. 
But  it  became  manifest,  as  time  went  on,  that  the  interests  of  their 
order  and  the  mandates  of  its  general  had  the  highest  place  in 
their  esteem.  In  the  eai-ly  part  of  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.,  while 
he  was  in  a  contest  with  Eome,  they  lent  their  aid  to  the  king. 
The  first  very  serious  collision  between  the  Jesuit  order  and  the 
authorities  of  the  Church  related  to  the  conduct  of  their  mis- 
sions. In  what  were  called  the  "  Malabar  customs,"  or 
jeBuit  Mis-  rites,  the  Jesuits  went  so  far  in  the  way  of  indulging 
their  converts  in  the  retention  of  heathen  practices  and 
beliefs  as  to  provoke  the  hostility  of  missionaries  of  the  other 
orders,  and  finally  of  the  popes  themselves.  Even  Bellarmine,  the 
celebrated  Jesuit  theologian,  disapproved  of  their  accommodating 
policy  in  dealing  with  the  heathen.  But  the  Fi-anciscans  became 
loud  in  their  complaints,  which  were  reechoed  in  1631  by  the 
Dominicans  in  China.  The  Chinese  observances  were  prohibited 
by  Innocent  X.,  in  1645,  but  were  sanctioned  by  Alexander  VII., 
about  ten  years  later.  At  the  beginning  of  the  new  century  the 
long  conflict  broke  out  afresh.  The  Jesuits  persevered  in  disregard- 
ing the  injunctions  of  the  popes  to  abandon  the  obnoxious  usages. 
De  Tournon,  the  Patriarch  of  Antioch,  whom  the  pontiff  sent  to  the 
missions  on  a  tour  of  inspection,  was  maltreated  by  them  in  China, 
j^jp  and  was  cast  into  prison,  where  he  died.      When  Clem- 

ent Xn.  issued  a  decree  forbidding  the  Malabar  cus- 
"^^'  toms,  the  Jesuits  in  India  promulgated  it  in  Latin,  a 

language  which  their  converts  of  coui-se  could  not  understand. 
Father  Norbert,  the  delegate  of  the  Capuchins,  carried  their  com- 
plaints to  Rome,  which  caused  Benedict  XTV.  to  prohibit,  in  the 


1648-1887.]        EVENTS  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY.  501 

strictest  manner,  the  objectionable  rites.  Norbert  published  an 
historical  account  of  these  controversies  in  the  East.  After  this, 
his  life  was  not  considered  safe  by  the  pope  himself,  so  that  he  took 
up  his  abode  in  Protestant  lands  until  the  Jesuits  were  driven  from 
Portugal.  Repeated  edicts  of  the  Eoman  See  were  stubbornly 
disregarded  and  resisted  by  the  Jesuits  in  the  East,  until,  finally, 
in  1741,  they  gave  way,  and  the  bull  of  Benedict  XIV.  produced  its 
effect.  The  missionaries  were  forced  to  yield  a  reluctant  obe- 
dience to  the  reiterated  decrees  of  the  pontifts. 

What  brought  to  pass  the  downfall  of  the  Jesuits  was  their 
active  interference  in  political  afiairs,  and  the  way  in  which  they 
Expulsion  of  engaged  in  trade  and  commercial  speculations.  Their 
from  Portu-  missiouary  stations  were  in  reality  factories,  and  the  cen- 
s^*-  tres  of  a  lucrative  commerce.     Nowhei-e  was  the  order 

more  powerful  in  Church  and  State  than  in  the  Spanish  peninsula. 
It  was  in  Portugal  that  they  first  received  the  heaviest  blow.  Ca- 
valho,  the  Marquis  of  Pombal,  a  man  of  winning  and  imposing  pres- 
ence, and  of  great  ability,  acquired  the  unbounded  confidence  of 
King  Joseph  Emanuel  I.  The  indolent  character  of  this  monarch, 
and  the  morbid  melancholy  which  he  shared  with  other  sovereigns 
of  his  family,  disposed  him  to  rely  upon  the  guidance  of  so  compe- 
tent a  minister.  The  king's  esteem  for  him  was  confirmed,  in  1755, 
by  the  presence  of  mind,  and  by  the  wise  and  efficient  measures, 
of  Pombal,  on  the  occasion  of  the  earthquake,  with  the  attendant 
disasters  from  fire  and  flood,  by  which  thirty  thousand  inhabitants 
of  Lisbon  perished.  The  sympathies  of  the  minister  were  with  the 
progressive  ideas  of  the  age.  He  was  bent  on  delivering  the  king 
from  the  thraldom  involved  in  the  overgrown  influence  of  the  Jesu- 
its, and  of  the  higher  nobility  in  alliance  with  them.  In  1753,  by 
a  treaty  between  Spain  and  Portugal,  certain  provinces  in  South 
America  were  exchanged.  A  portion  of  Paraguay  fell  to  Brazil. 
The  attempt  to  take  possession  of  it  was  met  by  the  resistance  of 
the  natives,  who  were  instigated  by  their  Jesuit  guides.  It  was 
found  that  a  community  had  been  constituted  in  which  the  Jesuits 
exercised  absolute  rule  in  all  civil  and  religious  aftairs,  and  that 
they  had  trained  their  converts  in  the  use  of  arms.  By  way  of  de- 
fence, it  was  pretended  that  the  fault  was  with  the  natives,  whose 
fury  could  not  be  curbed.  These  circumstances  excited  the  stern- 
est resentment.  Pombal  determined  to  put  down  the  Jesuit  influ- 
ence in  Portugal.  He  began,  in  1757,  by  dismissing  the  Jesuit 
chaplains  of  the  royal  family,  and  by  replacing  them  with  ordinary 
priests.     Other  measui-es  conceived  in  the  same  spirit  followed. 


502  PROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX, 

An  attempt  was  made  to  assassinate  the  king.  He  was  wounded, 
but  not  mortally.  Some  of  the  highest  nobles,  women  as  well  as 
men  were  arrested  and  brought  to  the  scaflfold.  Jesuits  with  whom 
they  were  intimate  were  accused,  without  sufficient  proof,  of  com- 
plicity in  the  plot.  The  whole  society  was  charged  with  treason- 
septemberi,  ^^^®  iuteutious.  A  decree  was  issued  by  which  they 
1769.  were  deposed  from  their  places  in  all  schools  and  uni- 

versities, and  banished  in  a  body  from  Portugal  and  fi'om  its  de- 
pendencies. They  were  conveyed  to  Italy  in  crowded  ships,  in 
which  they  endured  much  hardship. 

In  France,  Madame  de  Pompadour,  the  mistress  of  Louis  XV., 
was  hostile  to  the  order,  and  this,  perhaps,  for  reasons  not  dis- 
Bxpuisionof  Creditable  to  it.  The  immediate  cause  of  their  es- 
from  France  P^^lsiou  from  the  kingdom  was  the  bankruptcy  of  Father 
and  Spain.  Lavalettc,  the  Jesuit  administrator  in  Martinique,  who 
was  unable  to  meet  the  heavy  liabilities  which  he  incurred  in  con- 
sequence of  the  wreck  of  certain  vessels  loaded  with  goods  for 
which  French  merchants  had  paid.  The  society  refused  to  be  an- 
swerable for  this  loss  of  the  bold  speculator.  The  result  of  the 
litigation  was  the  requirement,  by  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  author- 
ities of  France,  that  the  constitutions  of  the  order  should  be  modi- 
fied and  the  power  of  the  general  abridged.  To  this  demand, 
Ricci,  who  held  this  office,  replied  :  "  Sint  ut  stmt,  aut  non  sint ; " 
"  Let  them  be  as  they  are,  or  let  them  not  be  at  all,"  A  succession 
of  edicts  against  the  society  followed  until  1767,  when  its  members 
were  all  expelled  from  France,  The  same  year  Spain  adopted  a 
like  measure,  both  for  herself  and  her  colonies.  From  Spain  alone 
nearly  six  thousand  priests  were  deported  at  once,  under  circum- 
stances that  necessarily  involved  great  suffering.  The  same  meas- 
ure was  adopted  by  Naples  and  Parma,  The  Bourbon  courts  were 
united  in  the  proscription  of  the  order,  and  joined  together  in  de- 
manding at  Rome  its  abohtion.  In  1769,  by  means  of  their  influ- 
ence, Cardinal  Ganganelli,  a  Franciscan,  a  man  of  upright  princi- 
ples and  spotless  character,  was  chosen  pope,  under  the  name  of 
Clement  XTV.  He  took  time  to  deliberate  on  the  proposal  which 
was  urged  upon  his  acceptance.  He  finally  resolved  to 
Society  aboi-  comply  with  it,  although  he  was  reported  to  have  said 
pope,  July  :ii,    that  in  issuing  the  decree  for  the  annihilation  of  this 

1773  .  .        . 

society  he  was  signing  his  own  death-warrant.  In  fact, 
within  about  a  year  after  its  promulgation,  on  September  22,  1774, 
he  died  under  such  circumstances  as  to  lead  to  the  belief,  which, 
however,  there  is  not  sufficient  proof  to  establish,  that  he  was  poi- 


1648-1S87.]        EVENTS  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY.  503 

soned.  The  bull  of  Clement — Dominus  ac  redemptor  noster — for  the 
abolition  of  the  order  is  most  carefully  and  elaborately  composed. 
Not  a  loop-hole  is  left  for  evasion,  or  for  the  avoidance,  in  any  way, 
of  its  stringent  and  sweeping  provisions.  The  ground  on  which 
the  act  is  founded  is  the  manifold  strife  and  disturbances  of  which 
the  Jesuits  had  become  the  occasion.  If  there  is  no  explicit  sanc- 
tion given  to  the  specific  charges  against  them,  there  is  a  pretty 
clear  intimation  of  the  pontiff's  sympathy  with  the  accusers.  Only 
in  lands  not  acknowledging  the  pope — in  Eussia,  and  in  Prussia, 
which  was  ruled  by  Frederic  11.,  could  the  order  continue  to  sub- 
sist. Later,  in  Prussia  it  was  abolished  by  Frederic 
William  11.  By  subsequent  bulls  of  popes,  the  Jesuits 
1804.  were  authorized   to  reconstitute  themselves   in   North 

^gj^  Russia,  and  in  Naples  and  Sicily.     The  formal  restora- 

tion of  the  order  and  revocation  of  the  decrees  against 
it,  took  place  at  the  fall  of  Napoleon,  as  one  fruit  of  the  reaction  in 
behalf  of  "the  throne  and  the  altar." 

The  Jesuits  owed  their  downfall  to  grievous  faults  of  their  own, 
and  to  the  practical  renunciation  of  the  ideals  which  had  been 
Ecclesiastical  cherished  by  the  founders  of  the  society.  They  had  be- 
reformBin       como  deeply  iufcctcd  with  worldliness  and  thirst  for 

Portugal.  .  ^    '' 

gam,  and  aspired  to  be  masters  rather  than  servants  of 
the  papacy.  But  other  causes  were  potent  in  bringing  to  pass 
their  suppression — the  spirit  of  free-thinking  that  was  abroad,  im- 
patience of  ecclesiastical  control  and  influence,  and  the  disposition 
of  statesmen  and  princes  to  rule,  instead  of  being  ruled  by,  the 
Church.  For  ten  years  after  the  deportation  of  the  Jesuits,  the 
Portuguese  Government  had  been  in  a  conflict  with  the  papacy, 
Pombal's  reforms  included  such  measures  as  the  prohibiting  of  the 
publication  of  bulls  against  any  of  the  officers  of  State  without  the 
king's  authorization,  and  the  abolition  of  numerous  monasteries 
and  nunneries.  Schools  of  all  kinds  were  established  for  the  in- 
struction of  the  people.  The  kingdom  was  advancing  to  a  high  de- 
gree of  prosperity  in  trade  and  industry.  But  the  death  of  the  mon- 
arch, who  confided  in  Pombal  to  the  last,  was  followed  by  the  fall  of 
that  minister,  and  the  undoing  of  many  of  his  most  beneficent  works. 
Elsewhere,  like  reforms,  looking  to  the  independence  of  States 
and  the  reduction  of  foreign  ecclesiastical  influence,  were  vigorously 
undertaken.     Maximilian  Joseph  lEL,  Elector  of  Bava- 

Reforms  of  /^ 

Joseph  11.       ria,  a  devout  and  loyal  Catholic  in  his  creed,  instituted 

very  important  changes  of  this  character  ;  but  his  reign 

was  too  short  to  secure  for  them  permanence.     The  most  notable 


504  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

movement  in  this  direction  took  place  tinder  the  auspices  of 
the  Emperor  Joseph  II.,  in  Austria.  The  preparation  for  such  a 
movement  was  made  by  the  pubhcation  of  a  remarkable  work  on 
the  "  State  of  the  Church  and  the  Legitimate  Power  of 
the  Koman  Pontiff,"  which  appeared  vmder  the  name  of 
Febronius,  but  of  which  the  real  author  proved  to  be  Nicholas  von 
Hontheim,  suffragan  bishop  of  the  Elector  of  Treves.  This  work 
asserted  the  Gallican  doctrine  of  the  supremacy  of  general  coun- 
cils over  popes,  and  the  equality  of  bishops,  among  whom  the  pope 
has  a  simple  primacy,  of  which,  moreover,  he  may  be  deprived.  It 
denied  the  pope's  authority  in  other  dioceses  than  his  own,  and  re- 
stricted his  function,  as  regards  other  bishops,  to  the  giving  of 
counsels  and  admonitions.  The  decrees  of  a  council  require  no  rati- 
fication from  a  pontiff,  nor  is  it  requisite  that  he  should  be  the  person 
to  convoke  it.  The  book  of  Febronius  was  widely  circulated,  and 
produced  a  strong  impression.  It  was  condemned  at  once  at  Rome. 
After  great  efforts,  the  author,  who  was  an  old  man,  was  induced,  in 
1778,  to  make  a  retraction,  which  he  followed  with  a  commentary 
upon  it,  in  which  he  made  it  plain  that  he  had  not  altered  his  opinions. 
Joseph  n.  succeeded  his  mother,  Maria  Theresa,  in  1780.  The 
next  year  he  issued  an  Edict  of  Toleration.  Under  the  shield  of 
it,  many  Protestant  congregations  were  formed  in  the  Austrian 
states.  This  measure  was  succeeded  by  legislative  acts  of  a  radical 
nature  which  were  in  accord  with  the  ideas  of  Febronius.  In  all 
matters  of  external  government  and  worship,  the  Church  was  to  be 
governed  by  the  sovereign.  The  jurisdiction  of  the  pope  was  re- 
duced to  the  narrowest  limits.  He  was  not  to  confer  any  titles  on 
the  emperor's  subjects  without  his  consent,  nor  could  any  papal 
document  be  published  within  his  realm  without  his  express  per- 
mission. Monks  were  to  be  subject  to  no  foreign  superiors.  There 
was  to  be  no  appeal  to  Rome  in  matrimonial  causes.  Joseph  even 
ordered  the  bull  In  ccena  domini,  in  which,  in  its  final  form.  Urban 
Vni.  (in  1627)  had  asserted  the  prerogatives  of  the  see  of  St.  Peter 
i-io  against  lay  rulers  and  councils,  and  the  bull  Unigenitus, 

which  Clement  XI.  had  promulgated  against  the  Jansen- 
ists,  to  be  torn  out  of  the  ritual  books.  Soon  after,  the  king  abol- 
ished all  orders  not  actively  engaged  in  works  of  education  or 
charity,  and  converted  their  property  into  an  educational  fund, 
pj^^^j  The  services  of  the  Church  he  required  to  be  conducted 

(1774-1799)     in  the  vernacular.    The  controversy  with  the  pope  (Pius 

and  Joseph  II.  ,      .  ,  .  .  f         \ 

VI.),  consequent  on  these  innovations,  was  of  such  a 
character  that  at  one  time  Joseph  thought  of  imitating  the  ex- 


1648-1887.]        EVENTS  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY.  505 

amj)le  of  Henry  VHI.  by  taking  the  extreme  step  of  breaking  off 
Austria  from  its  connection  with  Eome.  But  in  consequence  of  the 
counsels  of  sagacious  statesmen,  who  convinced  him  that  he  was 
moving  too  fast  for  his  people,  he  took  pains,  without  revoking  his 
laws,  to  avoid  a  rupture  with  the  pope.  His  attempt  to  introduce 
and  to  enforce  like  regulations  in  the  Netherlands  was  met  by  a  re- 
sistance that  led,  in  1789,  to  an  insurrection,  which  ended  in  fail- 
ure. Leopold  n.,  Joseph's  brother,  repealed  a  number  of  his  ordi- 
nances ;  and  under  his  successor,  Francis  H.,  the  former  religious 
status  in  the  Austrian  dominions  was  gradually  restored. 

The  example  of  Joseph  H.  was  contagious.  A  congress  or  con- 
ference of  Catholic  archbishops  was  held  at  Ems,  in  1786,  which 
Ecclesiastical  adopted  a  "  punctatiou,"  or  programme,  defining  the 
man^aiTd^'"^"  rig^its  of  bishops  and  archbishops,  in  opposition  to  all 
Tuscany.  h^q  pseudo-Isidorian  prerogatives  exercised  by  Rome.  If 
appeals  were  taken  from  verdicts  of  German  prelates,  they  must 
be  reviewed  by  judges  appointed,  to  be  sure,  by  the  pope,  but  of 
German  bii'th  and  holding  their  courts  in  Germany.  A  limit  was 
to  be  set  to  the  sending  of  money  to  Rome,  The  reform,  thus  un- 
dertaken, was  baffled,  in  part  by  the  shrewd  management  of  the 
pontiffs,  in  part  by  the  selfish  policy  of  the  Elector  of  Mayence, 
and  especially  by  the  outbreak  of  the  French  Revolution,  which 
turned  thought  into  other  channels.  An  important  effort,  made  in 
1780  by  Peter  Leopold,  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany,  to  emulate  the 
example  of  his  brother,  Joseph  H.,  by  sweeping  away  the  usurpa- 
tions of  Rome,  by  the  improvement  of  education,  etc.,  proved  abor- 
tive, on  account  of  the  refusal  of  the  Tuscan  bishops  to  co-oper- 
ate with  him.  The  various  plans  of  reform  in  different  countries 
to  which  reference  has  been  made,  were  too  much  the  offspring  of 
the  spirit  of  free-thinking  as  distinguished  from  profound  religious 
conviction,  and  were  too  exclusively  the  work  of  princes  and  cabi- 
nets, to  strike  deep  root  in  the  soil.  They  showed  that  the  papacy 
had  but  a  slender  hold  on  the  reverence  of  the  ruling  class  in  the 
different  states  of  Europe. 

In  the  record  of  ecclesiastical  affairs  in  Germany,  in  the  eigh- 
teenth century,  a  conspicuous  place  belongs  to  the  rise,  or,  rather, 
TheMoravi-  ^^^  reorganization  of  the  Moravians.  The  Moravians, 
hut^'zin^-  ^^  ^^^^  "  United  Brethren,"  as  they  styled  themselves, 
dorf.  sprang  from  the    "  Bohemian   Brethren,"  a  branch  of 

Hussite  Christians.  These  had  belonged  neither  to  the  Calixtines 
nor  to  the  Taborites,  the  two  principal  parties  into  which  the  Huss- 
ites were  divided  after  the  death  of  their  leader.     The  "Breth- 


506  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

ren  "  cherished  the  siDirit  of  Christianity,  according  to  their  degree 
of  knowledge,  with  simple  fidelity.  When  Protestantism  arose, 
they  came  into  intercourse  both  with  Lutherans  and  Calvinists, 
but  had  more  sympathy  with  the  latter.  In  1722,  and  in  the  seven 
following  years,  a  considerable  number  of  these  "  Brethren,"  led 
by  Christian  David,  who  were  persecuted  in  their  homes,  were  re- 
ceived by  Count  Zinzendorf  on  his  estate  at  Berthelsdorf  in  Sax- 
ony. They  founded  a  village  called  Herrnhut,  or,  "  the  Watch  of 
the  Lord."  There  they  were  joined  by  Christians  from  other  places 
in  Germany,  and,  after  some  time,  Zinzendorf  took  up  his  abode 
among  them,  and  became  their  principal  guide  and  pastor.  His 
ancestors  had  been  possessed  of  wealth  and  distinction  in  Austria. 
He  was  born  in  Dresden  in  1700.  His  father  having  died,  he  was 
brought  up  by  his  grandmother,  who  was  full  of  sympathy  with 
the  religious  movement  called  "  Pietism,"  of  which  Spener  was  the 
leading  representative.  Young  Zinzendorf  studied  in  the  gram- 
mar-school at  Halle  under  Francke,  one  of  the  most  devout  leaders 
of  the  same  school.  At  Wittenberg  he  pursued  the  study  of  law, 
as  his  relatives  were  opjDOsed  to  his  entering  the  ministry',  to  which 
he  was  strongly  inclined.  He  lost  no  opportunity  of  doing  good 
by  stimulating  others  to  renewed  earnestness  in  the  Christian  life. 
At  Dresden,  where  he  held  an  office  under  the  Saxon  Government, 
he  conducted  religious  meetings  of  the  kind  which  Spener  had  in- 
stituted. At  length,  in  1737,  he  consecrated  himself  wholly  to  the 
service  of  God  in  connection  with  the  Moravian  settlement,  and 
was  ordained  a  bishop — one  of  their  number,  Nitschmann,  having 
been  previously,  through  his  influence,  ordained  (in  1735)  to  the 
same  office  by  Jablonski,  the  oldest  of  the  Moravian  bishops,  who 
resided  in  Berlin.  Zinzendorf  had  before  been  received  into  the 
Lutheran  ministry.  The  peculiar  fervor  which  characterized  his  re- 
ligious work,  and  certain  particulars  in  his  teaching,  caused  the 
Saxon  Government,  which  was  wedded  to  the  traditional  ways  of 
Lutheranism,  to  exclude  him  from  Saxony  for  about  ten  years 
(173G-1747).  He  prosecuted  his  religious  labors  in  Frankfort, 
journeyed  through  Holland  and  England,  made  a  voyage  to  the 
West  Indies,  and,  in  17'11,  another  voyage  to  America.  New 
branches  of  the  Moravian  body  he  planted  in  the  countries  which 
he  visited.  Not  only  by  word  of  mouth,  but  also  by  numerous 
The  Moravian  Writings,  he  instructed  and  inspii'ed  those  who  were 
organization,  ^iniug  to  attend  to  his  teaching.  His  chief  talent,  how- 
ever, was  that  of  an  administrator.  The  Moravians  wei-e  gener- 
ally gathered  in  towns,  and  owned  the  laud  within  their  Hmits.     In 


164S-1S87.]        EVENTS  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY.  507 

the  local  church,  or  town,  they  were  divided  into  classes  or  "  choirs," 
with  an  elder  or  deaconess  at  the  head  of  each.  Their  ecclesiasti- 
cal affairs  were  regulated  by  a  carefully  devised  system  of  boards 
and  synods.  The  bishops  had  no  diocese  committed  to  them  sev- 
erally, but  collectively  watched  over  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the 
entire  body.  It  was  a  church  within  a  church  that  Zinzendorf 
aimed  to  establish.  It  was  far  from  his  purpose  to  found  a  sect 
antagonistic  to  the  national  churches  in  the  midst  of  which  the 
Moravian  societies  arose.  His  theology,  in  its  main  features,  was 
evangelical  Lutheranism.  But  the  larger  infusion  of  warmth  and 
religious  sentiment  was  offensive  to  the  more  stiff  and  lukewarm 
exj)onents  of  the  current  orthodoxy.  Such  practices  as  the  use 
of  the  lot  to  decide  doubtful  questions  of  importance,  which  he 
adopted,  were  looked  upon  as  superstitious.  Extravagances  of  ex- 
pression, especially  in  Zinzendorf's  hymns,  on  the  believer's  com- 
munion with  Jesus,  and  an  occasional  tendency  to  push  the  Divine 
Father  into  the  background  in  the  contemplations  and  prayers  of 
the  worshipper,  naturally  gave  offence  to  some,  like  the  eminent 
theologian,  Bengel,  who  were  not  chargeable  with  a  want  of  the  true 
si^irit  of  devotion.  With  a  religious  life  remarkable  as 
theMoravi-  Combining  warm  emotion  with  a  quiet  and  serene  type 
of  feeling,  the  community  of  Zinzendorf  connected  a 
missionary  zeal  not  equalled  at  that  time  in  any  other  Protestant 
communion.  Although  few  in  number,  they  sent  their  gospel 
messengers  to  all  quarters  of  the  globe.  At  the  same  time,  they 
were  exceedingly  useful  in  awakening  the  Lutheran  Church  from 
the  lethargy  which  prevailed  in  it,  and  did  much  to  diffuse  a  more 
living  piety.  Their  schools  drew  into  them  large  numbers  who 
were  not  connected  with  the  Moravian  Church  ;  "and,  during  the 
long  and  dreary  period  of  rationalism,  they  afforded  a  sanctuary 
for  the  old  gospel,  with  its  blessed  promises  and  glorious  hopes." 

A  religious  phenomenon  of  the  eighteenth  century,  of  a  quite 
anomalous  character,  was  the  appearance  of  Swedenborgianisra. 

Emanuel  Swedenborg  was  the  son  of  a  Lutheran  bishop,  Jesper 
Swedenborg,  a  highly  cultivated,  upright,  and  religious  man.  The 
Swedenborg.  so^  in  ©arly  childhood  was  deeply  interested  in  religious 
1688-1772.  contemplation.  He  became  a  student  at  the  University 
of  Upsal,  studied  Latin,  Greek,  and  Hebrew,  and  was  a  great  pro- 
ficient in  mathematical  and  jihysical  science.  He  travelled  exten- 
sively. For  thii'ty  years  he  held  important  offices  in  the  College 
of  Mines,  and  was  brought  into  intimate  relations  with  the  king, 
Charles  XH.     He  wrote  not  less  than  seventy-seven  treatises  on 


508  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

scientific  subjects,  which  evinced  an  untiring  industry  coupled 
•with  an  extraordinary  capacity  for  these  investigations.  It  was 
in  174:3  that  he  first  believed  himself  to  have  a  vision  of  Christ, 
and  to  be  brought  into  a  direct  communication  with  angels,  and  an 
immediate  spiritual  intuition  of  the  supernatural  states  of  existence. 
Heaven  and  hell  were  unveiled  to  him.  He  held  actual  converse 
with  the  departed.  This  sort  of  intercourse  and  perceiDtion  went 
on,  as  a  very  frequent  experience,  until  the  close  of  his  life.  The 
followers  of  Swedenborg  regard  it  as  real;  disbelievers  in  the 
claims  which  he  put  forth  think  that  he  was  subject  to  hallucina- 
tion. That  he  was  a  man  of  integrity  as  well  as  of  genius  it  would 
be  wrong  to  doubt.  On  his  death-bed  he  averred  the  reality  of 
the  supernatural  disclosures  made  to  him.  Swedenborg's  system 
is  expounded  in  numerous  publications,  of  which  the  "Arcana 
Coelestia "  is  one  of  the  most  important,  as  well  as  in 
His  tenets.  ^  ^ass  of  mauuscripts  still  unprinted.  The  first  strik- 
ing peculiarity  of  the  system  is  the  connection  of  nature  and 
religion,  of  natural  science  and  religious  doctrine  or  speculation. 
He  considers  the  universe  as  one  whole,  in  which  the  outward 
and  visible  is  the  countei-part  of  the  inward  and  spiritual.  In 
this  he  reminds  us  of  the  Gnostics  and  other  schools  of  theosophy. 
He  dissents  in  many  points  from  the  ordinary  church  theology. 
The  main  features  of  his  system  are  these  :  God  is  infinite,  and  is  in 
his  essence  wisdom  and  love,  but  he  exists  in  a  human,  although, 
of  course,  immaterial  form  ;  so  that  man  is  literally  in  God's  im- 
age. There  is  a  law  of  correspondence,  with  wide  and  varied 
applications.  The  external  world  corresponds  to  man's  nature. 
Man  is  a  microcosm  ;  he  is  imaged  and  prefigured  in  external 
nature.  There  is  a  correspondence  between  the  visible  world  and 
the  world  invisible.  As  to  the  Bible,  most,  but  not  all,  of  the  books 
of  the  Old  Testament,  the  Gospels,  and  the  Apocalypse  contain,  be- 
neath the  literal  sense,  the  word  of  God,  or  an  occult  sense  open 
only  to  spiritual  discernment.  There  is,  in  truth,  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament a  threefold  sense — the  literal ;  the  spiritual,  which  refers  to 
the  kingdom  of  the  Lord  ;  and  the  heavenly,  which  pertains  to  the 
Lord  himself.  The  ci-eation  is  not  from  nothing,  but  is  from  God's 
love  through  the  agency  of  his  wisdom.  There  is  an  approach  to  an 
ideal  theory  of  matter  ;  yet  Swedenborg  keeps  clear  of  pantheism. 
The  fall  of  man  brought  a  loss  of  spiritual  perception,  and  heredi- 
tary evil,  which,  however,  is  not  all  derived  from  our  first  pro- 
genitors. "It  consists  in  willing,  and  thence  thinking,  evil."  The 
Trinity  is  conceived  of  in  a  Sabellian  way  :  there  was  no  Trinity 


1648-1887.]    RELIGION  IN  ENGLAND;  REVIVALS  IN  AMERICA.        509 

before  the  creation.  Jehovah  is  one  person.  Jesus  derived  his 
body  from  Mary.  That  which  is  Divine  in  Christ  is  the  Father, 
the  name  of  God  after  he  has  "assumed  the  Human  ;"  the  Divine 
in  this  connection  with  the  Human  is  the  Son  ;  the  Divine  which 
proceeds  from  him  is  the  Holy  Spirit.  Christ  gained  a  victory 
over  the  powers  of  hell.  The  ordinary  idea  of  an  atonement  by 
penal  substitution  Swedenborg  rejects.  Christ  is  glorified,  and 
through  him,  the  Divine  man,  we  have  the  true  idea  of  God  and 
are  conjoined  by  love  to  him.  Justification  by  faith  alone  is  a 
doctrine  which  Swedenborg  denounces.  The  idea  of  a  physical 
resurrection  is  discarded.  At  death  the  eyes  of  men  are  opened 
to  the  spiritual  world  in  which  they  really  exist  now.  After 
death  they  live  at  first  essentially  as  they  have  lived  here,  and 
in  a  similar  environment.  At  length  they  are  drawn  by  their 
own  affinities  either  to  hell  or  to  heaven.  Angels  are  the  spirits 
of  departed  human  beings. 

Swedenborg  sojourned  for  a  considerable  time,  in  the  course  of 
his  life,  in  England.  There  and  in  Germany,  as  well  as  in  Sweden, 
swedenbor-  ^^  ^^^  followers,  who  United  themselves  in  societies.  In 
giau  societies,  -^ygg  g^  company  of  them  began  public  worship  in  Lon- 
don. Swedenborg  held  that  the  Second  Advent  of  the  Lord  took 
place  in  1757,  when  the  spiritual  world  was  unveiled  to  him.  The 
judgment  took  place  then  ;  for  all  the  New  Testament  predictions 
relative  to  these  events  are  treated  by  him  as  symbolical.  A  new 
heaven  and  a  new  earth,  and  the  New  Jerusalem  foretold  in  the 
Apocalypse,  appeared  in  1771,  when  the  Swedenborgian  Church 
emerged  into  being.  The  adherents  of  Swedenborg,  in  accordance 
with  this  idea,  named  their  organizations  the  "New  Jerusalem 
Church." 


CHAPTER  m. 


RELIGION    IN    ENGLAND    AND    REVIVALS    IN    A5IERICA    IN    THE 
EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY. 

In  the  eighteenth  century,  down  to  the  rise  of  Methodism,  the 
religious  condition  of  England  was  such  as  to  call  imperatively  for 
Eeiigious  a  great  reformation.  The  decline  of  a  living  faith  in  the 
parties  under  ygrities  of  the  gospel  had  not  lessened  the  bitterness  of 

William  111.  o      i 

and  Anne.       ecclesiastical  warfai-e.     As  long  as  William  III.  lived,  the 
Low  Church  party,  which  was  firm  in  its  adherence  to  Episcopacy 


610  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Pebiod  IX. 

and  the  establishment,  but  decided  in  its  sympathy  with  the 
definite  Protestantism  of  the  nonconformists,  was  in  the  ascend- 
ant. The  Whigs,  the  authors  and  supporters  of  the  Eevohition 
whicli  had  placed  William  and  Mary  on  the  throne,  were  disposed 
to  sustain  the  jDrinciples  of  the  Toleration  Act.  But  the  moderate 
or  latitudinarian  Churchmen,  with  the  government  of  William  to 
support  them,  had  not  been  able  to  legalize  the  policy  of  compre- 
hension. Against  it,  in  favor  of  the  establishment,  but  hostile  to  the 
control  of  the  Church  by  the  State,  or  to  the  Ei-astian  theory,  were 
both  branches  of  the  High  Church  party.  The  first  consisted  of 
the  nonjui'ors  and  their  followers,  who  had  been  deprived  of  their 
benefices  for  their  refusal  to  take  the  oaths  of  allegiance  to  the 
successors  of  James  11.  The  second  comprised  those  who,  in  gen- 
eral, sympathized  with  them,  but  who  had,  with  reluctance,  taken 
the  oaths.  Both  sections  prized  the  "  Anglo-Catholic  "  theology, 
disliked  the  nonconformists  personally,  and  looked  down  on  them 
as  schismatics.  Queen  Anne  succeeded  to  the  throne  as  the  succes- 
sor of  her  brother-in-law  in  1702.  Her  preferences  were  on  the 
side  of  the  High  Churchmen  and  of  the  Tories.  While  the  bishops 
were  of  the  opposite  party,  a  majority  of  the  clergy,  and  the  uni- 
versities, were  passionately  averse  to  it.  Attachment  to  the  de- 
throned house  of  Stuart  was  wide-spread,  and  was  a  latent  but 
dangerous  force  which  Whig  statesmen  had  constantly  to  take 
into  account.  The  strength  of  the  High  Church  and  Tory  senti- 
ment was  made  manifest  in  1709,  in  the  case  of  Dr.  Sacheverell,  a 
man  of  weak  character  and  inferior  talents,  but  who  was  raised  for 
a  time  to  the  rank  of  a  hero,  on  account  of  the  condemnation  by 
the  House  of  Lords  of  two  sermons  in  which  he  had  denounced 
the  Toleration  Act  and  advocated  the  doctrine  of  passive  obedi- 
ence. On  the  expiration  of  his  sentence  of  suspension  from 
preaching,  he  received  tokens  of  honor  from  the  House  of  Com- 
mons and  from  the  Queen.  The  reaction  against  dis- 
lawsaprainst  seut  showcd  itsclf  in  more  offensive  and  mischievous 
^ays.  By  the  Test  Act,  passed  in  1673,  all  persons 
who  were  admitted  to  civil  or  military  office  had  been  required  to 
receive  the  Sacrament  according  to  the  forms  of  the  Church  of 
England,  It  was  not  uncommon  for  Nonconformists  to  partake 
of  the  communion  occasionally  with  Episcopalians ;  and,  although 
they  considered  the  law  requiring  it  unjust,  they  were  willing  to 
do  so  when  elected  to  office.  To  cut  off  this  class  from  public 
employments,  in  1711  the  Occasional  Conformity  Bill  was  passed, 
by  which  severe  penalties  were  inflicted  on  those  who  should  thus 


1648-1587.]     RELIGION  IN  ENGLAND  ;   REVIVALS  IN  AMERICA.        511 

receive  the  Sacrament,  but  afterwards,  dui-ing  their  term  of  office, 
attend  a  "  conventicle."  Two  years  later,  the  Schism  Bill  was 
passed,  forbidding  the  exercise  of  the  function  of  schoolmaster  or 
private  teachei",  without  a  declaration  of  conformity  and  a  license 
from  a  bishop.  The  cry  that  the  "  Church  is  in  danger "  pre- 
vented the  repeal  of  these  oppressive  enactments  until  the  follow- 
ing reign.  Even  then  the  Test  and  Corporation  Acts,  which  were 
of  like  tenor,  had  to  be  left  on  the  statute  book,  so  violent  was  the 
opposition  to  their  repeal,  and  so  fearful  were  many  w^ho  wei'e 
favorable  to  it  of  a  schism  among  the  Episcopalians,  or  an  out- 
break of  Jacobite  hostility  to  the  Hanoverian  line.  With  the  reign 
of  George  II.  there  was  an  increase  of  tolerance.  Relief  was  given 
to  dissenters  by  annual  indemnity  acts.  Not  until  1828  w^ere  these 
laws  erased  from  the  statute  book.  Under  George  HI.  the  Church 
was  fully  allied  to  the  king.  A  gradual  relaxation  of  the  penal 
code,  as  it  affected  Roman  Catholics  as  well  as  the  non-conforming 
bodies,  commenced.  It  was,  however,  a  "  halting  and  unsteady  " 
progress,  which  is  thus  sketched  by  Mr.  May,  in  his  "  Constitu- 
tional History  :  "  "  Sometimes  Catholics  received  indulgence  ;  and 
sometimes  a  particular  sect  of  nonconformists.  First  one  griev- 
ance was  redressed,  and  then  another  ;  but  Parliament  continued 
to  shrink  from  the  broad  assertion  of  religious  liberty  as  the  right 
of  British  subjects  and  the  policy  of  the  State.  Toleration  and 
connivance  at  dissent  had  already  succeeded  to  active  persecution  ; 
society  had  outgrown  the  law  ;  but  a  century  of  strife  and  agita- 
tion had  yet  to  pass  before  the  penal  code  was  blotted  out  and 
religious  liberty  established." 

Meantime,  while  the  contests  to  which  we  have  adverted  were 
going  forward,  the  cause  of  practical  religion  was  at  a  low  ebb. 
Low  condi-  Amoug  the  higher  classes,  infidelity  was  the  fashion. 
iorTanV*^^'^  Bishop  Butlcr,  in  the  preface  to  the  "  Analogy,"  remarks 
morals.  j^\yr^i  i^  jjg^^l  «  comc  to  be  taken   for  granted  that  Chris- 

tianity is  not  so  much  as  a  subject  of  inquiry  ;  but  that  it  is  now 
at  length  discovered  to  be  fictitious."  Elsewhere,  in  a  charge 
written  in  1751,  he  affirms  "the  deplorable  distinction"  of  that 
age  to  be  "  an  avowed  scorn  of  religion  in  some  and  a  growing  dis- 
regard of  it  in  the  generality."  Dean  Swift,  who  is  an  example  of 
a  class  of  men  who  could  climb  by  political  influence  to  very  high, 
if  not  the  highest,  stations  in  tbe  Church,  published  in  1709  an  essay 
entitled,  "  Project  for  the  Advancement  of  Religion."  He  says  that 
"  hardly  one  in  a  hundred  among  our  people  of  quality  or  gentry 
appears  to  act  by  any  principle  of  rehgion ;  nor,"  he  adds,  "  is  the 


613  FROM  THE  PEACK  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

case  mucli  better  with  the  vulgar."  His  remedy  for  irreligion  is  for 
persons  in  power  to  make  "  rehgion  the  necessary  step  to  favor  and 
preferment  " — meaning  by  religion  decorous  conduct  and  attend- 
ance at  church  !  Religion,  he  urges,  must  be  made  "to  be  the 
turn  and  fashion  of  the  age."  Walpole  and  many  other  prominent 
leaders  in  political  affairs  were  guilty  of  an  unblushing  immorality 
in  private  life.  Among  the  lower  classes,  lawlessness  and  vice  pre- 
vailed to  an  alaitning  extent  and  with  little  restraint.  A  fair  picture 
of  the  morals  and  manners  of  the  times  may  be  seen  in  the  works  of 
Hogarth,  who  was  a  close  observer  of  the  different  phases  of  social 
life.  The  growth  of  the  large  towns  by  the  progress  of  commerce 
had  been  accompanied  with  no  corresponding  provisions  for  the  re- 
ligious teaching  of  the  people.  There  were  no  new  churches,  and  no 
schools  except  those  founded  by  Edward  VI.  and  Elizabeth.  The 
criminal  class  were  so  bold  that  life  and  property  were  insecure,  and 
the  cruel  severity  of  the  laws,  with  the  multitude  of  executions,  had 
no  effect  in  inspiring  them  with  terror.  The  clergy,  who  for  a  long 
period  were  estranged  from  the  bishops,  were,  with  not  a  few  noble 
exceptions,  ignorant  and  inert.  "  Those  who  have  read  some  few 
books,"  says  Bishop  Burnet,  "yet  never  seem  to  have  read  the  Script- 
ures." The  system  of  pluralities  left  many  of  them  with  the  most 
meagre  support,  and  degi-aded  them  to  a  low  point  in  social  standing. 
The  political  influence  of  the  Church,  it  may  be  remarked,  was  more 
and  more  reduced.  The  clergy  were  no  longer  permitted  to  debate 
in  convocation.  This  was  a  consequence  of  the  "Bangor  contro- 
versy." After  the  lower  house  in  this  clerical  assembly  had  de- 
nounced a  sermon  of  Hoadley,  Bishop  of  Bangor,  which  leaned  de- 
cidedly towards  principles  of  liberty  that  were  regarded  with  favor 
by  nonconformists,  convocation  was  prorogued,  in  1717,  and  from 
that  time  until  1854  transadted  no  business.  The  habit  of  preach- 
ers in  this  period  was  to  dwell  more  on  the  particulars  of  morality 
than  on  the  distinctive  doctrines  of  the  gospel.  The  tone  of  the 
pulpit  was  studiously  calm  and  moderate.  A  conventional  decorum 
presided  over  the  style  and  delivery  of  sermons.  Arianism  and 
even  Socinianism  spread  widely  among  the  clergy  within  and  with- 
out the  Established  Church.  A  loose  theory  of  subscription  was 
adopted  which  opened  a  way  for  those  who  held  views  of  this  char- 
acter to  accept  the  Thirty-nine  Articles,  which  were  imposed  not 
only  on  the  clergy,  but  on  all  members  of  the  universities.  The 
confutations  of  deism  frequently  dwelt  on  the  essential  unity  of 
Christian  doctrine  with  the  fundamental  principles  of  natural  theol- 
ogy, and  passed  lightly  over  the  characteristic  f  eatm-es  of  revelation. 


164S-18S7.]    RELIGION  IN  ENGLAND ;  REVIVALS  IN  AMERICA.        613 

It  must  not  be  forgotten,  to  be  sure,  that  works  in  defence  of  Chris- 
tianity were  written  by  Berkelej^  Butler,  Lardner,  and  other  writers 
of  extraordinary  talents  and  exemplary  piety.  Yet  of  the  English 
church  of  the  last  century,  it  has  been  said  with  truth  that  "its 
leading  characteristic  was  eminent  respectability  ;  its  preaching  had 
the  mild  accent  of  that  apologetic  period  when,  as  Johnson  put  it, 
"  the  apostles  were  tried  regularly  once  a  week  on  charge  of  commit- 
ting forgery,"  At  the  universities,  formalism  and  disbelief  united 
in  creating  an  atmosphere  in  which  manifestations  of  devoutnesa 
were  a  theme  of  derision.  Gibbon,  who  was  enrolled  as  a  student 
at  Magdalen  College  in  1752,  has  presented  in  his  autobiography  a 
vivid  picture  of  the  indolence,  the  convivial  habits,  and  the  cold  and 
unspiritual  tone  which  prevailed  at  that  seat  of  learning,  "In 
heart,  indeed,  England  remained  religious."  Keligion  was  deeply 
intrenched  in  the  middle  class  of  society.  The  Puritan  spirit  had 
not  died  out.  In  many  a  parish  church,  and  in  many  a  dissenting 
congregation,  the  gospel  was  faithfully  preached  and  practically  ac- 
cepted. Yet  what  was  needed  was  a  new  breath  of  life,  a  more 
kindling  proclamation  of  the  old  truth,  which  might  convince  the 
understanding  and  mould  the  conduct  of  many,  but  no  longer 
deeply  stirred  the  emotions  or  exerted  a  renovating  power  in  the 
bosom  of  society. 

If  religion  in  England  in  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century 
wore  a  prosaic  aspect,  there  were  not  wanting  symptoms  of  a  spir- 
itual reaction.  There  were  divines  who  were  disposed  to  give  to 
sensibility  and  emotion  an  important  part  in  practical  religion. 
Such  were  Doddridge  and  Watts  among  dissenters,  and,  in  the 
Established  Church,  the  devout  Bishop  Thomas  Wilson,  the  author 
of  "  Sacra  Privata,"  and  other  devotional  books.  The  writer  who, 
above  all  others,  led  to  a  spiritual  awftkening  of  the  character  de- 
Law,  scribed  was  William  Law.     Dr.  Johnson  said  that  the 

1GS6-1761,  £j,g^  occasion  of  his  "thinking  in  earnest  on  religion" 
was  the  reading  at  Oxford  of  Law's  "  Serious  Call  to  a  Holy  and 
Devoted  Life,"  and  he  calls  it  "  the  finest  piece  of  hortatory  theology 
in  any  language,"  Gibbon  says  of  the  author,  who  was  a  tutor  in 
his  father's  house,  that  "  if  he  finds  a  spark  of  piety  in  his  reader's 
mind,  he  will  soon  kindle  it  to  a  flame,"  and  that  "  he  believed  all 
he  professed  and  practised  all  he  enjoined,"  John  Wesley  allowed 
that  the  "  Serious  Call,"  and  the  "Christian  Perfection,"  another 
work  by  Law,  sowed  the  seed  of  Methodism.  Law  was  a  nonjuring 
divine,  not  consenting  to  take  the  required  oaths  at  the  accession 
of  George  I  In  the  early  part  of  his  career  as  an  author,  he  wrote 
33 


514  PROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

on  the  High  Church  side  against  Hoadley.  He  was  an  acute  an- 
tagonist of  deism,  and  maintained  the  absolute  necessity  and  the 
sufficiency  of  the  evidence  from  miracles  for  the  Christian  faith. 
But  his  mystical  tendencies,  which  were  fostered  by  Jacob  Bohme, 
of  whom  he  was  an  admiring  student,  led  to  a  change  in  his  way  of 
thinking.  Insight,  the  illumination  of  the  spirit,  the  new  life  itself, 
which  divine  grace  plants  in  the  soul,  he  now  held  to  be  the  one  ade- 
quate verification  of  the  gospel.  To  justification  he  gave  a  subjec- 
tive, personal  character,  in  contrast  with  the  forensic  view.  Christ, 
he  taught,  did  not  suffer  "  to  quiet  an  angry  Deity  ;  "  he  took  ujaon 
him  the  state  of  our  fallen  nature,  to  overcome  all  the  evils  which 
the  fall  had  entailed  ;  from  him  we  receive  "  a  birth,  a  nature,  a 
power  to  become  the  sons  of  God."  None  will  be  finally  lost  unless 
infinite  love  shall  find  them  incorrigible.  The  departure  of  Law 
from  the  ordinary  formulas  of  doctrine  on  the  topics  just  adverted 
to,  and  still  more  the  adoption  from  Buhme,  along  with  deep  truth, 
of  various  fantastic  speculations,  raised  up  opponents.  But  the  ele- 
vated character  and  substantial  meiit  of  his  principal  treatises  have 
been  discerned  by  the  most  competent  judges  of  differing  schools 
of  thought. 

•    Law  carried  to  the  farthest  point  the  antipathy  which  was  once 

more  reviving  among  good  men  against  the  stage.     The  Puritans 

were  inimical  to  the  theatre,  especially  after  the  morality 

The  sta^e.  '       i.  j  >i 

of  the  drama  began  to  sink,  in  the  closing  days  of  Ehz- 
abeth.  The  prohibition  of  plays  attended  the  forbidding  of  bear- 
baiting,  cock-fights,  and  horse-races.  In  1642  Parliament  made 
stage-plays  unlawful,  as  not  compatible  with  the  distracted  and 
distressed  state  of  England,  and  as  "  too  commonly  expressing  las- 
civious mirth  and  levity."  After  the  Kestoration,  partly  in  conse- 
quence of  the  vain  attempt  under  the  Commonwealth  to  legislate 
the  people  into  sanctity,  the  drama  came  back,  and  in  the  hands  of 
comic  writers  assumed  a  shameless  indecency.  The  theatre,  as  it 
flourished  under  the  auspices  of  such  authors  as  Wycherley  and 
Congreve,  was  assailed  in  a  most  vigorous  and  effective  publication 
of  Jeremy  Collier.  His  "  Short  View  of  the  Immorality  and  Pro- 
faneness  of  the  English  Stage  "  was  printed  in  1698.  A  divine  of 
great  learning,  a  Jacobite  and  nonjuror,  he  could  not  be  charged 
with  Puritan  fanaticism.  His  book  not  only  provoked  a  great  com- 
motion, but  had  a  highly  beneficial  result.  He  easily  demolished 
the  answer  of  Congreve,  and  he  touched  the  conscience  of  Dryden. 
Law's  principles  were  more  ascetic,  and  hence  his  invectives  against 
the  stage  are  more  indiscriminate  than  the  trenchant  indictment 


1648-1887.]    RELIGION  IN  ENGLAND  ;  REVIVALS  IN  AMERICA.        515 

of  Collier.  On  this  whole  subject,  the  vivacious  essay  of  Charles 
Kingsley — "Plays  versus  Puritans" — exposes  many  current  mis- 
conceptions. 

Methodism  arose  within  the  borders  of  the  Episcopal  Church. 
By  the  force  of  circumstances,  and  contrary  to  the  original  inten- 
john  Wesley  *^°^  ^^^^  preference  of  its  founders,  it  drifted  into  a 
cStes'^  ^^^°'  separate  organization.  The  principal  originators  of  the 
great  religious  revival  of  which  Methodism  was  the  oif- 
spring,  were  John  Wesley  and  George  Whitefield  ;  but  to  the  in- 
domitable will  and  organizing  genius,  joined  with  the  religious 
fervor,  of  Wesley,  its  existence  as  a  distinct  and  influential  body 
is  chiefly  due.  His  life  extended  over  nearly  the  whole  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  for  he  was  born  in  1703  and  died  in  1791.  He 
was  the  second  of  three  sons  of  the  rector  of  Epworth.  The 
energy  of  his  mother  and  her  systematic  training  of  a  numei'ous 
family  had  their  ejffect  in  developing  and  shaping  the  capacities  of 
the  future  apostle  and  ruling  spirit  of  the  Methodist  reformation. 
The  three  brothers  wei-e  students  at  Christ  Church  College  at  Ox- 
ford, John  having  been  first  sent  to  the  Charter  House  School. 
After  taking  his  degree  he  was  ordained  deacon,  and  elected  a 
fellow  of  Lincoln  College.  For  two  years  he  assisted  his  father 
as  curate.  He  was  ordained  priest  in  1728,  soon  after  returned 
to  Oxford,  and  became  tutor  at  Lincoln.  There  he  organized  a 
small  society  of  young  men  for  the  cultivation  of  personal  piety 
and  for  doing  good.  One  of  them  was  his  j^ounger  brother,  Charles 
Wesley.  Another  was  Whitefield,  who  was  younger  than  either  of 
them,  the  son  of  an  innkeeper  at  Gloucester.  He  entered  Pem- 
broke College  in  1732  as  a  servitor,  where  he  found  that  his  ac- 
quaintance with  a  public-house  was  of  use  to  him  in  the  attend- 
ance by  which,  being  a  penniless  student,  he  earned  his  living. 
This  group  of  young  men  read  such  writings  as  the  '*  Imitation  of 
Christ "  by  Thomas  a  Kempis,  Law's  "  Serious  Call,"  and  Taylor's 
"Holy  Living  and  Dying."  Their  devoutness  was  strongly  tinged 
with  asceticism.  One  of  their  rules  required  that  they  should  fre- 
quently "interrogate  themselves  whether  they  have  been  simple  and 
recollected ;  whether  they  have  prayed  with  fervor,  Monday,  Wednes- 
day, Friday,  and  on  Saturday  noon  ;  if  they  have  used  a  collect  at 
nine,  twelve,  and  three  o'clock  ;  duly  meditated  on  Sunday,  from 
three  to  four,  on  Thomas  a  Kempis  ;  or  mused  on  Wednesday  and 
Friday,  from  twelve  to  one,  on  the  passion."  They  frequently  par- 
took of  the  communion.  They  visited  also  almshouses  and  prisons, 
and  were  diligent  in  efforts  to  instruct  and  console  the  suffering. 


gie  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Pkkiod  IX. 

For  the  reason  that  they  lived  by  rule,  the  term  "  Methodist "  was 
attached  to  them  as  a  nickname  by  their  fellow-students.  In  1735 
John  Wesley,  accompanied  by  his  brother  Charles,  went  out  as  a 
missionary  to  Georgia.  A  number  of  Moravians  were  on  board, 
and  among  them  one  of  their  noted  preachers,  Spangenberg,  after- 
wards a  bishop.  Wesley — whose  ascetic  tendency  led  him  to  take 
on  himself  unnecessary  discomforts  on  the  voyage — was  struck 
with  the  serenity  of  these  men  in  the  midst  of  a  raging  tempest, 
when  the  rest  of  the  passengers  Avere  agitated  with  fear.  On 
landing  he  consulted  Spangenberg  concerning  the  religious  work 
which  he  was  to  undertake  in  connection  with  Oglethorpe's  colony. 
"My  brother,"  said  the  Moravian  pastor,  "I  must  ask  you  one  or 
two  questions.  Have  you  the  witness  within  yourself  ?  Does  the 
spirit  of  God  bear  witness  with  your  spirit  that  you  are  a  child  of 
God?  "  Wesley  was  disturbed  by  these  inquiries,  and  smitten  with 
inward  misgivings.  His  not  very  judicious  course  in  a  matter  of 
church  discipline,  where  there  was  room  for  a  charge  against  him 
of  being  influenced  by  personal  resentment,  expedited  his  return  to 
England,  after  a  two  years'  absence.  On  the  voyage  home  he  was 
once  more  afflicted  on  discovering  in  a  storm  that  he  was  not  free 
from  the  fear  of  death.  Arrived  in  England,  he  sought  the  society 
of  the  Moravians,  and  received  much  spiritual  aid  from  Peter  Boh- 
ler,  a  preacher  of  that  body  in  London.  AU  his  life  Wesley  had 
been,  as  he  truthfully  avows,  in  quest  of  "holiness  ;"  but  he  had 
failed  to  attain  to  peace  of  mind.  His  brother  Charles  anticipated 
him  by  a  few  days  in  this  step  of  spiritual  progress.  But  on  the 
afternoon  of  May  24,  1738,  the  older  brother  received  comfort 
from  hearing  an  anthem  in  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  and  in  the  evening, 
at  a  meeting  of  a  Moravian  society,  he  listened  to  the  reading  of  the 
preface  of  Luther's  Commentary  on  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans. 
The  words  of  Luther  on  a  free  salvation  awakened  within 

Turning-point  ,  .  .      ,.  .  ,■,,■,-• 

in  Wesley's  him  a  new  feeling — a  joyous  assurance  that  his  sins 
roigioua  e.  ^^^^  ^  forgiven.  He  looked  upon  himself  as  haAdng 
been  up  to  this  time  in  the  dark  on  the  subject  of  justification. 
He  connected  himself  with  the  Moravians,  and  made  a  visit  of  sev- 
eral weeks'  duration  at  Herrnhut.  Coming  back  to  London,  he  be- 
gan to  preach  constantly  in  the  city  and  in  the  neighborhood,  not 
only  in  the  chui'ches  but  also  in  almshouses  and  prisons.  The  un- 
wonted fire  which  he  infused  into  his  sermons,  the  directness  of  his 
appeals  to  the  unreconciled,  his  call  for  instantaneous  conversion, 
and  his  presentation  of  the  all-sufficient  power  of  faith  as  the 
ground  of  escape  from  guilt  and  fear,  and  the  antidote  of  sin,  ex- 


1648-1887.]     RELIGION  IN  ENGLAND ;  REVIVALS  IN  AMERICA.        517 

cited  distrust  and  opposition  among  the  preachers  of  the  estab- 
lishment.    Whitefield's  experience,  in  its  essential  char- 
fieid  preach-    acter,  was  not  unlike  that  of  Wesley.     In  his  inward 
"^^'  struggles  there  had  come  a  moment  when  he  dared  to 

trust  to  the  mercy  of  God,  and  found  on  a  sudden  that  the  burden 
which  had  oppressed  him  was  gone.  He  aimed  to  reproduce  in 
others  a  like  experience.  The  same  year  that  Wesley  learned  from 
Luther  the  way  of  peace,  Whitefield  began  to  preach  in  the  open 
air  at  Kingswood,  near  Bristol.  He  commenced  the  work  of  field- 
preaching  among  the  half-savage  colliers,  to  whom  no  one  had  tak- 
en pains  to  proclaim  the  gospel.  He  began  with  small  assemblies, 
but  soon  all  classes  flocked  to  the  hiU-sides  where  one  of  the  most 
persuasive  and  moving  orators  that  ever  spoke  to  an  audience 
stirred  all  hearts  with  the  pathos  of  his  discourses.  "The  trees 
and  hedges  were  crowded  with  humble  listeners,  and  the  fields 
were  darkened  by  a  compact  mass.  The  voice  of  the  great  preacher 
pealed  with  a  thrilling  power  to  the  very  outskirts  of  that  mighty 
throng."  "  Soon  tears  might  be  seen  forming  white  gutters  down 
cheeks  blackened  from  the  coal  mine.  Then  sobs  and  groans  told 
how  hard  hearts  were  melting  at  his  words.  A  fire  was  kindled 
among  the  outcasts  of  Kingswood  which  burnt  long  and  fiercely, 
and  was  destined  in  a  few  years  to  overspread  the  land."  John 
Wesley's  native  love  of  "decency  and  order  "  was  at  first  shocked 
at  these  experiments  of  preaching  outside  the  walls  of  churches. 
This  prejudice  did  not  long  continue  ;  he  joined  Whitefield  at 
Bristol,  and  began  himself  to  preach  to  vast  assemblies  of  attentive 
and  excited  listeners.  He  quickly  commenced  to  organize  the  con- 
verts who  were  made  by  the  preaching.  Those  who  attached  them- 
selves to  the  new  preachers  were  combined  in  societies.  There  was 
nothing  at  all  novel  in  this  proceeding.  Societies  for  prayer  and 
religious  improvement  had  previously  existed  in  various  places  in 
connection  with  the  Church  of  England.  These  new  organizations 
were  of  the  same  kind,  and  were  meant  to  be  simply  auxiliary  to 
the  Church.  The  Moravian  communities  suggested  to  Wesley  sev- 
eral of  the  leading  features  in  his  system  of  order  and  discipline. 
The  members  of  the  societies  were  divided  into  bands,  or  classes, 
for  mutual  oversight  and  spiritual  quickening,  under  the  presi- 
dency of  leaders.  Wesley,  however,  appointed  lay  assistants,  and 
at  length  gave  them  permission  to  hold  preaching  services.  This 
was  another  important  measure.  These  preachers  multiplied,  and 
the  country  was  at  length  divided  into  "  circuits,"  in  order  that  the 
population  might  all  be  reached.     The  "Foundry"  in  London  was 


QIQ  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

opened  as  a  preaching-place,  and  the  number  of  preaching  houses 
rapidly  increased.  Then  the  Methodists  combined  into  a  definite 
oro-anization  which  was  called  "  The  United  Society,"  a  name  copied 
from  the  designation  of  the  Moravians.  From  them,  in  1740,  Wes- 
ley separated  altogether,  in  consequence  of  a  mutual  antipathy 
which  gradually  arose.  He  complained  of  them  for  alleged  Anti- 
nomian  tendencies  and  some  other  singularities  of  doctrine,  and 
for  certain  offensive  peculiarities  of  custom  and  rite.  In  reality,  the 
Moravian  method  of  waiting  in  "stillness  "  for  the  grace  of  assur- 
ance, and  the  type  of  sentiment,  the  sort  of  quietism,  which  they 
cherished,  was  repugnant  to  the  more  aggressive  and  enthusiastic 
temper  of  Methodism.  Wesley  turned  his  back  on  them, 
become  a  sep-  as  he  had  previously  repudiated  Law  and  his  earlier 
arate  body,  g^i^gg  jt  -was  uo  part  of  Wesley 's  design  to  build  up  a 
sect,  or  to  break  in  any  way  the  bond  of  connection  with  the  Church 
of  England.  With  all  sincerity,  to  the  end  of  his  life,  he  abjured 
such  an  intention.  Not  many  months  before  his  death,  he  said  :  "  I 
declare  once  more  that  I  live  and  die  a  member  of  the  Church  of 
England,  and  that  none  who  regard  my  advice  will  ever  separate 
fi'om  it."  This  is  but  one  of  numerous  declarations  of  the  same 
purport.  Charles  Wesley  was  even  more  resolute  in  holding  this 
position.  But  John  Wesley,  much  to  the  disgust  of  his  brother, 
felt  impelled  to  take  a  course  which  legally  and  actually  involved 
separation.  He  became  convinced  that  presbyter  and  bishop  are 
of  the  same  order,  and  that  he  had  as  good  a  right  to  ordain  as  to 
administer  the  sacrament.  He  ordained  Coke,  and  authorized  him 
to  ordain  Asbui-y,  as  superintendents  or  bishops  for  the  Methodists 
in  America.  He  ordained  preachers  also  for  service  in  Scotland 
and  in  other  foreign  places.  He  was  ultimately  obliged,  moreover, 
to  register  his  chapels  in  order  to  protect  them,  according  to  the 
provisions  of  the  Act  of  Toleration.  He  gave  them,  by  a  deed  of 
trust,  into  the  charge  of  one  hundi'ed  preachers.  He  thereby 
conferred  on  the  Methodist  body  a  separate  legal  status.  To  the 
last  he  refused  to  allow  the  preachers  whom  he  commissioned,  to 
administer  the  sacraments  in  England  ;  but  this  right  was  granted 
to  them  by  the  Methodist  Conference  in  1793.  Thus  the  instru- 
mentalities which  had  at  first  been  created  as  ancillary  and  sup- 
plemental to  the  Church  of  England,  resulted  in  giving  being  to  a 
distinct  and  compact  ecclesiastical  body. 

The  most  saintly  of  all  the  coadjutors  of  Wesley  was  Fletcher, 
of  Madeley.  Born  and  educated  in  Switzerland,  he  went  to  Eng- 
land in  his  youth,  and  in  1755  took  orders  in  the  Church.     He  had 


1648-1887.]    RELIGION  IN  ENGLAND  ;  REVIVALS  IN  AMERICA.        619 

previously  joined  the  Methodist  society.  He  chose  the  parish  of 
John  Fletcher,  Madelsy  in  preference  to  a  place  where  there  was  less  labor 
1729-1TS5.  j^jj(j  j^  larger  stipend.  There  he  devoted  himself  to  preach- 
ing and  to  pastoral  work  with  an  ardor  and  self-denial  which  have 
rarely  been  equalled.  The  almost  angelic  excellence  of  his  charac- 
ter impressed  itself  on  all  who  met  him.  Southey  writes  of  him  : 
"  No  age  or  country  has  ever  produced  a  man  of  more  fervent  piety 
or  more  perfect  charity  ;  no  church  has  ever  possessed  a  more  apos- 
tolic minister."  After  his  death,  Wesley  himself  said  of  him  :  "I 
was  intimately  aquainted  with  him  for  abovit  thirty  years  ;  I  con- 
versed with  him,  morning,  noon,  and  night,  without  the  least  re- 
serve, during  a  journey  of  many  hundred  miles  ;  and  in  all  that 
time,  I  never  heard  him  speak  one  improper  word,  nor  saw  him  do 
an  improper  action,"  "So  unblamable  a  character,  in  every  re- 
spect, I  have  not  found  either  in  Europe  or  America  ;  and  I  scarce 
expect  to  find  such  another  on  this  side  of  eternity."  Among  the 
last  words  that  Fletcher  uttered  was  the  fervent  exclamation,  "  God 
is  love  ! "  He  was  in  full  sympathy  with  Wesley  in  theological 
opinion.  His  "  Checks  to  Antinomianism  "  is  still  a  classical  work 
in  the  Methodist  body. 

The  names  of  Wesley  and  Whitefield  will  be  forever  honorably 
connected  with  the  reformation  in  which  they  took  the  leading 
Wesley's  doc-  P^rt.  Tlicir  friendship,  with  a  brief  partial  interruption, 
trines.  Continued  as  long  as  Whitefield  lived.     But  after  White- 

field's  return,  in  1741,  from  a  second  visit  to  America,  where  he 
had  been  confirmed  by  Edwards  in  his  Calvinistic  opinions,  the 
doctrinal  differences  between  them  made  their  paths  diverge.  The 
career  of  each  was  thenceforward  distinct  from  that  of  the  other. 
Wesley  was  an  Arminian  in  his  theology.  The  emphasis  which  he 
laid  on  the  need  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  the  fervent  zeal  which  per- 
vaded the  entire  Wesleyan  movement,  created  the  widest  disparity 
between  Methodist  Arminianism,  as  a  practical  system,  and  the 
old  Arminianism  of  Holland  and  England.  The  Wesleyan  faith 
was  Arminianism  on  fire.  But  perhaps  no  man  ever  inveighed 
more  vehemently  against  the  Calvinistic  tenet  of  election  than  John 
Wesley.  There  was  another  point  in  Wesley's  teaching  which  ex- 
cited much  displeasure.  This  was  his  doctrine  of  Christian  perfec- 
tion, which  he  held  to  be  attainable,  and  that  instantaneously,  by 
the  believer  in  this  life.  Faith  is  the  source  of  comj^lete  sanctifi- 
cation  as  well  as  of  complete  forgiveness.  By  perfection  Wesley  did 
not  mean  such  an  absolute  legal  purity  as  dispenses  with  the  need 
of  praying  daily  for  the  pardon  of  trespasses  and  with  the  need  of 


g20  FROM  THE  PEACE  OP  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX, 

«'  atoning  blood  "  for  continued  "  defects  and  omissions  ;  "  but  he 
meant  an  uninterrupted  reign  in  the  heart  of  love  to  God  and  man. 
The  Wesleyan  preaching  made  everything  turn  on  the  acceptance 
or  rejection  of  Christ  as  a  Saviour,  Its  doctrine  of  assurance  of 
hope  as  the  pi-ivelege  of  all,  and  of  complete  deliverance  from  sin, 
was  embraced  in  its  announcement  of  a  free,  complete  salvation 
held  out  to  every  transgressor.  Whatever  may  be  thought  of  this 
interpretation  of  the  gospel,  the  Methodist  preacher  was  always 
the  herald  of  a  hopeful  and  inspiring  message. 

Lady  Huntingdon,  who  was  possessed  of  wealth  and  social  iuflu- 
whitcfieidand  Giice,  bccame  the  patroness  of  that  branch  of  the  move- 
his preaching.  ^^^^^  ^f  which  Whiteficld  was  the  head.  "The  Tab- 
ernacle "  was  erected,  as  a  place  for  preaching,  not  far  from  "  the 
Foundry."  She  built  a  chapel  at  Bath,  and  other  chapels  in  differ- 
ent parts  of  Great  Britain.  She  established  a  college  for  the  edu- 
cation of  preachers  at  Trevecca.  In  "Lady  Huntingdon's  Connec- 
tion," as  the  chapels  under  her  charge  were  called,  the  liturgy  was 
still  used.  Strongly  indisposed  to  separate  them  in  any  way  from 
the  Established  Church,  she  was  compelled  to  register  them  as 
dissenting  places  of  worship,  in  order  to  hold  the  property.  Her 
personal  efforts  were  mainly  directed  to  the  conversion  of  people  of 
rank.  On  some  an  impression  was  produced  ;  others  were  shocked 
at  the  plain  teaching  of  the  preachers.  The  Duchess  of  Bucking- 
ham, after  attending  the  chapel  at  Bath,  wrote  :  "It  is  monstrous 
to  be  told  you  have  a  heart  as  sinful  as  the  common  wretches  that 
craAvl  on  the  earth.  This  is  highly  offensive  and  insulting ;  and 
I  cannot  but  wonder  that  your  ladyship  should  relish  any  senti- 
ments so  much  at  variance  with  high  rank  and  good  breeding,"  A 
considerable  portion  of  the  Whitefield  Methodists  were  eventually 
absorbed  in  the  Independent  body.  The  "Welsh  Calvinistic 
Methodists  "  embrace  many  communicants.  Whitefield's  preach- 
ing impressed  all  minds.  It  moved  Benjamin  Franklin,  a  pattern 
of  coolness  and  prudence,  to  empty  his  pockets  of  the  coin  which 
they  contained,  for  the  benefit  of  the  orphan  house  in  Georgia, 
although  he  had  not  approved  of  the  object  for  which  the  collec- 
tion was  taken.  It  was  admired  by  a  cold-blooded  philosopher  like 
Hume,  and  equally  by  men  of  the  world,  such  as  Bolingbroke  and 
Chesterfield.  Jonathan  Edwards,  as  he  listened  to  him,  wept  through 
the  entire  sermon.  Thirteen  times  Whitefield  crossed  the  Atlan- 
tic. He  finally  ended  his  days  at  Newburyport.  On  the  evening 
before  his  death,  from  the  stairs  which  led  \o  his  bed-chamber,  to 
a  throng  which  had  come  to  the  door  of  the  house,  out  of  a  desire 


1648-1887.]    RELIGION  IN  ENGLAND ;  REVIVALS  IN  AMERICA.        521 

to  hear  him,  he  preached  until  the  wick  of  the  candle  which  he 
held  in  his  hand  burned  out. 

The  Methodist  preachers  found  little  favor  with  the  dignitaries 
of  the  establishment  or  with  the  majority  of  the  clergy.     They  had 

to  choose  between  preaching  in  halls,  barns,  or  in  the 
preaching  and  Open  air,  and  remaining  silent.     John  Wesley,  being 

denied  admission  to  the  pulpit  at  Epworth,  preached  at 
sunset  every  day,  during  a  week,  in  the  church-yard,  standing  on 
his  father's  tomb.  His  preaching  frequently  excited  ungovern- 
able emotion  in  the  hearts  of  many  of  his  hearers.  There  were 
screams,  paroxysms  of  agony,  and  outcries  and  contortions  of  body, 
sometimes  not  unlike  the  phenomena  recorded  of  demoniacs  in 
the  gospels.  Such  demonstrations  were  displeasing  to  his  brother 
Charles  and  to  Whitefield.  They  are  such  as  have  frequently  at- 
tended earnest  and  impassioned  preaching  among  rude  and  un- 
educated people.  It  was  from  this  class,  not  exclusively  but 
mainly,  that  the  converts  to  Methodism  in  its  early  days  were 
made.  There  was  not  a  little  which  might  naturally  provoke  ad- 
verse criticism.  The  custom  of  Wesley  and  other  leaders  to  resort 
to  the  lot,  or  to  open  the  Bible  at  random  for  a  text,  in  order 
thereby  to  determine  an  unsettled  question  of  duty,  was  con- 
demned as  a  superstition.  The  tendency  to  be  satisfied  with  no 
proofs  of  piety  which  did  not  involve  a  vivid  consciousness  of  a 
change  of  heart  at  some  definite  moment,  was  regarded  by  many 
sober-minded  Christians  with  disfavor.  The  censorious  spirit  in 
which  those  whose  temperament  prevented  them  from  being  kin- 
dled to  fervor  were  sometimes  judged,  was  not  in  accord  with 
charity.  In  short,  Methodism  was  a  great  outburst  of  religious  feel- 
ing. As  might  be  expected  at  such  an  epoch,  evil  was  mingled  with 
good.  The  merits  and  benefits  of  the  movement  far  outweighed  the 
attendant  evils  and  errors.  This  fact  is  attested  by  the  reformation 
of  morals  and  the  lessening  of  crime  which  everywhere  followed  in 
the  steps  of  the  Methodist  preachers.  It  would  be  sti-ange  if  this 
great  quickening  of  spiritual  life  had  found  no  expression  in  song. 
The  poet  of  Methodism  was  Charles  Wesley.  The  remarkable 
merit  of  his  hymns  is  indicated  by  the  welcome  accorded  to  them  by 
religious  bodies  with  theological  tenets  at  variance  with  his  own. 
Of  the  two  leaders,  Whitefield  was  more  amiable  and  winning 

in  his  natural  temper,  and  had  no  equal  in  pathetic 
Whitefield  oratory.  Neither  in  learning  nor  in  fertility  of  thought 
compared.  ^^.^  ^^  ^.^^  above  the  common  level.  We  look  in  vain 
in  his  sermons  for  any  marks  of  originality.     The   deference 


g22  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

which  he  paid  to  moods  and  impulses  bordered  on  puerility.  John 
Wesley  was  a  trained  man,  possessed  of  scholarly  acquirements. 
He  was  more  of  a  logician  than  a  philosopher,  but  the  combination 
in  him  of  qualities,  moral  and  intellectual,  entitle  him  to  a  dis- 
tino'uished  rank  among  religious  founders.  He  kept  before  him 
certain  definite  objects  of  endeavor,  and  advanced  with  a  clear 
glance,  a  dauntless  spirit,  and  an  unfaltering  step  to  the  realization 
of  them. 

The  results  of  Wesley's  work  were  greater  in  the  last  ten  years 
of  his  life  than  in  the  fifty  years  previous.  When  the  conference 
Growth  of  ^^^^  ^^  1790  there  were  115  circuits  in  the  United  King- 
Methodisim.  ^jom,  294  itinerant  j^reachers,  and  71,568  members. 
The  aggregate  number  of  circuits  in  the  different  countries  was 
240  ;  of  preachers,  541  ;  of  members,  134,549.  There  were  19 
missionaries  in  foreign  parts.  Of  the  Conference  of  preachers, 
Wesley,  with  his  brother  Charles,  had  been  the  sole  director.  He 
had  established,  however,  the  custom  of  taking  counsel  with  them, 
so  that,  after  his  death,  they  were  prepared  to  become  a  self- 
governing  body.  In  view  of  the  effects  of  his  labors,  as  seen  in  so 
many  lands,  he  could  utter,  without  boasting,  the  memorable 
words  :  "My  parish  is  the  world." 

If  Whitefield  was  not  the  founder  of  the  evangelical  school  in 
the  Established  Church,  he  did  very  much  to  develop  it  and  pro- 
mote its  growth.  This  movement  has  been  described  as  the 
revival  of  Puritanism  in  the  Church  of  England.  Among  the 
preachers  and  writers  who  are  identified  with  it  are  William  Eo- 
maine  (1714-1795),  who  was  stricter  in  his  Calvinism  than  most 
of  them  ;  Henry  Venn  (1724-1797),  who,  like  Komaine,  was  at- 
tached to  Lady  Huntingdon's  Connection,  until  her  act  of  "  seces- 
sion "  or  separation,  in  1781,  and  who  wrote  the  "  Complete  Duty 
of  Man,"  a  sincere  and  vigorous  work  on  practical  piety  ;  John 
Newton  (1725-1807),  the  pastor  of  Olney,  whose  own  experience 
of  rescue  from  a  life  of  extreme  depravity  qualified  him  to  give 
counsel  to  all  who  were  afflicted  with  remorse  ;  Cowper,  the  poet 
(1731-1800),  whose  morbid  spirit  was  not  darkened,  but  was 
helped  and  comforted  by  evangelical  religion,  and  by  the  sym- 
pathy of  Newton  ;  Thomas  Scott  (1747-1821),  the  successor  of 
Newton  at  Olney,  and  the  author  of  "The  Force  of  Truth  "  and  of 
the  "  Commentary  on  the  Bible,"  both  of  which  were  widely  popu- 
lar, and  the  first  of  which  embraces  an  account  of  the  writer's 
own  spiritual  experience  ;  Joseph  Milner  (1744-1797),  the  church 
historian    of    the   evangelical    school,   who    composed  his  work 


1&48-1887.]     RELIGION  IN  ENGLAND  ;   REVIVALS  IjST  AMERICA.         523 

mainly  for  the  purpose  of  describing  what  good  had  been  effected 
by  Christianity,  in  order  that  his  readers  might  be  edified  by  the 
narrative.  As  a  popular  writer,  Hannah  More  (1745-1833)  had  a 
large  measure  of  esteem.  As  the  eighteenth  century  approached 
its  end,  the  Evangelicals  became  a  numerous  and  compact  body 
in  the  English  Church.  A  powerful  influence  in  behalf  of  their 
cause  was  exerted  by  the  orator  and  statesman,  William  Wilber- 
force.  In  addition  to  the  effect  of  his  example  and  of  his  philan- 
thropic labors  in  Parliament,  he  published,  in  1797,  "  A  Practical 
View  of  the  Prevailing  Eeligious  System  in  the  Higher  and 
Middle  Classes  in  this  Country,  contrasted  with  Pteal  Christianity." 
The  effect  of  this  work  in  England  and  America  was  great,  and  it 
was  translated  into  several  languages. 

The  nonconforming  bodies,  as  well  as  the  Church  of  England, 
felt  the  awakening  breath  of  the  Methodist  revival.  In  the  first 
Religion  in  l^^lf  of  the  ccntury  each  of  the  thx-ee  principal  dissent- 
form"''  ^^S  denominations,  the  Presbyterians,  the  Independents, 
bodies.  g^^(j  ii^Q  Baptists — of  which  the  two  former  were  by  far 

the  most  numerous — had  in  the  ranks  of  their  ministry  men  of  de- 
served distinction.  Calamy  (1671-1732)  was  a  Presbyterian,  and 
a  leader  among  the  nonconforming  clergy  of  London.  Watts 
(1674-1748)  and  Doddridge  (1702-1751)  were  shining  hghts  in  the 
Independent  body.  Few  books  of  a  practical  cast  have  been  more 
read  and  valued  than  Doddridge's  "  Rise  and  Progress  of  Religion 
in  the  Soul."  Among  the  Baptists,  John  Gale  (1680-1721)  was 
justly  eminent  for  his  biblical  and  oriental  learning.  The  preaching 
of  the  nonconformists  still  retained,  in  no  small  degree,  the  unc- 
tion of  the  Puritan  times,  although  the  form  and  style  of  sermons 
were  altered  to  suit  the  later  standards  of  literary  taste.  Ai-ian 
speculations  found  some  favor  in  Presbyterian  and  Independent 
circles.  At  a  convention  of  London  nonconforming  ministers  at 
Salters'  Hall  in  1719,  a  majority  refused — not  all  of  them,  however, 
on  the  ground  of  disbelief — to  subscribe  to  a  Trinitarian  confes- 
sion. The  Baptists  were  not  wholly  united  on  the  question  of 
open  and  strict  communion.  A  great  majority  were  for  the  latter 
view.  The  principal  division  among  them  was  between  the  Gen- 
eral and  Particular  Baptists.  The  former  class  were  Arminians,  and 
the  latter  Calvinists.  In  1770  the  more  orthodox  portion  of  the 
General  Baptists  formed  an  association  called  the  New  Connection. 
Under  the  influence  of  the  writings  of  Andrew  Fuller  (1754-1815), 
the  Calvinism  of  the  Particular  Baptists  assumed  a  mitigated  form. 
The  spread  of  the  tenet  of  open  communion  among  the  Baptists 


524  FROM  THE  PEACE  OP  WESTPHALIA.  [Peuiod  IX. 

in  England  took  place  subsequently,  and  was  effected,  to  a 
larf^e  extent,  by  the  eloquent  teaching  of  the  distinguished 
preacher,  Robert  Hall  (1764-1831).  Methodism  was  treated  with 
various  degrees  of  sympathy  by  nonconforming  ministers  and 
churches.  The  assaults  of  the  "Wesleyans  upon  Calvinism,  which 
sometimes  took  the  form  of  harsh  invective^  prevented  the  coop- 
eration of  many  who,  on  other  grounds,  were  not  unfriendly  to  the 
revival  From  some  of  the  proceedings  and  methods  of  Whitefield 
even  such  men  as  Watts  and  Doddridge  conscientiously  withheld 
their  approval.  There  can  be  no  doubt^  however,  that  many  who 
were  converted  at  the  Methodist  meetings  found  their  way  into  the 
dissenting  churches,  and  that  these^  especially  the  Independents, 
were  indebted  for  their  increased  spuituality  and  their  growth  in 
numbers,  in  the  latter  half  of  the  century,  to  the  Methodist  ref- 
ormation, 

A  religious  revival,  with  important  featm-es  in  common  with 
the  revival  in  England,  although  somewhat  earlier  in  its  origin, 
occurred  in  America.  In  New  England,  as  in  the  old 
ligiontn  New  couutry,  Armiuiauism  had  widely  spread.  The  teaching 
ngiand.  ^^  ^-^^  pulpits  was  rather  didactic  than  stirring.  It  was 
solemn  in  its  tone,  but  was  more  an  appeal  to  the  understanding 
than  to  the  sensibility  and  the  affections.  It  dwelt  mainly  on  the 
several  duties  of  man  to  God  and  his  fellow-creatures,  and  made 
prominent  the  ethical  side  of  Christianity.  The  New  England 
settlers  had  made  it  a  point  to  require  proofs  of  regeneration  as  a 
condition  of  membership  in  the  church.  Hence  a  sharp  line  was 
drawn  between  the  converted  and  the  unconverted,  and  this  was 
made  apparent  in  the  character  of  the  preaching.  Civil  privileges 
in  the  colonies  of  Massachusetts  and  New  Haven  were  confined 
to  chm-ch  members.  They  alone  could  vote  or  hold  office.  This 
was  one  of  the  sources  of  the  pressure  to  enlarge  the  limits  of  the 
church  by  admitting  to  a  partial  connection  with  it  a  class  who 
might  not  profess  to  have  experienced  a  spiritual  change.  The 
"  half-way  covenant "  was  at  length  extensively  adopted,  by  which 
the  children  of  persons  baptized  in  infancy  were  permitted  to  re- 
ceive baptism  on  an  assent  of  their  parents  to  the  church  covenant, 
and  their  own  agreement  to  submit  to  the  discipline  of  the  body. 
Another  innovation  on  the  previous  system  was  the  reception  of 
Edwards  and  "^^onverted  persous  to  the  Lord's  Supper  as  a  "means 
'•thccrreat      of  gracc."     Both  thcsc  practices  had  strong  advocates 

revival."  °  _  ^  ° 

among  ministers  of  an  earnest  character  and  of  Calvinistic 
opinions.     In  1727  Jonathan  Edwards  became  the  minister  of  North- 


1648-1887.]     RELIGION  IN  ENGLAND;   REVIVALS  IN  AMERICA.        525 

ampton,  first  as  colleague  of  his  grandfather,  Stoddard,  at  whose 
death,  in  1729,  he  became  sole  pastor.  Edwards  was  born  in 
1703.  He  graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1720.  When  quite  young, 
he  evinced  intellectual  powers,  especially  metaphysical  genius,  of  a 
very  high  order.  He  read  Locke,  as  he  tells  us,  with  the  eagerness 
with  which  a  miser  counts  his  gold.  His  piety  was  most  profound 
and  sincere.  He  mingled  the  keenest  logic  and  the  utmost  ardor 
in  theological  inquiry  with  a  devout  and  contemplative  turn  of 
mind  characteristic  of  the  mystic.  His  diaries  record  heavenly  vi- 
sions, or  experiences  that  almost  deserve  this  name,  of  the  glory 
of  God  and  the  beauty  of  Christ.  Persuaded  that  the  half-way 
covenant  and  the  reception  of  the  unconverted  to  the  communion 
were  errors,  he  took  ground  publicly  against  these  customs.  His 
sermons  were  thoughtful  and  ai-gumentative,  yet  plain  and  search- 
ing. They  were  delivered,  with  little  or  no  action,  from  the  manu- 
script, but  with  that  manifest  depth  of  conviction  and  of  feeling 
which  has  been  likened  to  "white  heat."  In  1734  there  began  in 
his  parish  an  awakening  of  religious  interest  which  pervaded  all 
classes  of  the  peoj)le.  The  additions  to  the  church  of  converts, 
young  and  old,  were  very  numerous.  Similar  revivals  occurred  in 
other  places.  At  about  the  same  time,  there  was  a  i-eligious 
awakening  in  New  Jersey.  In  1739,  after  a  lull  in  the  religious 
whitefieid  in  movement,  it  recommenced.  It  was  in  October,  1740, 
New  England,  that  Whitefieid,  then  a  youth  of  twenty-five,  on  his  sec- 
ond visit  to  America,  having  made  a  tour  and  preached  with 
marked  effect  in  the  Middle  and  Southern  States  and  in  Eastern 
New  England,  visited  Edwards  at  Northampton.  IVIi-s.  Edwards 
wrote  to  her  brother  in  New  Haven,  under  date  of  October  24, 
1740  :  "  He  makes  less  of  the  doctrines  than  our  American  preachers 
generally  do,  and  aims  more  at  affecting  the  heart.  He  is  a  born 
orator.  You  have  already  heard  of  his  deep-toned,  yet  clear  and 
melodious  voice.  It  is  perfect  music.  It  is  wonderful  to  see  what 
a  spell  he  casts  over  an  audience  by  proclaiming  the  simplest  truths 
of  the  Bible.  I  have  seen  upwards  of  a  thousand  people  hang 
on  his  words  with  breathless  silence,  broken  only  by  an  occasional, 
half-suppressed  sob.  He  impresses  the  ignorant,  and  not  less  the 
half-educated  and  refined."  The  labors  of  Whitefieid,  Edwards, 
and  others  were  attended  with  revivals  in  many  places  in  New  Eng- 
land. Physical  manifestations — trances,  and  the  like — sometimes 
occurred  while  the  revival  preachers  delivered  their  discourses. 
Other  exhibitions  of  strong  emotion — as  tears  and  audible  exclama- 
tions— were  not  infrequent. 


g26  FROM  THE  PEACE  OP  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

A  leading  part  in  promoting  the  revivals  in  New  Jersey  and 

Pennsylvania  was  taken  by  three  preachers  of  the  family  of  Ten- 

nent.     William  Tennent,  the  eldest  of  them,  established 

Revival  in 

New  Jersey.  ^  «' log  coUege  "  at  Neshaminy,  twenty  miles  north  of 
Philadelphia.  This  seminary  was  the  parent  of  Princeton  College. 
His  sons,  Gilbert  and  William,  were  both  forcible  preachers,  and 
jjoth — the  foi-mer  especially — co-operated  actively  with  White- 
field  in  his  evangelistic  efforts.  In  that  region,  as  in  New  Eng- 
land, ecclesiastical  division  was  one  concomitant  of  the  revivals. 
The  Presbyterians,  among  whom  the  influence  of  the  Scottish  and 
Irish  element  was  prevalent,  charged  the  revival  preachers  with 
being  enthusiasts,  for  setting  up  emotional  criteria  of  i-egeneration, 
and  for  pronouncing  unconverted  such  ministers  and  people  as 
they  judged  not  to  meet  this  subjective  test.  The  conservatives 
complained,  also,  of  the  irruption  of  the  itinerant  preachers  into 
parishes  where  they  were  not  invited,  and  accused  them  of  foment- 
ing divisions  and  contentions.  The  adherents  of  this  party  were 
termed  the  "  old  side."  The  champions  of  the  revival,  among 
whom  New  England  influences  were  prevalent,  were  styled  the  "new 
side,"  or  "  new  lights."  The  dispute  went  on  until  it  caused  a 
division  between  synods,  which  continued  from  1745  to  1758. 

In  New  England,  disturbances  and  dissensions  of  a  grave  char- 
acter arose.  "  Separatists,"  who  affirmed  that  they  were  not  edified 
Effects  of  the  ^J  ^-^^  preaching  in  the  parish  churches,  formed,  in  par- 
great  revival,  ticular  iu  Eastcm  Connccticut,  distinct  congregations. 
An  attempt  was  made  to  suppress  by  law  these  divisive  movements. 
The  uncharitable  denunciation  of  ministers  who  wei-e  deemed  to 
be  frigid  in  their  piety,  and  kindred  extravagances,  brought  re- 
proach on  the  eminent  promoters  of  the  revival.  Whitefield  him- 
self was  unjustly  believed  to  be  bent  on  the  displacing  of  the 
regular  ministers  of  the  old  school,  and  the  substitution  for  them 
of  ministers  from  abroad.  Between  his  first  and  second  visits  to  New 
England,  various  associations  of  ministers  in  Massachusetts  and 
Connecticut,  and  the  two  colleges.  Harvard  and  Yale,  protested 
against  any  further  countenance  of  him  on  the  part  of  the  clergy 
and  the  churches.  He  outlived,  however,  this  disfavor,  and  in  his 
later  visits,  after  the  second,  was  welcomed  by  many  who  had 
before  treated  him  with  coldness.  With  the  fruits  of  the  revival 
Edwards  himself  was  not  wholly  satisfied.  He  saAv  that  there  was 
much  unhealthy  excitement.  He  found,  to  his  grief,  that  many 
converts  fell  away.  He  never  ceased,  however,  to  consider  the 
movement  as,  on  the  whole,  a  genuine  and  most  beneficent  work 


1648-1887.]     ROMAN  CHURCH  IN  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION.  527 

of  God's  grace.  Many  were  of  the  same  opinion,  while  many, 
whose  Calvinism  was  of  a  moderate  type,  and  who  found  extrava- 
gances of  doctrine  as  well  as  of  emotion  in  the  "  new  lights," 
held  that  a  preponderance  of  evil  had  resulted,  and  I'eferred  to  the 
time  of  "the  great  revival"  as  the  "late  period  of  enthusiasm." 
This  phrase  was  employed  by  President  Ezra  Stiles,  of  Yale  Col- 
lege, the  most  learned  man  of  that  period  in  New  England,  a  man 
of  high  i-eputation  and  estimable  character,  but  not  in  theological 
sympathy  with  Edwards  and  with  the  school  which  had  sprung  up 
under  his  leadership.  Dr.  Charles  Chauncey,  a  distinguished  Con- 
gregational divine  in  Boston,  and  more  of  a  latitudinarian  than 
Stiles,  opposed  all  itinerant  preaching,  and  thought  that  the  main 
effect  produced  by  the  revival  was  "  a  commotion  in  the  passions." 


CHAPTER  lY. 


THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  IN  THE  PERIOD  OF  THE  FRENCH 
REVOLUTION  TO  THE  FALL  OF  NAPOLEON. 

The  French  Revolution  was  an  uprising  against  the  privileged 
classes — the  king,  the  nobles,  and  the  clergy.  The  Church  held  an 
state  of  the  immense  amount  of  land,  seigniorial  control  over  a  mul- 
the^cie'J^gTin  ^i^udo  of  peasants,  besides  a  vast  income  from  tithes  and 
France.  from  otlicr  sourccs.     They  partook  to  the  full  of  that 

deep  corruption  of  the  nobility  which  was  one  of  the  main  provo- 
cations to  the  great  revolt.  Prelates  lived  at  a  distance  from  their 
dioceses,  and  expended  their  revenues  in  indolence  and  luxuri- 
ous pleasures.  The  common  priests,  as  a  rule,  were  ignorant  and 
ill-paid.  The  Church  had  in  its  hands  the  whole  management  of 
education.  The  Church  had  supported  the  tyranny  of  the  Bourbon 
kings.  The  lack  of  religious  earnestness  on  the  part  of  its  mlers 
had  left  an  open  course  for  the  progress  of  free-thinking.  Under 
them,  religion  had  wellnigh  lost  its  power  among  the  middle  and 
lower  classes  of  the  French  population.  The  Church  had  helped 
to  drive  the  Huguenots  from  the  land,  and,  in  this  way  among 
others,  to  deprive  the  nation  of  the  moral  and  conservative  forces 
which  might  have  held  back  the  revolutionary  party  from  the  ex- 
cesses into  which  it  plunged.  Many  of  the  leading  ecclesiastics  had 
themselves  imbibed  the  spirit  of  infidelity.  Some  of  them  were 
quite  ready  to  doff  their  robes  and  to  figure  as  champions  of  human 
rights  and  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  people. 


g28  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

It  was  the  impoverishment  of  the  public  treasury  which  made 
necessary  the  convoking  of  the  States-General  in  1789.  The 
Church,  with  its  immense  wealth,  could  not  fail  to  be  an 
tionand°the  immediate  object  of  attention.  After  preliminary  levies 
Cburch.  ^^  ecclesiastical  property,  it  was  finally,  on  motion  of 
Talleyrand,  Bishop  of  Autun,  all  confiscated.  Ecclesiastics,  it  was 
ordained,  should  receive  a  fixed  stipend  from  the  public  coffers. 
The  astute  Talleyrand,  through  all  the  political  changes  that  followed, 
until  after  the  elevation  of  Louis  Philippe  to  the  throne  in  1830, 
continued  to  play  a  prominent  part.  The  absorption  of  the  Church 
property  was  followed  by  the  abolishing  of  the  cloisters  and  the  re- 
lease, by  legal  enactment,  of  all  monks  and  nuns  from  their  vows. 
The  dioceses  were  completely  remodelled,  and  their  boundaries  con- 
formed to  the  new  departments  into  which  the  kingdom  was  di- 
vided. Each  was  to  have  its  bishop,  independent  of  every  other. 
Bishops  and  pastors  were  to  be  chosen  by  the  people.  There  was 
to  be,  however,  no  rupture  of  the  tie  between  the  Fi-ench  Church 
and  the  papacy.  To  these  measures  the  pope  and  a  great  portion 
of  the  clergy  were  naturally  hostile.  The  requirement  that  the 
clergy  should  swear  allegiance  to  the  new  constitution  brought  on 
a  collision.  The  pope,  in  1791,  issued  a  bull  which  put  under  the 
ban  all  priests  who  had  taken  the  required  oath.  This  bull  was 
not  published  in  France,  or  heeded  by  the  government.  The  clergy 
were  broken  into  two  classes — those  who  complied  with  the  law 
and  took  the  oath,  and  the  recusant  prelates  and  priests  who,  with 
the  nobility,  emigrated  in  large  numbers  from  the  country.  On 
the  21st  of  September,  1792,  the  National  Convention  proclaimed 
France  a  republic.  In  January,  1793,  they  condemned  the  king, 
Louis  XVI.,  to  death.  The  emigration  of  the  nobles  and  priests,  and 
the  aggressive  measux-es  of  the  foreign  powers  for  the  suppression 
of  the  republic,  infused  a  fanatical  violence  into  the  minds  of  the 
Abolition  of  ^^''^^snt  revolutionists.  The  Catholic  religion  was  for- 
the  Catholic     mally  abolished,  as  being  hostile  to  the  French  Kepublic. 

religion.  j  >  o  r 

A  new  calendar  was  instituted,  beginning  with  the  date 
of  the  birth  of  the  new  republic.  In  the  room  of  the  week,  there 
was  a  division  of  time  into  periods  of  ten  days.  So  the  Lord's  Day 
was  no  longer  to  continue  as  a  day  of  rest  or  of  religious  observ- 
ances. The  climax  was  put  upon  these  anti-Christian  proceed- 
ings when  a  profligate  woman,  representing  the  Goddess  of  Keason, 
in  the  midst  of  a  great  concourse  in  the  ancient  cathedral  of  Notre 
Dame,  was  enthroned  as  an  object  of  homage.  So  far  were  the  pop- 
ulace carried  in  this  delirium  of  impiety.    Atheism  was  sentimental 


1648-1887.]    ROMAN  CHURCH  IN  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION.  529 

as  well  as  savage.  In  these  movements  clergymen  iDarticipated. 
Gobet,  Bishop  of  Paris,  with  his  vicar-generals  appeared  before  the 
National  Convention,  with  the  avowal  that  they  had  heretofore  de- 
ceived the  people,  but  that  hereafter  they  would  take  their  place 
among  the  worshippers  of  freedom  and  equality.  The  wild  march 
of  irreligion  received  a  check  from  an  unexpected  quarter.  In  the 
midst  of  the  Eeign  of  Terror,  Eobespierre,  who  was  a  deist,  caused 
a  decree  to  be  issued  to  the  effect  that  the  French  nation  acknowl- 
edges a  Supreme  Being  and  the  immortality  of  the  soul.  The  fall 
of  Robespierre  and  the  accession  to  power  of  the  Directory  put  a 
stop  for  the  time  to  meddling  with  religious  affairs  on  the  part  of 
the  government.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  the  instincts  prompting 
to  worship  could  not  be  wholly  stifled,  even  when  the  institutions 
of  religion  had  been  trodden  in  the  dust.  A  sect  of  deists,  called 
Theophilanthropists,  sprang  up,  who  numbered  twenty  thousand  in 
Paris,  and  were  found  in  other  cities.  In  Paris  they  occupied  ten 
churches.  Their  creed  was  the  obligation  to  love  God  and  man. 
But  their  zeal  soon  died  out.  In  1802  they  were  excluded  by  the 
Consuls  from  the  national  churches. 

In  1791  the  National  Assembly  had  annexed  the  papal  districts 
of  Avignon  and  Venaissin  to  the  French  dominion.  The  pope, 
.  Pius  VI.,  protested  against  this  seizure.  He  united  with 
the  Roman  the  allied  sovereigns  who  were  leagued  against  France. 
The  victories  of  Napoleon  in  Italy  compelled  Pius,  in 
1797,  to  agree  to  the  Peace  of  Tolentino,  where  he  resigned  his 
title  to  the  countries  wrested  from  him,  gave  up  to  the  new  Cisal- 
pine Republic,  founded  by  Napoleon,  Bologna,  Ferrara,  and  Ro- 
magna,  agreed  to  pay  thirty  million  livres,  and  allowed  the  Fi'ench 
to  strip  Rome  of  precious  manuscripts  and  works  of  art.  These 
went  to  Paris  among  the  trophies  of  the  conqueror.  The  republican 
feeling  in  the  papal  kingdom  was  used  by  the  French  to  advance 
their  own  pui^poses.  In  1797  an  insurrection  in  Rome,  in  which 
a  French  general  lost  his  life,  was  seized  on  by  the  Directory  as  a 
pretext  for  occupying  the  papal  territory.  In  the  following  year 
a  Roman  Republic  was  proclaimed.  The  pope  was  carried  away 
as  a  captive,  and  not  long  after  (August  29,  1799)  he  died  at 
Valence  in  Fi-ance. 

With  the  establishment  of  the  Consulate,  the  efforts  of  Napo- 
Reiigious  in-  l^ou  to  build  up  rcligious  institutions  anew  from  their 
underNapo-  T^^^^^  began.  In  all  his  measures  he  was  careful  to 
leon.  guard  the  supremacy  of  the  civil  power  and  of  himself  as 

its  head,  and  to  confine  papal  prerogatives  within  narrow  bounds. 
34 


530  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

In  1801  he  concluded  a  concordat  with  Pope  Pius  VII.,  in  which  the 
Cathohc  religion  was  declared  to  be  the  religion  of  a  majority  of 
the  French  people,  and  as  such  placed  under  the  protection  of  the 
government.  The  emigrant  clergy  were  to  renounce  all  claim  to 
the  offices  which  they  had  left.  In  order  to  put  an  end  to  the  dis- 
tinction between  the  two  classes  of  priests,  all  the  priests  were 
to  resi'^n  their  places,  and  to  be  reappointed.  Archbishops  and 
bishops  were  to  be  appointed  by  the  government.  To  them  the 
pope  was  to  grant  canonical  institution.  The  rights  which  had 
belonged  to  the  kings  of  France  were  to  inhere  in  the  Consuls. 
The  next  year  (1802)  Napoleon  promulgated  certain  organic  laws 
of  the  Chiu-ch.  They  were  shaped  according  to  the  old  principles 
of  GaUican  freedom.  Decrees  of  the  popes,  and  even  of  general 
councils,  were  not  to  be  published  in  France  without  the  placet  of 
the  government.  As  a  defence  against  ecclesiastical  courts,  there 
might  be  a  resort  to  civil  tribunals.  Monastic  orders  were  abol- 
ished. All  teachers  in  the  seminaries  were  to  subscribe  to  the 
declaration  of  the  French  clergy  in  1682.  Notwithstanding  the 
opposition  of  the  pope  to  these  enactments,  he  came  to  Paris,  in 
1804,  to  crown  Napoleon.  When,  however,  several  years 
poieon  \vitu  after  (1808),  the  emperor  went  so  far  as  to  demand  the 
""^"^  ■  creation  of  a  Patriarch  of  France,  to  be  appointed  by  him- 
self, required  the  introduction  of  his  legal  code  into  the  papal 
Mngdom,  the  abolition  of  cloisters  and  of  the  rule  of  clerical  celi- 
bacy, and  requu'ed  the  pope  to  join  him  in  the  league  against  Eng- 
land and  to  close  his  ports  against  the  enemy,  Pius  VII.  refused 
compliance.  As  a  penalty,  in  1809  his  states  were  annexed  to  the 
French  Empire.  A  papal  bull  of  excommunication  against  all  un- 
righteous assailants  of  the  Holy  See  was  issued,  and  Napoleon  was 
privately  informed  that  he  was  included  among  them.  The  pope 
was  carried  as  a  i^risoner,  first  to  Savona,  and  then  into  France. 
Under  these  trying  circumstances  Pius  VIL  maintained  his  position 
with  firmness.  Twenty-seven  bishoprics  in  France  were  vacant. 
A  sect  of  "pure  Catholics,"  adherents  of  the  pope,  was  arising, 
who  were  obliged  to  hold  their  services  in  secret.  Napoleon  de- 
prived Pius  Vn.  of  the  cardinals,  and  even  of  his  private  secre- 
tary. The  proceedings  of  the  emperor  in  relation  to  the  calling 
of  a  national  synod,  which  met  on  June  17,  1811,  and  reassem- 
bled, after  being  once  dissolved  by  the  imperious  sovereign,  in- 
duced the  pope  to  make  large  concessions.  He  was  brought  to 
Fontainebleau,  and  was  roughly  treated  by  Napoleon  after  his  return 
from  Russia,  in  1812.     At  length  there  was  a  preHmiuary  agree- 


1648-1887.]    ROMAN  CHURCH  IN  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION.  531 

ment,  the  provisions  of  which  were  agreeable  to  the  emperor  ;  but, 
contrary  to  a  stipulation,  he  published  it  before  the  pope  had  con- 
ferred with  his  cardinals.  This  called  out  a  warning  from  the  pope 
against  giving  credence  to  the  reports  relative  to  a  concordat.  Ke- 
newed  persecution  of  the  pontiff  was  the  result,  which  terminated 
at  the  fall  of  Napoleon  and  the  triumph  of  the  allies.  In  1814, 
Pius  Vn.  once  more  entered  Rome. 

An  important  consequence  of  the  events  connected  with  the 
French  Revolution  was  the  secularizing  of  the  ecclesiastical  states 
The  Koman  °^  Germany.  They  were  converted  into  communities 
Catholic  under  civil  rule.     The  Rhine  provinces  were  annexed  to 

Church  in  ^ 

Germany.  France.  In  1810  the  last  ecclesiastical  state  was  abol- 
ished and  changed  into  a  grand-dukedom.  Cloisters  in  Germany, 
except  in  Austria,  were  abolished.  During  the  conflicts  of  the  pe- 
riod, vacant  bishoprics  remained  unfilled.  When  Germany  threw 
off  the  yoke  of  Napoleon,  only  five  old  Roman  Catholic  bishops 
were  living.  In  process  of  time  concordats  were  concluded  be- 
tween German  princes  and  the  pope,  and  the  vacant  ecclesiastical 
places  were  filled. 

In  Naples,  which  was  conquered  by  the  French  in  1806,  and 
delivered  to  Joseph  Bonaparte,  the  monastic  orders  were  generally 
_,  ^  ^  abolished,  and  their  property  appropriated  by  the  gov- 
Cathoiic  ernment.     The  principles  of  the  Napoleonic  code  rel- 

Church  in  r  L  x 

Naples  and  ativc  to  marriage  by  civil  contract,  etc.,  were  so  repug- 
nant to  the  pope  that  he  refused  canonical  institution 
to  the  bishops.  In  1808,  Joseph  became  King  of  Spain.  The  In- 
quisition was  abolished.  In  1809  the  cloisters  all  shared  the  same 
fate.  The  Cortes,  which  represented  the  opposite  or  national 
party,  declared,  in  1813,  that  the  Inquisition  was  incompatible  with 
the  ci\il  constitution  of  the  country.  In  whatever  part  of  Europe 
the  influence  of  Napoleon  was  felt,  the  civil  authority  was  made 
supreme,  the  authority  of  the  papacy  was  curtailed  and  made  sub- 
ordinate to  the  rulers  of  the  State,  and  institutions  like  monas- 
tic establishments,  specially  characteristic  of  the  middle  ages,  were 
swept  away.  The  mediseval  was  transformed  into  the  modem 
state. 


FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 


CHAPTEE  y. 

THE  PAPACY  SINCE   THE   FALL  OF  NAPOLEON  I.  :   CHRISTIANITY 
IN  THE  EUROPEAN  COUNTRIES. 

The  fall  of  Napoleon  restoi-ed  Pius  VII.  to  Pome,  and  enabled 
him  to  resume  the  exercise  of  his  pontifical  authority.  He  came 
The  absolutist  back,  an  object  of  universal  sympathy,  which  his  patience 
movement.  j^g^^j  merited.  The  storms  of  the  revolution  were  over. 
The  papacy  now,  at  the  beginning  of  a  new  era  of  European  history, 
was  at  liberty  to  elect  what  policy  it  would  pursue.  It  is  remark- 
able that  three  out  of  the  four  nations  that  had  conquered  Bona- 
parte, and  had  thus  given  freedom  to  the  pope,  were  not  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  fold.  Pussia  was  Greek,  England  and  Prussia 
were  Protestant.  Everywhere  in  Europe  there  was  a  longing  in 
the  minds  of  the  people  for  constitutional  freedom  under  the  forms 
of  monarchy.  This  feeling  of  aversion  to  arbitrary  government 
was  deeply  implanted  in  the  French  mind.  It  prevailed  in  Ger- 
many. It  was  ardently  cherished  south  of  the  Alj^s  and  of  the 
Pyrenees.  Unhappily,  there  set  in  a  strong  opposing  current  in 
the  direction  of  absolutism.  The  excesses  of  the  revolutionary 
period  had  begotten  a  horror  of  everything  that  savored  of  rejDub- 
lican  government.  The  "  throne  and  the  altar "  must  be  rees- 
tablished in  their  former  dignity  and  strength.  The  Continental 
monarchs  were  united  in  this  sentiment.  Russia  was  bent  on 
putting  down  movements  in  favor  of  freedom  with  a  strong  hand. 
Austria,  guided  by  the  councils  of  the  astute  Metternich,  was  of  the 
same  mind.  Prussia,  after  some  vacillation,  joined  hands  with  her 
German  rival.  The  Holy  Alliance  between  the  three  sovereigns,  to 
which  the  other  rulers  on  the  Continent  acceded,  while  it  contained 
a  pledge  to  govern  righteously  and  to  promote  justice  and  relig- 
ion, was  based  on  the  old  principle  of  legitimacy — the  doctrine 
that  the  authority  of  kings  is  the  direct  gift  of  God,  and  not  de- 
rived from  their  subjects.  It  was  agreed  that  they  should  combine 
to  quell  popular  insurrections  wherever  they  should  break  out. 

The  papacy  espoused  the  cause  of  Absolutism.  In  the  middle 
ages  the  popes  had  been  considered  the  chami^ions  of  the  people, 

and  their  protectors  against  the  tyranny  of  secular  rulers 
on  the  side  of  and  of  local  ccclesiastics.     They  had  placed  themselves 

at  the  head  of  great  movements,  like  the  crusades,  in 
which  the  sentiments  and  passions  of  the  mass  of  the  peo^jle  were 


1648-1887.]     THE  PAPACY  SINCE  THE  FALL  OF  NAPOLEON  I.         533 

profoundly  interested.  They  had  baptized  and  taken  under  their 
own  paternal  guidance  the  prevailing  martial  taste  and  the  iDopular 
hatred  of  the  infidel.  But  now  there  was  a  reversal  of  their  posi- 
tion. They  were  utterly  loath  to  surrender  any  of  the  old  prerog- 
atives of  their  station  in  order  to  accommodate  themselves  to  the 
altered  condition  of  the  public  mind  and  the  new  character  of  Euro- 
l^eau  society.  Their  bitter  experiences  during  the  revolutionary 
era,  the  recollection  of  the  wild  excesses  of  liberalism,  the  desire  to 
keep  down  the  spirit  of  revolt  in  the  papal  kingdom,  the  vindictive 
and  intolerant  conservatism  of  the  great  body  of  the  zealous  sup- 
porters of  Eome  in  France  and  in  Southern  Europe,  were  so  many 
additional  reasons  for  taking  sides  with  the  dominant  reaction 
against  the  aspirations  and  struggles  of  the  peoj^le. 

In  the  papal  curia  there  were  two  parties  ;  the  one,  that  of  the 
zelanti,  led  by  Cardinal  Pacca,  was  for  abolishing  the  French  con- 
Partiesinthe  stitutiou  in  the  Eomau  state,  restoring  ecclesiastical 
papal  curia,  pj-operty  to  its  former  possessors,  and  for  bi-inging  back 
completely  the  old  order  of  things,  with  all  its  wrongs  and  evils. 
The  other,  the  party  of  the  liberali,  led  by  a  sagacious  man,  Cardi- 
nal Consalvi,  was  for  retaining  beneficent  improvements  which, 
during  the  period  of  revolution,  had  been  incorporated  in  the  po- 
litical system.  He  had  but  a  very  moderate  degree  of  success  in 
this  praiseworthy  effort.  Uniformity  of  administration  was,  to  be 
sure,  preserved  ;  but  the  offices  were  taken  from  laymen  and  given 
into  the  hands  of  the  clergy.  In  addition  to  the  mischiefs  of  cleri- 
cal misgovernment,  the  restoration  of  ecclesiastical  property  cut  off 
a  great  part  of  the  public  revenue,  and,  besides,  involved  the  cre- 
ation of  a  burdensome  i)ublic  debt.  The  Inquisition  and  the  In- 
dex, the  old  weapons  of  priestly  intolerance,  were  again  brought 
into  use.     In  relation  to  the  Church  at  large,  Pius  VII.  adopted  an 

analogous  reactionary  policy.  One  of  his  first  measures 
papal  meas-     was  the  issue  of  a  bull,  on  August  7,  1814,  authorizing 

the  revival  of  the  Jesuit  order.  Nothing  could  more 
signally  betoken  the  altered  temper  of  civil  and  ecclesiastical  rulers. 
The  new  Jesuits  were  of  a  harsh  and  fanatical  temper.  They  went 
to  work  at  once  to  get  the  education  of  the  young  into  their  hands. 
They  even  avowed  the  loose  ethical  maxims  which,  at  a  former 
day,  had  brought  on  them  so  heavy  a  weight  of  odium.  Another 
The  reaction  characteristic  measure  was  the  publication  of  a  bull,  in 
Europfand  1^16,  in  which  Bible  societies  were  denounced,  and  stig- 
France.  matizcd  as  a  pest.     The  governments  in  Southern  Eu- 

rope showed  themselves  prompt  to  cooperate  with  the  Roman  curia. 


534  FROM  THE  PEACE  OP   WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

This  was  the  case  iu  Sardinia,  Tuscany,  and  Naples,  In  Spain, 
Ferdinand  YU.  called  back  the  Jesuits  whom  his  grandfather  had 
expelled,  and  renewed  the  tyranny  of  the  Inquisition.  The  sup- 
pressed convents  were  restored.  The  reins  of  government  were 
practically  in  the  hands  of  the  bigoted  clergy.  Intolerable  tyranny 
provoked  a  revolt.  The  Cortes  obliged  the  sovereign  to  reverse 
his  policy,  to  drive  out  the  Jesuits,  and  to  abolish  the  Inquisition. 
The  Holy  Alliance  now  interfered.  Louis  XVIII.,  against  the  ad- 
vice of  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  marched  French  troops  into  Spain 
and  put  down  constitutional  government.  The  rigorous  measures 
adopted  after  that  event  by  the  Spanish  king  did  not  suffice  to 
satisfy  the  fanatical  party,  which  rallied  about  his  brother,  Don 
Carlos,  and  tried  to  raise  him  to  the  throne.  In  France,  the 
Church,  by  sending  missionary  preachers  through  the  land,  by 
means  of  public  religious  processions  and  showy  ceremonies  of 
various  kinds,  and  by  the  invention  of  new  sorts  of  devotion,  such 
as  the  worship  of  the  sacred  heart  of  Jesus,  strove  to  reawaken  an 
attachment  to  the  old  ecclesiastical  system.  The  priests  who  had 
taken  the  oath  prescribed  by  the  National  Assembly  in  1790,  were 
compelled  to  do  penance  or  to  lose  their  livings.  Mobs  were  al- 
lowed to  attack  the  Protestants  iu  Nismes  and  in  other  towns,  and 
hundreds  of  them  were  slain.  This  was  in  1815,  The  government 
at  length  interfered,  but  did  not  punish  the  criminals.  Colleges 
and  seminaries  were  established  by  the  Jesuits,  and  these  became 
more  numerous  in  the  next  reign.  The  antipathy  which  had  ex- 
isted against  the  Church  was  rekindled  by  the  proceedings  of  the 
reactionary  religious  party.  Liberalism  in  all  its  forms  was  awak- 
ened to  a  new  life.  The  brother  of  Louis  XVIII.,  the  Count  of 
Artois,  who  went  much  beyond  the  king  in  intolerant  bigotry,  and 
was  the  head  of  the  absolutist  party  in  politics  and  religion,  as- 
cended the  throne  in  1821.  Pius  VII.  died  in  1823,  and  the  death 
of  Consalvi  followed  soon  after.  There  was  no  barrier  at  Rome  in 
the  path  of  papal  absolutism.  Leo  XII.  was  devoted  to  the  party 
of  the  zelanti.  His  adherents  proclaimed  the  pope  supreme  over 
secular  rulers.  The  Jesuits  were  favored  and  exalted.  Religious 
ceremonies,  including  a  jubilee  at  Rome  in  1825,  were  celebrated 
with  ostentatious  pomp.  Meantime,  the  papal  kingdom  was  miser- 
ably governed.  The  most  of  Italy  was  under  the  direct  or  indirect 
control  of  the  Austrians.  Their  troops  were  at  hand  to  stifle  the 
first  outbreak  of  insurrection.  The  deep  popular  discontent  led  to 
the  organization  of  the  Carbonari  and  other  secret  societies,  the 
aim  of  which  was  Italian  liberty  and  unity. 


1648-1S87.]     THE  PAPACY  SINCE  THE  FALL  OF  NAPOLEON  I.         535 

In  France,  under  Charles  X.,  the  ruling  spirits  in  the  Church 
were  zealously  in  favor  of  ultramontane  views  of  the  papacy,  and 
Revival  of  treated  with  hostility  and  contempt  the  Gallicau  theory, 
liberalism  in    which  it  had  becu  the  pride  and  glory  of  the  French 

Church  to  maintain.  The  king  was  obliged  to  yield  in 
a  degree,  and  for  a  time,  to  the  rising  forces  of  liberalism,  which 
was  hostile  alike  to  political  absolutism  and  to  the  control — for  ex- 
ample, in  matters  of  education — conceded  to  the  Jesuit  reaction. 
The  revolution  of  1830  effected  a  radical  change.  The  government 
of  Louis  Philippe  put  an  end  to  the  domination  of  the  clerical  j^arty. 
The  Jesuits  were  deprived  of  their  newly  acquired  power.  The 
futility  of  any  attempt  to  reconcile  the  papacy  with  the  modem 
spirit  of  liberty  was  shown  in  the  abortive  experiment  made  by 

Lamennais  and  his  associates.     De  Maistre,  a  scholar 

Lamennais  ^  _  ' 

and  hia  as-       and  diplomatist,  a  strenuous  opponent  of  the  Fi'ench 

sociates, 

Kevolutiou,  but  not  unfriendly  to  monarchy  under  con- 
stitutional restraints,  had  endeavored,  in  a  series  of  able  writings, 
to  vindicate  an  extreme  theory  of  the  spiritual  authority  of  the  pope. 
He  founded  his  position  on  the  need  of  order  iu  the  intellectual  and 
spiritual  world,  such  as  only  the  autocracy  of  the  pope  could  secure. 
His  argument  resembles  that  of  Hobbes  in  behalf  of  despotism  in 
the  political  sphere.  The  same  tendencies  were  carried  further  in 
France  by  Lamennais,  with  Lacordaire,  Montalembert,  and  other 
associates,  in  the  early  days  of  Louis  Philippe.  Lamennais  con- 
tended for  the  extension  of  suffrage,  freedom  of  worship,  hberty  of 
conscience,  and  liberty  of  the  press,  at  the  same  time  that  he  as- 
serted ultramontane  ideas  of  the  poj)e's  spiritual  supremacy.  This 
strange  combination  of  opinions  was  set  forth  with  enthusiasm  in  a 
journal,  L'Avenir.  These  doctrines  were  withstood  by  the  clerical 
party.  They  were  condemned  by  Pope  Gregory  XVL,  who,  in  1831, 
succeeded  Leo  XH.  The  journal  was  given  up.  Lamennais  sub- 
mitted with  reluctance  and  with  qualifications.  His  associates 
bowed  to  the  papal  decision.  The  generous,  but  quixotic,  effort  to 
harmonize  discordant  systems  fell  to  the  ground.  Lacordaire  be- 
came one  of  the  most  impressive  preachers  in  the  French  CathoUo 
Church.     Montalembert  did  not  abandon  his  liberality  of  spirit. 

At  about  the  time  when  the  clerical  reaction  in  France  suffered 
a  decided  check  by  the  expulsion  of  the  Bourbons,  the  Catholic 
Oath  r  Church  gained  advantages  which  it  did  not  owe  to  the 

Emancipation  papal  curia.     In  Great  Britain,  Catholic  Emancipation 
released  adherents  of  the  Chui'ch  of  Rome  from  the  ob- 
noxious oaths  which  had  been  imposed  in  the  times  of  the  Restora- 


536  FROxM  THE  PEACE  OP  WESTPHALIA..  [Period  IX. 

tion  and  Revolution,  and  they  were  made  eligible  to  the  offices  of 
state.  One  of  the  consequences  of  the  Revolution  of 
Belgium.  jggQ  ^^  p^^,.g  ^^^  ^  rising  in  the  Kingdom  of  the  Nether- 
lands, which  resulted  in  the  division  of  the  country  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  Catholic  state  of  Belgium.  Uprisings  in  Italy 
were  put  down  by  the  help  of  Austrian  troops.  Mazzini  became 
the  head  of  the  republican  patriots  and  plotters. 

In  1846,  Pius  IX,  was  elected  pope.  Maladministration  under 
his  predecessor  had  been  carried  so  far  that  when  he  died  the  num- 
ber of  prisoners  and  exiles  for  political  offences  num- 
course  of  bcrcd  uot  Icss  than  two  thousand.  The  new  pope,  an 
Italian  of  high  birth,  dignified  manners,  and  pleasing 
address,  began  his  course  by  the  adoption  of  liberal  measures.  He 
released  the  political  prisoners  and  proclaimed  a  general  amnesty 
for  offenders  of  this  class.  He  authorized  the  construction  of  rail- 
ways. He  ajipointed  a  GonsuUa,  or  Council  of  State,  and  intrusted 
the  functions  of  civil  administration,  to  a  large  extent,  to  laymen. 
These  proceedings  inspired  the  liberals  with  glowing  hopes.  The 
Revolution  of  1848  in  France  excited  the  sj^irit  of  disaffection  with 
the  existing  governments  in  every  part  of  Europe,  and  nowhere 
more  than  in  Italy.  Pius  IX.  went  still  further  in  the  work  of 
providing  for  his  kingdom  a  constitutional  system.  The  republi- 
cans, however,  were  not  satisfied  with  the  continuance  of  the  su- 
preme authority  in  the  hands  of  the  cardinals.  The  pope  refused 
to  engage  in  war  against  the  Austrians.  A  poprdar  ferment  ensued. 
Rossi,  his  chief  minister,  was  assassinated.  The  pope,  no  longer 
able  to  control  the  democratic  movement,  fled  to  Gaeta.  He  was 
brought  back  to  Rome  by  French  troops.  This  was  the  end  of  the 
career  of  Pius  IX.  as  a  hberal  reformer.  He,  and  others  with  him, 
had  cherished  the  idea  of  a  union  of  Italy  in  the  form  of  a  confed- 
eracy of  which  the  pontiff  should  be  the  head.  This  scheme  was 
favored  in  France,  even  by  such  a  statesman  as  Guizot.  By  this 
means  it  was  hoped  that  Italy  would  be  united  without  becoming  a 
formidable  power,  and  Austrian  influence  could  be  checked.  It  was 
a  scheme  that  fell  far  short  of  satisfying  the  patriotic  views  of  Italians. 
The  unification  of  Italy  was  to  be  effected  under  the  leadership 
of  the  House  of  Savoy,  the  final  step  in  the  process  being  the  ab- 
Union  of  sorption  of  the  papal  kingdom  and  the  vanishing  of  the 
Italy :  loss  of  pope's  temporal  sovereignty.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that, 
temporal  sidc  by  side  with  this  gradual  extinction  of  his  temporal 
rule,  a  series  of  measures  was  adopted  which  led  to 
the  canying  of  his  authority  within  the  Church  to  the  highest 


1648-1887.]     THE  PAPACY  SINCE  THE  FALL  OF  NAPOLEON  L         537 

pitch.  The  war  of  France  and  Sardinia  with  Austria  added  Lom- 
„  hardy  to  the  Sardinian  possessions.    Tuscany,  Modena, 

and  Parma,  and  also  Komagna,  which  belonged  to  the 
pope,  were  annexed  by  their  own  choice.  The  arms  of  Garibaldi 
added  to  the  Italian  kingdom  Naples  and  Sicily.  Victor  Tm- 
manuel,  as  the  ally  of  Prussia  against  Austria,  secured  Venice  for 
his  reward.  It  was  not  until  the  overthrow  of  Napoleon  at  Sedan, 
in  1870,  that  the  way  was  open  for  taking  possession  of  Rome. 
All  Italy  was  now  brought  together  in  one  kingdom,  and  the  seat 
of  government  was  transferred  from  Florence  to  the  ancient  capital. 
The  result  was  accomplished  against  the  constant,  indignant  pro- 
tests of  Pius  IX.,  who  was  now  despoiled  of  his  principality  and  re- 
duced to  confine  his  authority  within  the  limits  of  his  spiritual  office. 
But  that  office  he  had  been  able  to  magnify.  In  1854,  he  gath- 
ered a  large  company  of  ecclesiastics  at  Rome,  and  promulgated, 
Papal  infaiii-  ou  his  owu  pcrsoual  responsibility,  without  the  concur- 
vitican**"  rence  of  any  council,  the  dogma  of  the  immaculate  con- 
Councii.  ception  of  the  Virgin  Mary.     He  thus  assumed  to  decide 

authoritatively  a  question  which  the  doctors  of  the  Church  had  long 
debated,  and  on  which  they  were  not  yet  agreed.  In  1864,  he 
issued  an  Encyclic,  together  with  a  Syllabus  of  Errors,  in  which, — 
besides  the  condemnation  of  doctrinal  errors,  such  as  materialistic 
and  pantheistic  opinions — the  ideas  at  the  basis  of  the  modem 
state,  such  as  the  validity  of  marriage  by  the  civil  contract,  educa- 
tion not  subject  to  clerical  control,  liberty  of  conscience,  and  tolera- 
tion of  varieties  of  religious  opinion,  were  solemnly  denounced.  In 
1870,  at  his  call  the  CEcumenical  Council  of  the  Vatican  assembled. 
Seven  hundred  and  sixty-four  bishops  were  gathered  in  St.  Peter's 
Church  from  all  parts  of  the  globe,  but  more  than  a  third  were 
from  Italy.  The  arrangements  for  the  conduct  of  the  business, 
both  before  and  after  the  meeting  of  the  council,  were  made  by  the 
pope  and  by  the  commissioners  appointed  by  him.  Whether  it  was 
or  was  not  the  chief  purpose  in  summoning  the  assembly,  the  project 
of  a  declaration  of  the  pope's  infallibility  was  at  length  brought 
forward,  and  was  supported  by  the  pontiff  himself  and  by  those 
who  stood  high  in  his  favor.  The  ascendency  of  the  Jesuits  in  the 
counsels  of  Pius  IX  had  long  been  a  notorious  fact.  Checks  were 
put  upon  the  freedom  of  debate  in  the  council.  Yet  there  was 
strong  opposition  to  the  proposal.  Bishops  like  the  learned  his- 
torian, Hefele  from  Germany,  Dupanloup  from  France,  and  Ken- 
rick  from  America,  strove  in  vain  to  dissuade  the  council  from 
sanctioning  the  project.     Some  of  the  minority  disbelieved  in  the 


Kgg  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  "WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

doctrine  -which  the  council  was  called  upon  to  affirm.  All  of  them 
iud"-ed  its  proclamation  to  be  ill-timed  and  inexjpedient.  The  mi- 
nority was  large,  but  finding  that  resistance  was  fruitless,  and  on 
account  of  the  threatened  outbreak  of  hostilities  between  France 
and  Prussia,  most  of  them  withdrew  before  the  final  vote.  Five 
hundred  and  thirty-five  bishops  gave  their  voices  in  the  affirmative. 
Only  two  voted  in  the  negative.  Unlike  previous  general  coun- 
cils, the  Catholic  governments  had  no  representatives  in  the  body. 
They  had  thoughts  of  interposing  with  a  protest  during  the  prog- 
ress of  the  discussion  ;  but  the  situation  of  France,  and  the  relation 
of  Louis  Napoleon  to  the  Chtu'ch,  prevented  his  government  from 
taking  this  course.  The  other  powers  did  not  choose  to  act  alone. 
The  decrees  of  the  council  followed  in  the  line  of  the  Syllabus, 
and  pronounced  anathemas  against  various  types  of  current  ration- 
alistic theory.  The  main  decree  was  that  in  which  the  pope  was 
declared  to  be  infallible  in  whatever  teaching  relative  to  theology 
or  morals  he  may  address  to  the  entire  Church. 

The  German  school  of  Catholic  theologians  who  had  been  op- 
posed to  the  promulgation  of  the  new  dogma  had  held  a  position 
The  "  Old  between  the  Galilean  theory  of  the  competence  of  a  coun- 
Cathoiics."  ^Q  ^q  define  the  faith,  and  the  ultramontane  view.  Their 
doctrine  was  that  the  concurrence  of  pope  and  council,  the  voice  of 
the  united  episcopate,  is  requisite  for  the  validity  of  a  doctrinal 
definition.  When  a  council  itself,  however,  affirmed  the  contrary 
view,  in  concurrence  with  a  pope,  what  could  they  say  ?  The  bish- 
ops gave  in  their  adhesion  to  the  Vatican  decrees.  Even  Hefele, 
one  of  the  eminent  pupils  of  Mohler,  and  the  author  of  a  learned 
work  on  the  history  of  councils,  who  had  exposed  the  groundless- 
ness of  the  doctrine  of  papal  infallibility,  yielded,  after  a  delay  of 
five  months,  and  gave  in  his  assent.  He  had  said  that  he  would 
lay  down  his  office  rather  than  renounce  to  this  extent  his  mature, 
conscientious  convictions.  But  he  was  overcome  by  the  dread  of 
schism  and  of  isolation.  On  the  25th  of  June,  1871,  he  wrote  to  a 
friend  in  Bonn :  "  I  believed  that  I  was  serving  the  Catholic  Church, 
and  I  was  serving  the  caricature  which  Eomanism  and  Jesuitism  had 
made  out  of  it.  Not  until  I  was  in  Rome  was  it  perfectly  clear  to  me 
that  what  they  pursue  and  practice  (treibt  und  iibt)  there  has  only 
the  false  semblance  (schein)  and  name  of  Christianity — only  the 
shell ;  the  kernel  is  gone  :  everything  is  utterly  externalized."  He 
had  seen  Rome,  and  it  affected  him  somewhat  as  it  did  Luther. 
But  Hefele  was  not  a  Luther.  Six  weeks  after  writing  this  letter 
he  made  up  his  mind  to  accept  the  new  dogma. 


1648-18S7.]    THE  PAPACY  SINCE  THE  FALL  OF  NAPOLEON  I.  639 

A  considerable  number  of  theologians,  however,  at  the  head  of 
whom  was  Ignatius  von  DoUinger,  the  ablest  and  most  learned 
of  the  German  Catholic  divines,  refused  to  submit.  They  claimed 
that  the  council  was  not  really  united,  and  that  the  result  was  ob- 
tained by  unfair  means.  Separate  congregations,  under  the  name 
of  "  Old  CathoUcs,"  were  organized.  Contrary  to  the  first  intention 
of  Dollinger  and  his  associates  at  Munich,  a  separation  took  place 
of  the  party  of  which  he  was  the  principal  leader.  Ordination  for 
their  first  bishop,  Eeinkens,  was  procured  from  the  bishop  of  one 
of  the  old  Janseuist  churches  in  Holland,  in  which  the  e]Discopal 
succession  had  been  preserved.  A  like  movement  developed  itself 
in  considerable  strength  in  Switzerland.  Several  conferences  or 
congi-esses  of  the  Old  Catholics  were  held.  The  organization  of 
the  Old  Catholics  was  recognized  by  the  German  governments. 
The  seceding  body  called  a  conference,  in  order  to  promote  a  con- 
federation of  churches,  which  was  attended  by  Russians  and 
Greeks,  and  by  certain  English  and  American  Episcopalians.  It 
Conferences  ^^^  ^^  Bonu  iu  1874,  and  had  for  its  result  the  abolition 
at  Bonn,  q£  compulsorj'  fasting  and  confession,  the  decision  to  use 
the  vernacvdar  in  public  worship,  to  permit  the  mai-riage  of  priests, 
and  to  allow  the  communion  in  both  kinds  to  members  of  the  Eng- 
lish Episcopal  Church.  Towards  this  church  and  the  Greek  Church 
a  friendly  attitude  was  assumed.  At  a  second  conference,  also  at 
Bonn,  in  1875,  an  agreement  essentially  in  accordance  with  the 
Greek  view  was  reached  on  the  subject  of  the  procession  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  In  Paris,  an  eloquent  preacher.  Pore  Hyacinthe  Loy- 
son,  formed  an  Old  Catholic  congregation.  The  Old  Catholic  move- 
ment commanded  the  approval  of  a  highly  respectable  body  of  cul- 
tivated men.     But  it  had  no  deep  root  among  the  common  people. 

In  the  several  states  of  Germany  the  Roman  Catholic  clergy  are 
paid  by  the  State,  which  iu  turn  exercises  a  supervision  over  their 
The  Faik  laws  cducatiou.  lu  Prussia,  Frederic  William  IV.  granted 
in  Prussia.  large  privileges  to  the  Catholic  body.  Everywhere  in 
Europe  the  decrees  of  the  Vatican  Council  awakened  an  apprehen- 
sion that  the  Church  of  Rome  might  encroach  on  the  prerogatives 
of  the  State.  This  conviction  was  strongly  expressed  in  pamphlets 
by  Mr.  Gladstone.  The  ultramontane  party,  in  the  judgment  of 
Bismarck,  threatened  the  stability  of  the  German  Empire.  Hence 
the  German  governments  protected  the  Old  Catholics,  and  Prussia 
passed  stringent  enactments  known  as  the  "  Falk  laws,"  from  the 
name  of  the  minister  who  proposed  them.  "  Neither  iu  Church 
nor  State,"   said  Bismarck,    "are  we   on   the  way  to   Canossa." 


540  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

These  laws  were  framed  in  1873.  Subsequently  the  disaffection 
occasioned  by  them  among  Catholics,  who  complained  of  oppres- 
sion, and  the  exigencies  of  German  politics,  moved  the  chancellor 
to  consent  to  the  repeal  of  the  most  obnoxious  of  these  provi- 
sions. The  rapid  growth  of  socialism,  and  the  need  of  the  sup- 
port of  "  the  Centre,"  or  the  Eoman  Catholic  political  party,  in 
the  Imperial  Diet,  in  connection  with  financial  measures,  induced 
Bismarck  to  enter  into  friendly  relations  with  Pope  Leo  XIII.  He 
chose  the  pope  as  umpire  in  the  dispute  with  Spain  respecting  the 
CaroHne  Islands.  He  received  from  the  pope  the  decoration  of  the 
"  Order  of  Chi-ist."  The  Eoman  Catholics  were  requested  by  Leo 
to  lend  the  chancellor  their  support  in  passing  "  the  Septennate" 
— the  measure  for  the  augmentation  of  the  German  army,  to  ex- 
tend over  a  period  of  seven  years.  German  Protestants,  with  high 
notions  of  monarchical  authority,  may  be  an  object  of  less  dread 
to  Eoman  ultramontanism  than  French  Eepublicans,  disciples  of  de- 
ism or  materialism. 

After  the  Eevolution  of  1848,  when  the  socialistic  mobs  were 
suppressed  by  Cavaignac,  the  dread  excited  by  the  violence  of 
Christianity  ^^^^  "  foin-th  estate,"  the  working  class,  opened  to  Louis 
in  France.  Napolcou  a  path  to  the  presidency,  and  to  the  suc- 
cessful usurpation  of  supreme  power  as  Emperor  (December  3 
and  4, 1851).  He  was  hailed  as  the  saviour  of  society.  The  clergy 
were   favorable  to  him.      He   professed   to   adopt  the 

apo  eon  .  pj,-j^gjpjgg  q£  ^^le  Coucordat  of  1801,  but  in  matters  of 
religion,  as  in  other  things,  he  was  governed  by  the  exigencies  of 
the  hour.  As  soon  as  he  projjosed  to  espouse  Gallicanism,  he  drew 
on  himself  the  denunciation  of  the  clergy,  including  Dupanloup, 
Bishop  of  Orleans.  He  was  styled  "the  second  Pilate."  The 
government  forbade  the  publication  of  the  pope's  encyclic  and 
syllabus.  After  the  defeat  of  Chai-les  Albert,  at  Novara  (1849), 
Napoleon,  then  President,  to  prevent  the  complete  triumph  of  the 
Austrians  in  Italy,  had  sent  French  troops  to  Eome  under  Oudinot, 
by  whom  Garibaldi  and  his  brave  republican  followers  were  driven 
out.  Eome  was  now  held,  and  the  pope  protected  there,  by  the 
French  soldiers.  This  brought  on  Napoleon  the  WTath  of  the 
liberal  party.  In  the  war  with  Austria  (1859),  he  went  to  the  res- 
cue of  the  Italian  cause,  but  the  Peace  of  Villafranca  left  the  work 
which  he  undertook  half  done.  The  Italians  conquered  for  them- 
selves all  Italy  except  Venice  and  Eome  ;  and  Louis  Napoleon  de- 
fended Eome  against  them.     He  assumed  the  part  of  protector  of 

the  Holy  See — a  part  in  which  he  was  supported  not  only  by  the 


1648-1887.]    THE  PAPACY  SINCE  THE  PALL  OF  NAPOLEON  L  541 

clerical  party  in  France,  but  by  all  Frenchmen  who,  on  general 
grounds,  were  hostile  to  the  unification  of  Italy  under  the  rule  of 
the  House  of  Savoy.  In  the  closing  period  of  Naj^oleon's  career, 
the  ultramontane  party,  zealously  sustained  by  the  Empress  Eu- 
genie, whose  political  influence  was  baleful,  exercised  too  much 
power.  The  disastrous  Mexican  war  for  the  enthronement  of 
Maximilian  was  undertaken,  and  afterwards  the  fatal  war  with  Ger- 
many. Napoleon  was  overthrown  at  Sedan.  Then  followed  the 
surrender  of  Paris,  after  the  vain  struggle  of  Gambetta  and  his 
patriotic  auxiliaries.  When  the  conditions  of  peace  with  the  Ger- 
mans were  settled,  there  occurred  the  terrible  conflict  Avith  the 
Communists,  in  which  Darboy,  the  Archbishop  of  Paris,  was  one  of 
the  victims  of  their  ferocious  cruelty.  In  this  period  of  distress, 
France,  as  on  other  occasions  of  calamity  and  despair,  appeared  to 
turn  to  the  priest  for  counsel  and  comfort.  This  was  manifest  in 
uitramon-  ^^^  National  Assembly  of  1871.  The  clerical  party  was 
tanism.  strong  and  was  possessed  with  the  ultramontane  sj)irit. 

Without  leave  from  the  government,  Guibert,  Archbishop  of  Paris, 
promulgated  the  new  dogma  of  papal  infallibility.  Even  Duf)an- 
loup,  after  the  Vatican  Council,  became  a  most  active  leader  in  the 
ultramontane  phalanx.  He  did  much  to  procure  the  defeat  of 
the  law  for  establishing  schools  for  universal  education  under  the 
management  of  the  state,  and  with  it  compulsory  education.  After 
the  fall  of  Thiers,  in  1873,  on  whose  superior  sagacity,  under  the 
pressure  of  the  financial  situation,  even  the  clericals  had  for 
a  while  been  obliged  to  rely,  McMahon  came  into  power.  Under 
the  ministry  of  Broglie,  and  then  of  Buffet  (1875),  clericalism  main- 
tained its  ascendency.  Government  authorized  the  establishing  of 
Catholic  universities,  with  permission  to  confer  degrees.  A  re- 
action ensued,  which  grew  in  strength,  until  the  marshal-president, 
in  1877,  was  forced  to  accept  the  verdict  of  the  country,  and  a  re- 
publican cabinet  was  formed.  In  1880,  the  measures  of  Jules  Feny 
The  Ferry  ^^^  ^^^  associatcs  respecting  education  were  adopted, 
laws.  ijijjQ  pupils  in  the  Catholic  universities  were  required  to 

be  enrolled,  to  be  examined,  and  to  take  their  degrees  in  the  state  uni- 
versities. The  "  March  decrees '"'  for  breaking  up  the  Jesuit  society, 
and  other  orders  and  congregations  not  recognized  by  the  state, 
were  carried  out  when  Gambetta  became  the  head  of  the  ministry 
(November,  1881).  The  school  law  of  the  minister,  Paul  Bert, 
provided  for  compulsory  attendance  at  the  public  schools,  and  for 
the  complete  secularizing  of  them.  Among  the  other  measures  of 
the  anti-clerical  majority  was  the  law,  passed  in  1881,  giving  the 


542  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

■whole  jurisdiction  over  questions  of  divorce  to  the  civil  courts. 
The  destruction  of  Gallicanism  in  the  French  Catholic  Church,  and 
the  sway  of  ultramontanism,  are  owing  to  several  causes.  The 
French  Church,  in  the  present  century,  has  not  had,  as  of  old,  in 
the  civil  government  of  the  nation  a  champion  and  a  rally  in  g-jDoint 
for  its  forces.  It  has  turned  to  Rome  as  a  source  of  strength.  It 
looks  on  infidelity,  in  the  form  of  deism  or  materialism,  as  lying  at 
the  root  of  republican  movements  for  the  secularizing  of  the  state 
and  the  overthrow  of  clerical  control.  The  reign  of  ultramontan- 
ism has  brought  with  it  a  reign  of  superstition.  Mari- 
upers  I  on.  ^|g^|.^,y  -^^^  flourished  as  never  before.  The  worship  of 
the  "  Sacred  Heart "  of  Jesus  has  called  out  a  wide-spread  effusion 
of  mystical  and  sentimental  devotion.  Alleged  miracles,  as  at 
Lourdes  and  La  Salette,  have  been  used  to  draw  multitudes  of 
pilgrims  to  these  places,  honored  by  apparitions  of  the  Virgin. 
Against  the  ultramontane  glorifying  of  the  papacy  there  have  not 
been  wanting  earnest,  but  wholly  ineffectual,  protests.  Montalem- 
bert  saw  in  it  something  wholly  different  from  that  non-interference 
on  the  part  of  the  state  with  the  distinctly  spiritual  office  of  the  pope, 
for  which  in  his  younger  days  he  had  contended.  In  1852,  he 
spoke  of  "  the  lavish  encouragement  given  under  the  pontificate  of 
Pius  IX.  to  exaggerated  doctrines,  outraging  the  good-sense  as 
well  as  the  honor  of  the  human  race."  He  adverted  to  the  "incred- 
ible wheel-about"  of  the  French  clergy  in  its  new  devotion  to 
Rome.  In  a  letter  to  Montalembert  (September  10,  1853),  Sibour, 
Archbishop  of  Paris,  spoke  "  of  the  double  idolatry  of  the  ultra- 
montane school  —  the  idolatry  of  the  temporal  power  and  the 
spiritual  power."  Later,  in  a  letter  published  in  the  London  Times 
of  March  7,  1870,  Montalembert  chastises  those  who  have  "  im- 
molated justice  and  truth,  reason  and  history,  in  one  gi'eat  holo- 
caust to  the  idol  they  raised  up  for  themselves  in  the  Vatican." 

No  body  of  Christians  was  ever  more  entitled  to  the  distinction 

of  being  a  martyr-church  than  the  Huguenot  Church  of  France. 

The  ingenious  barbarism  of  Louis  XIV.  did  not  destroy 

of  the  Hugue-  it.     The  remnant  of  the  faithful  that  survived  was  driven 

to  worship,  almost  without  pastors,  and  literally  in  "  dens 

and  caves  of  the  earth."     The  man  who  did  most  to  infuse  new 

life  into  this  feeble  and  prostrate  body  of  disciples  was  Antoine 

Court  Court  (1606-1760),  who  was  born  in  a  family  of  pious 

peasants,  had  little  education,  but  was  familiar  with  the 

Scriptures,  and  had  the  qualifications  of  mind  and  heart  which 

fitted  him  to  be  a  leader  and  guide.     He  became  the  head  of  the 


1648-1887.]     THE  PAPACY  SINCE  THE  FALL  OF  NAPOLEON  I.  543 

"  church  of  the  desert."  He  rallied,  taught,  and  reorganized  his 
forlorn  brethren,  and  when  driven  from  France,  in  1730,  with  a 
price  set  upon  his  life,  he  established  at  Lausanne  a  theological 
college,  whence  Huguenot  preachers  were  sent  forth  into  France, 
down  to  the  time  when  Napoleon  I.  set  up  the  first  empire.  As 
late  as  17G2,  Jean  Galas,  a  Protestant  merchant  of  Tou- 

Calas. 

louse,  pei-ished  as  a  victim  of  blind  fanaticism  and  cni- 
elty.  Falsely  accused  of  taking  the  life  of  one  of  his  sons,  a  Roman 
Catholic,  who  had  committed  suicide,  the  father,  by  the  sentence 
of  the  Parliament  of  Toulouse,  was  tortured,  broken  on  the  wheel, 
and  then  burned  to  ashes.  Voltaire  was  instrumental  in  procuring 
a  reversal  of  the  sentence  from  the  king  and  council  at  Versailles, 
and  Avhat  rejaaration  it  was  possible  to  make  to  the  family. 

The  first  Napoleon  struck  a  blow  at  the  Reformed  Church  by 
putting  down  the  General  Synods.  The  second  Napoleon,  it  may 
be  added,  did  a  like  injury  by  putting  down  the  Provincial  Synods. 

In  the  reign  of  Louis  XVIH.,  about  1820,  a  revival  of 
Keformed       religion,  pi'oceeding  from  the  influence  of  the  Wesley- 

ans  who  had  long  existed  in  Normandy,  spread  through 
the  Huguenot  churches.  The  effect  was  perpetuated  in  the  evan- 
gelical spirit  which  has  continued  until  now  in  these  communities. 

But  in  the  Reformed  Church  in  France  there  have  exist- 
and  Ration-     ed  for  a  half  century,  and  even  longer,  two  parties,  the 

orthodox  and  the  liberal.  As  far  back  as  1831,  Adolf 
Monod,  a  preacher  of  extraordinary  talents,  who  acquired  afterwards 
very  high  distinction,  was  displaced  from  his  charge  by  the  con- 
sistory of  Lyons,  in  consequence  of  a  sermon  too  conservative  and 
severe  for  the  prevailing  taste.  Opinions  far  more  advanced  in  the 
direction  of  liberalism  than  were  then  entertained,  were  propa- 
gated through  the  influence  of  Colani  and  Scherer,  of  the  new 
Strasburg  school  of  theologians.  The  academy  at  Montauban,  of 
which  Adolf  Monod  was  the  head,  represented  orthodox  opin- 
ions, without,  however,  any  excess,  or  admixture  of  bigotry.  In 
Paris,  Coquerel  was  the  leader  of  the  rationalistic  party.  At  an 
unofiicial  synod  in  Paris,  in  1848,  Frederic  Monod,  a  pastor  of  rare 
excellence  and  ability,  and  Count  Gasparin,  advocates  of  evangelical 
opinions,  withdrew,  and  then  was  formed  a  "  Union  of  Free  Evan- 
gelical Churches,"  about  thirty  in  number.  It  has  relied  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  churches  upon  the  voluntary  principle.  In  1864,  on 
motion  of  Guizot,  a  declaration  of  faith  in  the  fundamental  verities 
of  the  gospel  was  adopted  by  the  Pastoral  Conference,  or  unoffi- 
cial synod.     This  was  the  occasion  of  a  breach  between  the  evan- 


044  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

gelicals  and  the  rationalists,  who  counted  among  their  leaders 
Coquerel,  the  younger,  and  Albert  Eeville.  The  publication  of 
Kenan's  "  Life  of  Christ,"  and  the  commotion  induced  by  it,  were 
not  without  eflfect  in  hastening  this  crisis.  In  1872,  the  thirtieth 
national  synod  of  the  Reformed  Church  was  permitted  to  meet  in 
Paris.  A  short  confession  of  faith  was  sanctioned,  the  adoption  of 
which  was  advocated  by  Guizot.  About  two-thirds  of  the  mem- 
bers were  on  the  conservative  side.  The  adverse  party  strenuously 
opjiosed  the  proceeding,  on  the  ground  that  no  creed  should  be 
made  obligatory  by  the  synod.  The  names  of  the  dissidents  were 
stricken  from  the  voting  lists.  This  act,  however,  was  subsequently 
decided  by  Minister  Ferry  to  be  illegal ;  but  under  the  new  arrange- 
ments with  regard  to  consistories,  the  conservatives  unexpect- 
edly were  found  in  Paris  to  have  the  majority.  In  consequence  of 
the  division,  the  government  no  longer  allows  the  General  Synods 
"Unofficial  ^o  meet ;  but  the  Conferences  have  the  character  of  un- 
synods."  official  syuods,  and  are  often  so  designated.  They  can 
only  give  counsel.  There  are  not  far  from  six  hundred  congre- 
gations holding  evangelical  opinions. 

From  the  year  1830  the  "Societe  evangelique"  in  Paris,  by  col- 
portage,  evangelists,  and  other  kindred  agencies,  exerted  a  wide- 
spread influence  in  the  dissemination  of  evangelical  truth.  Efforts 
of  this  sort  provoked,  in  1854,  aggressions  in  Strasburg  from  the 
side  of  the  Jesuits.  The  "McAll  Mission,"  provided  and  sup- 
ported mostly  by  British  and  American  Christians,  has  formed  no 
churches,  but  has  done  much  by  preaching  services  and  other 
means  to  make  converts  to  the  evangelical  faith. 

Mazzini  and  the  Republicans  had  seen  no  way  to  the  unity  of 
Italy  except  by  the  overthrow  of  all  the  existing  governments,  and 
Union  of  of  the  papacy  with  them.  The  pliilosopher,  Gioberti, 
i^^^y-  had  conceived  a  scheme,  which  was  approved  by  many, 

of  a  confederacy  of  the  five  Italian  governments  under  the  pope  as 
president,  Sardinia  to  be  the  principal  secular  power.  The  dream 
of  a  papal  presidency  vanished  when  Pius  IX.  broke  with  the  lib- 
eral party.  Under  D'Azeglio,  and  other  enlightened  statesmen, 
measures  were  taken,  despite  the  protests  of  the  pope,  to  cast  off 
papal  interference  with  matters  of  civil  administration,  and  to 
make  the  king  supreme  in  the  Sardinian  kingdom.  Cavour,  in  his 
maxim  of  "a  free  Church  in  a  free  State,"  grasj)ed  the  true  solu- 
tion of  the  problem  of  Italian  freedom  and  union.  A  scheme,  such 
as  Napoleon  I.  had  cherished  in  1813,  of  making  the  pope  a  sub- 
ject was  out  of  the  question.      In  what  relation  should  the  pope 


1648-1887.]    THE  PAPACY  SINCE  THE  FALL  OF  NAPOLEON  I.  545 

stand  to  Italy  and  to  Europe,  and  how  was  he  to  administer  his  of- 
fice as  head  of  the  Church,  after  his  temporal  dominion  should  be 
The  Law  of  wrcsted  from  him  ?  The  answer  to  this  question  was 
Guaranties,  found  in  the  Law  of  Guaranties,  by  which  the  inviola- 
bility of  the  pope,  both  personal  and  official,  was  established,  and 
he  was  left  free  in  his  intercourse  with  foreign  states,  and  in  the 
conduct  of  spiritual  affairs.  The  Vatican  and  its  dependencies  were 
left  under  his  control.  But  in  order  to  secure  a  real  freedom  to 
the  State,  the  Italian  Government  had  before  it  the  task  of  carry- 
ing out  and  extending  the  ecclesiastical  changes  which  had  already 
been  made  in  Sardinia.  The  reforms  adopted,  such  as  the  sup- 
pression of  monasteries,  with  exceptions  specified  by  law,  and  the 
forming  of  a  fund  out  of  their  property  for  the  education  of  the 
people,  and  the  requirement  of  civil  man'iage  to  precede  any  re- 
ligious solemnity,  have  been  effected,  step  by  step,  by  the  enlight- 
ened rulers  of  Italy.  An  unusual  outcry  was  raised  when  the  law 
respecting  the  monasteries  was  extended,  in  1884,  over  the  property 
of  the  Society  of  the  Propaganda — a  heavy  tax  being  laid  upon  it. 

The  unity  of  Italy  brought  liberty  to  Protestants.  After  1848 
Bibles  and  tracts  began  to  be  circulated  freely,  especially  by  Eng- 
The  wai-  ^ish  travellers.  Francesco  and  Eosa  Madiai,  imprisoned 
denses.  £qj,  ^j^g^j.  faith  in  Tuscany,  were  set  free  in  1853,  in  con- 

sequence of  the  imperative  tone  of  Lord  Palmerston.  A  Walden- 
sian  congregation  was  formed  in  1848,  in  Florence,  and  engaged  ac- 
tively in  i-eligious  work.  A  division  took  place  among  its  members, 
the  "Free  Church  "  of  Italy  being  formed  by  those  who  were  not 
satisfied  with  all  the  traditional  Waldensian  customs.  Luigi  de 
Sanctis,  a  man  of  striking  ability,  a  converted  priest,  Avas  attached  for 
ten  years  to  the  Free  Church,  and  then,  in  1864,  connected  himself 
with  the  Waldensians.  Florence  was  made  their  principal  seat  of 
theological  instruction.  Important  services  were  rendered  to  the 
Free  Church  by  the  eloquent  orator,  Gavazzi,  a  convert  who  had 
belonged  to  the  order  of  the  Barnabites.  In  1870,  an  assembly  at 
Milan  of  delegates  from  thirty-two  congregations  formed  a  third 
Protestant  organization,  the  "Free  Christian  Church."  Protes- 
tantism, under  the  protection  of  the  Italian  Government,  is  preached 
within  the  walls  of  Rome  by  several  Christian  denominations. 

In  Holland  the  adherents  of  the  different  creeds  enjoy  equal 
civil  and  political  rights.  This  country  has  not  escaped  the  conflict 
Christianity  between  rationalism  and  orthodoxy  which  has  agitated  all 
in  Houand.  Protestaut  lands.  The  consequence  of  this  controversy 
was  the  formation,  in  1834,  of  the  separatist  "  Christian  Reformed 
35 


546  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

Church,"  which  has  several  hundred  congregations.  The  progress 
of  doctrinal  controversy  in  the  National  Eeformed  Church  pro- 
duced sharply  defined  parties.  The  General  Synod,  in  1853,  dis- 
avowed an  agreement  with  anything  more  than  the  spirit  and  sub- 
stance of  the  old  confessions.  There  were  three  parties 
and  ration-  which  ai'osc  :  the  strict  Calvinists  ;  the  more  liberal  Cal- 
\'inists,  of  whom  the  eminent  theologian,  Professor  von 
Oosterzee,  the  author  of  a  treatise  on  dogmatic  theology,  was  a 
leader ;  and  the  rationalistic  school,  which  included  in  its  ranks 
Professors  Kuenen  and  Scholten.  In  1856,  all  doctrinal  religious 
instruction  was  banished  by  law  from  the  schools  of  Holland.  In 
1876,  the  old  theological  chairs  in  the  universities  were  by  law 
superseded  by  professorships  of  the  history  of  religion,  and  it  was 
left  to  the  National  Synod,  out  of  the  fund  granted  to  it,  to  ar- 
range for  special  theological  instruction.  When  professorships  in 
theology  were  established  by  the  synod,  and  filled  by  Rationalists, 
the  Calvinistic  party  founded  the  Free  Reformed  University  at 
Amsterdam,  which  was  opened  in  1880.  The  central,  supreme 
authority  in  the  established  Church  is  a  small  Synod.  The  con- 
trol of  the  Synod,  which  is  accused  of  a  leaning  to  liberalism,  has 
lately  been  rejected  by  a  number  of  churches,  led  by  Professor 
Kuyper  of  Amsterdam,  which  claim  to  be  faithful  to  the  creed  of 
Dort.  These  have  not,  however,  dissevered  their  connection  with 
the  National  Church. 

The  constitution  of  Belgium  contained  the  most  full  guaranties 
of  reHgious  liberty.  But  a  struggle  soon  arose  between  Radicalism 
Conflicts  in  ^^^^  Ultramontanism.  In  1834,  the  ultramontane  party 
Belgium.  founded  the  University  of  Louvain,  and,  with  the  utmost 
industry  and  zeal,  strove  to  spread  their  system  among  the  people. 
With  the  overthrow  of  the  ministry  which  was  devoted  to  their 
cause,  in  1878,  there  began  in  Belgium  the  "Kulturkampf,"  as  the 
Germans  call  it — the  struggle  with  ecclesiastical  claims — which  has 
raged  in  most  of  the  countries,  but  nowhere  more  intensely  or  more 
incessantly  than  in  Belgium,  with  alternations  of  victory  and  defeat 
for  either  party. 

Such  was  the  state  of  theological  opinion  in  Germany  in  the 
second  decade  of  the  present  century,  that  there  seemed  to  be  no 
The  Evan  el  ^^^^^^cle  iu  the  Way  of  the  union  of  the  Lutheran  and  the 
j^J" Union"  Reformed  Churches.  The  three-hundredth  anniversary 
of  the  posting  of  Luther's  theses,  the  Jubilee  of  the  Ref- 
ormation, was  deemed  by  the  King  of  Prussia,  Frederic  William 
,111.  (1797-1840),  a  propitious  time  for  this  pacific  movement.     Ac- 


1648-1887.]    THE  PAPACY  SINCE  THE  FALL  OF  NAPOLEON  L  547 

cordingly,  from  the  two  bodies  the  Evangelical  Church  of  Prussia 
was  constituted.  The  union  took  place  in  a  number  of  Protestant 
states.  It  encountered,  however,  vehement  opposition.  One  of  its 
prominent  opponents  was  Glaus  Harms  (1778-1855),  a  powerful 
pi-eacher  at  Kiel,  a  champion  of  Luthei-anism,  who  promulgated 
ninety-five  new  theses  against  the  errors  of  the  times.  Unfortun- 
ately, attempts  were  made  to  unite  congregations  in  newly  pre- 
pared forms  of  worship,  which  provoked  hostility  from  a  consider- 
able number  who  were  strongly  wedded  to  the  old  Lutheran 
doctrines  and  ways.  Such  was  the  effect  of  the  new  litui'gy  intro- 
duced into  Prussia  in  1821.  There  were  secessions  of  Lutherans, 
and  new  congregations  were  formed.  Unwise  efforts  to  suppress 
this  dissent  from  the  recent  ecclesiastical  arrangements  were  made, 
the  only  effect  being  to  stiffen  in  their  opposition  those  who  re- 
garded themselves  as  witnesses  for  the  genuine  teaching  of  Luther, 
and  against  the  erroneous  Calvinistic  view  of  the  Sacrament. 

Under  the  reign  of  Frederic  William  IV.  (1840-1858),  both 
before  and  after  the  revolutionary  epoch  of  1848,  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic Church  was  allowed  to  acquire  privileges  which,  in  connection 
with  the  spread  of  ultramontane  teaching,  sowed  the  seeds  of  the 
contest  which  broke  out  at  the  close  of  the  Franco-Prussian  War. 

In  Denmark,  a  long  controversy  between  extremely  zealous  ad- 
vocates of  the  old  Lutheran  doctrines  against  the  latitudinarian 
Keiigion  in  systcm  prevalent  in  the  State  Church  disappeared  in  the 
Denmark.  commou  hostility  to  Germany,  which  was  aroused  after 
1848,  in  connection  with  the  Schleswig-Holstein  question.  In  1849, 
the  Danish  Government  placed  the  principal  religious  bodies,  in- 
cluding the  Jews,  on  an  equality  as  to  legal  privileges.  In  1857,  the 
legal  requirement  that  all  children  should  be  baptized  was  abro- 
gated. This  was  owing  to  the  spread  of  Baptist  opinions,  which 
were  introduced  into  Denmark  and  other  neighboring  covmtries 
from  Hamburg.  There,  in  1834,  a  small  Baptist  church  had  been 
formed  by  Rev.  Barnas  Sears,  under  the  pastoral  care  of  Mr.  Oncken. 

In  Sweden,  after  1803,  the  "  Readers  " — "  Liisare  " — so  called 
from  their  custom  of  reading  the  Bible  and  Luther's  writings,  held 
Religion  in  meetings,  for  promoting  a  more  lively  sort  of  devotion 
Sweden.  ^jjg^jj   ^^^  approved  in  the  Established  Church.     They 

were  harassed  by  the  authorities,  and  punished  with  fine  and  im- 
prisonment. A  change  of  public  feeling  in  relation  to  dissent 
gradually  took  place,  until  in  1877  all  Christian  dissenters,  and  even 
Jews,  were  admitted  to  the  suffrage  and  made  eligible  to  all  civil 
offices.    Non-confox'mist  religious  bodies  are  allowed  to  form  or- 


548  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF   WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

ganizations.  This  step  has  been  taken  by  the  Methodists.  In 
1877,  Waldenstrom,  a  teacher  at  Gefle,  started  a  religious  move- 
ment of  a  practical  character,  which  has  produced  a  strong  ef- 
fect. In  his  doctrinal  teaching,  while  evangelical  in  his  spirit,  he 
has  presented  expositions  of  the  atonement  at  variance  with  An- 
selmic  ideas,  and  leaning  towards  what  is  called  the  "moral  view." 
Emigi-ants  from  Sweden  to  the  United  States,  who  are  in  sympathy 
with  him,  have  organized  themselves  in  congregational  churches. 
In  Sweden,  the  followers  of  Waldenstrom,  whose  addresses  and 
writings  are  very  influential,  have  organized  many  distinct  congre- 
gations. Although  they  do  not  attend  the  worship  of  the  estab- 
lished Church,  nor  receive  the  sacraments  from  it,  they  are  still, 
nominally  at  least,  in  connection  with  it. 

The  predominance  acquired  by  the  Jesuits  in  the  Catholic  can- 
tons of  Switzerland,  after  1828  gave  rise  to  the  Separate  League 
(Sonderbund)  of  these  cantons,  and  occasioned  civil  war. 
thoucism  in     In  the  ncw  Swiss  constitution  of  1848,  freedom  of  con- 

Switzerland  r        •  ^  i       • 

science,  equality  of  confessions,  and  exclusion  of  the 
Jesuits  were  ordained.  But  the  Jesuits  could  not  be  kept  out,  and 
were  especially  numerous  and  active  in  Geneva.  The  Swiss  gov- 
ernments were  roused  by  ultramontane  encroachments,  and  engaged 
in  a  determined  conflict  with  the  promoters  of  them.  In  1873,  the 
papal  nuncius  was  expeUed.  Since  Leo  XTTT.  became  pontiff,  more 
pacific  relations  have  been  established  with  Rome. 

German-speaking  Protestants  in  Switzerland  have  shared  in  the 
varieties  and  fluctuations  of  opinion  which  have  existed  in  Germany. 
German  ^^  Bascl,  the  representatives  of  the  liberal  evangelical 
Protestants,  gchool  havc  had  much  influence.  In  Zurich,  although 
the  people  refused  to  permit  Strauss  to  take  the  chair  in  theology 
to  which  he  was  appointed,  the  i-ationalistic  school  has  prevailed 
in  the  seats  of  theological  instruction.  In  many  of  the  cantons, 
civil  marriage  has  been  legalized,  and  the  schools  disjoined  from 
their  connection  with  the  Church.  In  almost  all  of  the  Protestant 
cantons,  the  tendency  has  been  to  aboHsh  doctrinal  tests  as  embod- 
ied in  the  creeds,  or  indirectly  in  liturgical  books. 

The  religious  awakening  among  French  Protestants  in  Switzer- 
land, in  the  early  part  of  the  century,  emanated  principally  fi-om 
French  Prot-  Great  Britain.  Among  the  first  to  receive  a  new  spirit- 
cHtants.  ^^Y  impulse  of  this  nature  was  Rev.  Cesar  Malan  (1787- 

18G4),  who  was  enthusiastic  to  the  end  of  life  in  his  efforts  to  awa- 
ken in  others  the  Christian  life  and  hope.  The  bitter  opposition 
to  this  movement  issued,  in  1832,  in  the  foundation  of  a  school  of 


164S-1887.]     THE  PAPACY  SINCE  THE  PALL  OP  NAPOLEON  I.         549 

theology  at  Geneva,  and  in  the  establishment  of  a  Free  Church 
alongside  the  national  Church.  One  of  the  best-known  represent- 
atives of  the  Geneva  evangelical  school  was  the  teacher  of  theology 
and  author.  Merle  d'Aubigno  (1794-1872).  His  "History  of  the 
Eeformatiou,"  a  detailed,  vivid  narrative,  written  in  a  reverential, 
religious  spirit,  has  had  a  vast  circulation  in  different  countries. 
A  like  movement  at  Lausanne  had  to  encounter  much  persecution. 
In  consequence  of  the  radical  measures  of  the  government  in  1845, 
a  division  took  place.  A  Free  Church  was  founded.  The  princi- 
pal leader  of  the  evangelical  cause  at  Lausanne  was  one  of  the 
most  original  and  briUiant  of  the  French  Protestant  theologians  of 
the  present  age,  Alexander  Vinet  (1797-1847).  He  was 
an  advocate  of  the  rights  of  conscience,  and  of  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  Church  in  relation  to  the  State.  His  profound  in- 
sight as  a  theologian  was  associated  with  a  deep  acquaintance  with 
French  literature,  and  with  a  skill  in  literary  criticism  which  has 
been  appreciated  by  such  masters  of  the  art  as  Sainte  Beuve. 

In  Austria,  after  the  Congress  of  Vienna,  some  degree  of  tolera- 
tion was  still  allowed  to  Protestants,  and  this  was  enlarged  by  the 
Religion  in  Ecvolutiou  of  1848.  But  by  the  Concordat  of  1855  the 
Austria.  ultramontane  party  secured  all  the  power  that  it  craved. 
Prelates  were  allowed  the  freest  communication  with  Kome,  and 
an  almost  unrestrained  exercise  of  hierarchical  authority.  Com- 
plete control  over  the  teaching  in  all  the  schools  was  granted  to 
them,  together  with  full  jurisdiction  in  matrimonial  causes,  and 
censorship  in  relation  to  books.  The  inferior  clergy  and  the  laity 
were  displeased  with  these  extraordinary  provisions.  The  result 
of  the  Italian  war,  and  esi:)ecially  of  the  war  with  Prussia  in  1866, 
was  to  bring  in  a  constitutional  system,  which  abolished  the  most 
obnoxious  ordinances  of  the  concordat.  This  reform,  adopted  in 
1868,  was  followed,  after  the  Vatican  Council,  by  a  complete  dis- 
annulling of  that  arrangement.  Marriage  by  civil  contract  was 
authorized.  The  control  of  education,  except  religious  education, 
was  assumed  by  the  State.  In  case  of  marriage  between  Catholics 
and  Protestants,  the  male  children  were  to  be  educated  according 
to  the  faith  of  the  father ;  the  female  children,  according  to  that  of 
^the  mother. 

The  most  important  ecclesiastical  events  which  have  taken  place 

in  England  during  the  present  century  have  occuri'ed 

events^tn"^^    siuce  the  passagc  of  the  Eeform  Bill,  in   1832.     The 

England.         «' Catholic   Emancipation   Bill,"    which   was   passed   in 

1829,  which  admitted  CathoHcs  to  Parliament  and  other  pubhc 


ggQ  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF   WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

offices,  was  a  signal  for  religious  and  political  movements  of  an 
interestin<T  and  momentous  character.    In  1833,  a  sermon  delivered 

by  John  Keble  may  be  said  to  mark  the  beginning  of  the 
The  Tracts-  q^qj,^  revival  of  the  Anglo-Catholic  theology,  of  which 
ment.  Newmau  and  Pusey  were  the  principal  authors.     An  ac- 

count of  this  movement  will  find  a  place  under  the  History  of 

Doctrine.  After  the  secession  of  Newman  and  Ward, 
^^^'  who  with  other  clergymen  entered  the  Eoman  Catholic 

Church,  there  arose,  in  connection  Avith  the  school  to  which  they  had 
belono'ed,  a  ritualistic  party.     Besides  the  custom  of  confession, 

which  the  Oxford  leaders  had  encouraged,  there  was  a 
Bituau.sm.  j-gtum,  iu  various  particulars,  to  medifeval  ceremonies 
in  worship.  These  innovations  provoked  an  earnest  resistance. 
The  Evangelical  or  Low  Chui'ch  party  displayed  a  renewed  activity. 
In  1836,  they  had  built  Exeter  Hall  as  a  place  for  great  rehgious 
assemblies.  The  Public  Worship  Eegulation  Act  was  passed  in 
1874,  and  under  it  five  ritualistic  clergymen  were  sent  to  prison. 
In  general,  neither  party  gained  satisfaction  in  the  attempt  to  ob- 
tain verdicts  on  points  of  doctrine  from  the  legal  tribunals.  In 
1870,  the  Privy  Council  decided  that  a  clergyman  of  the  Estab- 
lished Church  may  lawfully  preach  "  a  real,  actual,  and  objective 
presence  of  our  Lord,  external  to  the  communicant,  under  the 
form  of  bread  and  wine."  On  the  other  hand,  in  the  Gorham  case, 
in  1849,  it  was  decided  by  the  same  tribunal,  against  the  Bishop 
of  Exeter,  that  the  view  of  the  Evangelicals  on  the  subject  of  bap- 
tismal regeneration  might  be  legally  held  and  taught.  Notwith- 
standing  the  vehement   opposition    of  the   High   Church   party, 

Hampden  was  made  Regius  Professor  of  Divinity  at  Ox- 
den  conSo-  ford,  and,  in  1848,  Bishop  of  Hereford.  Extreme  views 
''^^^^'  held  by  certain   adherents    of    the   Liberal    or   Broad 

Church  party  were  included  in  the  contents  of  the  volume  entitled 
"  Essays  and  Reviews  ; "  but  the  opinions  there  expressed  on  the  in- 
spiration of  the  Bible  and  against  the  eternity  of  future  punish- 
ment were  pronounced  by  the  Pi-ivy  Council  to  be  lawful  for  an 

English  clergyman  to  hold.  Bishop  Colenso  was  de- 
°  ^'"'°*  clared  to  be  deposed  by  the  South  African  bishops  on 
account  of  the  opinions  published  by  him,  in  1862,  on  the  Penta- 
teuch ;  but  their  decision  was  pronounced  invalid  by  the  same  tribu- 
nal. In  1867,  a  Pan-Anglican  Council,  made  up  of  bishops  of  the 
Pan-AnBiicaa  Anglican  Episcopal  Churches,  including  the  bishops  of 
counciu.  tijg  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States,  met,  under 
the  presidency  of  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbmy,  at  Lambeth  Pal- 


1648-1887.]    CHRISTIANITY  IN  THE  EUROPEAN  COUNTRIES.  551 

ace  ;  and  a  like  assembly  was  again  convened  there  in  1878.  These 
meetings  were  for  the  purpose  of  conference  upon  then-  common 
work.  In  1854,  the  convocations  of  Canterbury  and  York  had  per- 
mission to  resume  their  meetings  for  the  transaction  of  business. 
By  the  Convocation  of  Canterbury  the  j)lan  was  adopted  for  a  re- 
visal  of  the  authorized  version  of  the  Scriptures  ;  and  this  plan  was 
carried  out  by  committees,  acting  in  co-operation  with  companies 
of  scholars,  selected  for  the  purpose,  in  the  United  States.  The 
Revised  Version  was  completed  in  1885.  In  1861,  the  first  of  the 
The  Church  scssions  of  an  annual  "  Church  Congress  "  was  held  in 
Congress.  England,  for  the  pubHc  discussion  of  questions  of  special 
importance  to  Christian  people.  In  its  proceedings  laymen  par- 
ticipate. 

Legislation  in  England  has  slowly  removed,  one  after  another, 
disabilities  and  burdens  resting  on  dissenters.  These  changes 
Laws  relating  ^lave  been,  not  in  the  direction  of  comprehension,  but 
to  dissenters,  ^f  couccssion,  and  thus  tend  towards  a  dissolution  of 
the  connection  of  Church  and  State.  The  repeal  of  the  Test  and 
Corporation  Acts  was  effected  in  1828.  After  a  long  struggle, 
marriages  of  dissenters  were  allowed  to  be  solemnized  in  their 
own  chapels,  and  to  be  registered  by  civil  officers.  In  1871,  the 
last  of  the  acts  was  passed  by  which  admission  to  the  universities 
and  to  their  degrees  (except  the  degrees  and  professorships  of 
divinity)  was  granted,  on  equal  terms,  to  Nonconformists.  As  the 
result  of  a  protracted  contest,  Parliament  finally,  in  1868,  passed 
Mr.  Gladstone's  bill  for  the  abolition  of  church-rates  ;  and  dis- 
senters were  no  longer  taxed  for  the  support  of  worship  which 
they  did  not  attend.  In  1880,  the  bill  was  passed  which  allowed 
burials  in  church-yards,  "either  without  any  religious  sei-vice  or 
with  such  Christian  and  orderly  religious  service  "  as  those  having 
charge  of  the  burial  might  prefer.  In  1845,  Jews  were  admitted  to 
municipal  offices,  and  in  1858,  at  the  end  of  a  great  contest,  they 
were  even  made  eligible  to  Parliament.  Not  until  1833  were 
Quakers  permitted  to  substitute  in  courts  of  law  an  affirmation  for 
.„.    ,  ^,.  ^     an  oath.     The  disestablishment  of  the  Irish  Church  by 

Disestablish-  *' 

ment  in  Ire-  an  act,  in  1869,  which  was  consummated  in  1871,  termi- 
nated a  conflict  on  this  subject  which  had  begun  on  the 
passage  of  the  Eeform  Bill.  A  convention  of  clergy  met  in  1870 
to  reorganize  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  Ireland.  In  all 
measures  of  this  class,  as  far  as  they  relate  to  England,  changes 
have  been  withstood,  not  generally  from  any  spirit,  certainly  not 
from  any  conscious   spirit,  of   injustice,  but   from   a   conviction 


552  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA,  [Period  IX. 

that  the  maintenance  of  an  establishment  is  conducive  to  the  relig- 
ious welfare  of  the  nation — that  it  must,  therefore,  be  consistently 
u]3held,  and  that  the  Church  cannot  reasonably  or  rightfiilly  be 
subjected  to  the  govei-nment  of  Jews  or  other  dissenters  who  are 
inimical  to  it.  On  the  other  side,  these  measures  have  been  urged 
and  carried  on  the  ground  expressed  by  Mr.  Gladstone,  that  such 
exclusive  claims  are  unjust  "in  a  divided  country  governed  on 
popular  principles."  Some  of  the  practices  which  have  been  abol- 
ished, such  as  the  requirement  of  the  bmial-service  in  the  church- 
yards, were  repugnant  to  the  feelings  of  many  clergymen,  as  well 
as  to  dissenters  ;  and  "their  long  retention,"  as  an  English  clergy- 
man has  remarked  in  an  essay  on  religion  and  the  churches  in 
the  reign  of  Victoria,  "  is  a  striking  testimony  to  the  strength  of 
the  illogical  elements  in  the  English  character."  It  is  pleasant  to 
record  that  acts  for  the  redistribution  of  revenues  in  the  English 
Church  have  done  much  towards  equalizing  the  incomes  both  of 
the  bishops  and  of  the  parochial  clergy. 

In  1850,  a  great  commotion  was  produced  in  England  by  the 

act  of  Pius  IX.,  dividing  the  country  into  one  metropolitan  and 

n     twelve  episcopal  sees.      Dr.  Wiseman  was  made  Arch- 

cathoiic         bishop  of  Westminster.    The  new  bishops  were  enthroned 

hierarchy.  -^  mi  i      i 

With  much  pomp  and  ceremony.  The  whole  covmtry  was 
in  a  blaze  of  excitement  at  what  was  considered  an  arrogant  aggres- 
sion of  the  Pope  of  Kome.  The  pulpits  resounded  with  invectives, 
and  the  newspapers  were  filled  with  discussions  and  caricatures 
relating  to  the  subject.  Parliament  passed  (February  7,  1851)  the 
Ecclesiastical  Titles  Bill,  forbidding  the  new  titles,  and  containing 
other  stringent  provisions.  The  agitation  gradually  died  away. 
The  law,  says  Mr.  May,  "  was  a  protest  against  an  act  of  the  pope 
which  had  outraged  the  feelings  of  the  people  of  England  ;  but  as 
a  legislative  measure,  it  was  a  dead  letter." 

The  division  between  Presbyterians,  and  Independents  or  Con- 
gregationalists,  in  England,  in  the  last  half  of  the  seventeenth 
congrega-  ccutury,  brokc  down  the  strength  of  Puritanism.  After 
Presbyterians  *^^®  Revolution  of  1688,  the  Presbyterians  gave  up  the 

hope  of  a  National  Church  on  the  basis  of  their  system. 
The  two  classes  of  Puritans,  defeated  and  weakened,  naturally 
drew  nearer  to  one  another.  In  1690,  about  eighty  Pedo-baptist 
dissenting  ministers  of  London  framed  "  Heads  of  Agreement," 
consisting  of  nine  articles,  and  relating  to  government  and  disci- 
pline. It  was  not  an  ecclesiastical  compact,  bvit  merely  indicated 
the  terms  on  which  those  who  formed  it  would  favor  and  recog- 


1648-1887.]      CHRISTIANITY  IN  THE  EDROPEAN  COUNTRIES.  553 

nize  a  closer  union  of  churches.  The  Presbyterians  gave  up  the 
control  of  a  particular  church  by  any  synod  or  other  body  outside 
of  itself,  and  consented  that  each  church  might  choose  its  own  offi- 
cers. Concessions  less  substantial  wei-e  made  by  the  Congrega- 
tionalists.  In  the  administration  of  Church  affairs,  it  was  to  be 
regarded  as  sufficient  to  have  the  consent  of  the  people  to  the  acts 
of  the  officers.  It  was  also  allowed  that  a  man  might  be  ordained 
to  the  ministry  without  taking  charge  of  a  particular  church.  In 
the  ordination  of  pastors,  the  pastors  of  neighboring  churches 
were  to  concur.  The  sanction  of  the  "  Heads  of  Agreement "  by 
the  Saybrook  Platform,  in  1708,  was  one  of  the  measures  the 
adoption  of  which  at  that  time  gave  a  Presbyterian  tinge,  for  a 
period,  to  the  Congregationalism  of  Connecticut.  In  England, 
doctrinal  differences  arose  to  prevent  the  xmion  of  Presbyterians 
and  Congregationalists  from  being  effected.  Many  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian congregations  gradually  embraced  Unitarian  opinions.  During 
this  century,  Puritan  Presby  tei'ianism  in  England  was  re-established, 
in  connection  with  the  Scottish  Church  ;  but  in  1876  the  "  Pi'es- 
byterian  Church  of  England  "  was  constituted  as  a  distinct  body. 
Congregationalism  in  England  within  the  last  half-century  has 
afforded  many  signs  of  a  renewed  vigor.  In  1833,  the  Congrega- 
tional Union  was  formed.  It  meets  to  deliberate,  and  has  no 
legislative  powers.  Its  discussions  have  been  quickening,  and 
under  its  auspices  valuable  publications  have  been  issued.  An 
important  step  has  recently  been  taken  in  the  establishment  of  a 
Congregational  theological  college  at  Oxford.  The  dissenting 
academies  in  the  last  century  furnished  a  good  training,  and  out 
of  them  came  scholars  and  authors  of  repute.  With  the  decline 
of  these  academies,  the  standard  of  clerical  education  fell.  Among 
Congregational  divines  and  authors  of  distinction  are  John  Pye 
Smith  (1774-1851),  who  wrote  an  elaborate  treatise  on  the 
"  Scripture  Testimony  to  the  Messiah  "  and  several  other  works  ; 
Ralph  Wardlaw  (1779-1853),  long  a  pastor  and  theological  teacher 
at  Glasgow  ;  and  Robert  Halley  (1796-1876),  author  of  "  Lectures 
on  the  Sacraments  "  and  other  writings. 

A  sect  calling  themselves  "Brethren,"  but  generally  styled 
"  Plymouth  Brethren,"  found  a  leader  in  1830  in  Rev.  J.  N.  Darby, 
The  Plymouth  ^ho  had  been  an  Ej^iscopal  clergyman  in  Iceland.  They 
Brethren.  gj^.g^.  ^rose  in  that  country  about  1827.  A  distinguishing 
trait  of  the  Brethren  was  a  separation  from  ecclesiastical  fellow- 
ship with  organized  churches,  and  an  entire  rejection  of  an  official 


554  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

ministry  of  every  sort.  They  were,  of  course,  hostile  to  established 
churches.  They  adopted  the  custom  of  celebrating  the  Lord's 
Supper  weekly.  They  held  to  the  premillennial  advent  of  Christ. 
Apart  from  a  few  peculiarities  of  this  nature,  their  tenets  were 
accordant  with  those  of  most  other  Evangelical  beUevers.  Mainly 
thi-ough  the  influence  of  Darby,  they  have  gained  adherents  on 
the  Continent,  especially  in  French  Switzerland.  There  are,  also, 
"Brethren"  in  the  United  States  and  in  Canada.  But  serious 
divisions  have  sprung  up  in  this  school  or  sect,  chiefly  on  questions 
respecting  discipline. 

The  restoration  of  Charles  11.  was  followed  by  the  imposition 
of  Episcopacy  upon  Scotland.  The  leaders  of  the  Covenanting 
Eeiigion  in  party  wcrc  thrown  into  prison.  Four  hundred  minis- 
afterthe  ^®^^  vfevB  ejected  from  their  parishes.  Meetings  held 
Restoration,  jq  "  couvcnticles "  brought  on  new  severities.  The 
Kevolution  of  1688  restored  Presbyterianism.  Most  of  the  "  Cam- 
eronian  "  societies,  which  had  steadfastly  resisted  the  tyrannical 
measures  of  Charles  IE.,  were  not  satisfied  with  the  regulation  of 
Church  affairs  under  the  auspices  of  WilHam,  and  remained  dis- 
tinct. Episcopalian  ministers  who  submitted  to  the  Presbyterian 
order  retained  their  livings.  This  affected  the  course  of  theology 
The  Moder-  "^  ^hc  following  pcriod,  by  bringing  in  an  element  "  mod- 
**®^-  erate,"  or  latitudinarian,  in  its  character.     Under  Queen 

Anne,  in  1712,  lay  patronage  was  restored.  This  subject  was  des- 
tined to  agitate  the  Church  of  Scotland  for  a  long  time  afterwards. 
There  was  a  deep  feeling  averse  to  the  settlement  of  a  minister 
without  the  "call "of  the  church  over  which  he  was  to  preside. 
This  conviction  caused  the  first  secession,  which  was  led  by  Eben- 
ezer  Erskine  in  1737.  From  this  time,  the  "  Moderates,"  who  de- 
fended the  alleged  rights  of  patrons,  and  enforced  them,  were  for 
a  long  period  in  the  ascendency.  The  wave  of  latitudinarianism 
passed  over  Scotland.  The  Moderate  leaders,  of  whom  Robertson, 
the  historian,  v.'as  the  most  influential,  were  men  of  high  culture, 
averse  to  everything  that  looked  like  enthusiasm  in  religion,  and 
were  more  at  home  in  literature  than  in  theology.  Their  measures 
produced  a  rapid  spread  of  dissent.  When  an  unwelcome  minister 
was  forced  on  a  parish,  its  aggrieved  and  dissatisfied  members 
would  forsake  the  old  place  of  worship  and  erect  a  meeting-house 
for  themselves.  This  was  especially  common  in  large  towns.  In 
this  period,  however,  the  Highlanders  were  mostly  won  to  the 
Protestant  faith.     With  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  an 


1648-1887.]      CHRISTIANITY  IN  THE  EUROPEAN  COUNTRIES.  655 

evangelical  revival  commenced.  The  reign  of  the  "  Moderates " 
was  in  a  great  measure  broken  tip.  Their  opposition  to  the  mis- 
sionary efforts  of  men  like  Robert  and  James  Haldane  brought  on 
them  additional  discredit.  A  struggle  against  pluralities,  which 
was  successful,  and  schemes  for  church  extension  and  in  behalf  of 
the  cause  of  foreign  missions,  were  undertaken  by  the  Evangelicals. 
During  this  period,  there  were  proceedings  against  individuals 
charged  with  heresy,  which  it  is  important  to  notice.  John  McLeod 
Campbell,  a  theologian  of  rare  depth  of  intellect  and  of  piety,  was 
deposed  from  the  ministry  in  1831,  for  holding  that  assurance  is  of 
the  essence  of  faith,  and  for  teaching  the  doctrine  of  universal  atone- 
ment. Edward  Irving  (1792-1834),  was  a  preacher  who 
lie  Apostolic  first  served  as  a  colleague  of  Chalmers  in  Glasgow, 
and  then,  by  his  powerful  and  impassioned  eloquence 
in  the  pulpit,  collected  about  him  in  London  large  a\idiences,  em- 
bracing for  a  time  many  persons  of  high  intellectual  and  social  dis- 
tinction. Ho  was  deeply  interested  in  biblical  prophecies,  and 
proclaimed  his  expectation  of  the  speedy  coming  of  Christ.  The 
power  of  speaking  with  tongues  appeared,  or  was  thought  to  ap- 
pear, in  certain  places  in  Scotland,  and  in  Irving's  own  congrega- 
tion in  London.  In  1833,  he  was  deposed  from  the  ministry  by 
the  Presbytery  of  Annan.  The  doctrinal  error  which  gave  offence 
was  the  opinion  that  the  Saviour  took  on  him  our  human  nature  as 
made  temptable  and  corruptible  through  the  fall.  Irving  believed 
that  the  gifts  of  the  Spirit,  and  the  offices  peculiar  to  the  Apostolic 
Church,  including  the  apostolate  itself,  were  restored  by  way  of 
preparation  for  the  Lord's  visible  advent.  To  his  influence  the 
"  Catholic  Apostolic  Church,"  which  cherishes  these  views,  owes 
its  origin — a  body  small  in  numbers,  but  including  individuals  re- 
markable both  for  learning  and  sanctity.  Its  members  claim  to  be, 
not  the  whole,  but  a  part  of  the  one  true  Church.  In  its  creed,  the 
incarnation  stands  in  the  foreground,  while  in  the  eai*thly  life  of 
Jesus  it  is  held  that  he  did  everything  as  a  man,  dependent  on  the 
Holy  Spirit.  Denying  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation,  they  still 
attach  great  importance  to  Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper,  as  mak- 
ing all  believing  recipients  partakers  of  the  new  life  of  which  Christ 
by  his  resurrection  has  become  the  fountain.  In  their  organization, 
they  retain  the  fourfold  ministry  of  prophets,  apostles,  evangelists, 
and  pastors.  They  look  for  the  coming  of  Christ  to  precede  the 
millennium.  They  celebrate  the  Eucharist  on  every  Lord's  Day, 
and  in  their  worship  have  an  elaborate  ritual  and  a  solemn  liturgy. 
The  struggle  against  the  abuses  of  patronage,  which  entered 


ggg  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

on  a  new  stage  in  1833,  was  waged  in  Scotland  for  ten  years.  The 
most  cons]Dicuous  champion  of  the  right  of  the  churches 
Church.  to  choose  their  ministers  was  Thomas  Chalmers  (1780- 
1847).  He  was  a  man  of  versatile  talents,  skilled  in  mathematics 
and  i^hysical  science,  an  adej)t  in  political  economy,  as  well  as  a 
theologian,  and  a  preacher  of  commanding  power.  Finding  that  all 
hope  of  relief  from  the  Scottish  coui'ts  and  from  the  British  Gov- 
ernment was  vain,  Chalmers  and  his  associates,  composing  451 
out  of  1203  ministers,  abandoned  the  Established  Church  of  Scot- 
land, gave  up  manse,  glebe,  and  stij)end,  and  organized  the  Free 
Church.  Houses  of  worship  were  erected,  educational  institutions 
were  founded,  missionary  undertakings  carried  forward,  all  by  vol- 
untary efforts  and  contributions.  In  1874,  patronage  was  abol- 
ished in  the  Established  Church  from  which  they  had 
presbytedan  withdrawn.  The  United  Presbyterian  Church,  another 
Church.  Presbyterian  body  in  Scotland,  was  formed  in  1847,  by 

the  union  of  two  other  bodies  made  up  of  seceders  from  the  na- 
tional Church,  viz.,  the  United  Secession  Church,  and  the  Relief 
Church,  which  began  to  exist  in  1752.  The  United  Presbyterian 
Church  widened  somewhat  the  basis  of  subscription,  and  professed 
its  belief  in  a  universal  atonement.  In  1876  the  "  Cameronians," 
or  "  Reformed  Presbyterians,"  united  with  the  Free  Church. 

Repeated  attempts  of  Rome  to  bring  the  Russian  Church  into 
subjection  to  the  pope  failed  of  success.  Under  Vassili  HI.,  w^hen 
The  Russian  Russia,  as  wcll  as  the  Eastern  Empire,  was  iu  a  state  of 
Church.  weakness  and  disorder,  Isidore,  the  Russian  primate,  at 

the  Council  of  Florence,  in  1439,  consented  to  such  a  union  ;  but 
on  his  retui-n  to  Moscow,  his  act  was  indignantly  repudiated  by 
king  and  people,  and  he  was  deposed.  Once  more,  in  1581,  when 
Russia  was  in  similar  circumstances  of  distress,  Poissevin,  a  Jesuit, 
commissioned  by  Pope  Gregory  XHI.,  made  a  like  unsuccessful 
attempt.  But  in  the  Russian  provinces  which,  with  Lithuania, 
were  annexed  to  Poland,  his  effort  was  successful.  A  imion  was 
effected  with  the  Metropolitan  of  Iviev  and  a  portion  of  his  clergy. 
The  persecution  of  Greek  Christians  in  Poland,  and  such  measures 
as  the  espousal  by  Sigismund  HI.,  King  of  Poland, 
of  the  cause  of  the  Pretender,  Demetrius,  who  claimed 
the  Russian  throne,  gave  rise  to  a  lasting  enmity  between  the  two 
countries.  Demetrius  had  privately  abjured  the  Greek  faith.  The 
relations  of  Poland  to  Russia  in  modern  times  cannot  be  understood 
without  a  knowledge  of  the  religious  contests  that  began  in  the 
forcing  of  the  Roman  Catholic  system  on  former  subjects  of  Russia, 


1648-1SS7.]      CHRISTIANITY  IN  THE  EUROPEAN  COUNTRIES.  557 

and  the  long  rivalry  of  the  two  kingdoms  and  of  the  hostile  creeds. 
Among  the  great  changes  effected  by  Peter  the  Great  was  the  sub- 
The  Holy  stitution,  for  the  rule  of  the  jDrimate  at  Moscow,  of  the 
Synod,  1721.  "  jjoly  Synod,"  over  which  the  influence  of  the  czar  is 
supreme.  The  czar  thus  became  the  head  of  the  Church,  as  well 
as  of  the  State.  At  the  same  time,  the  vast  jDroperty  of  the  monas- 
tic establishments  was  placed  in  the  custody  of  a  "department" 
created  for  the  purpose.  Monasticism  has  flourished  in  Kussia. 
But,  having  no  organization  in  orders  or  confederacies,  the  monks 
have  had  no  power  to  offer  resistance  to  the  ecclesiastical  or  other 
proceedings  of  the  czar.  The  numerous  Nonconformists  in  Eussia, 
bearing  in  common  the  name  of  Kaskolniks,  but  divided  into  dif- 
ferent sects,  are  an  indirect  product  of  the  changes  introduced  by 
Nikon,  the  powerful  patriarch  Nikon,  who  wielded  in  Church 

1605-1681.  ^^^  State  an  authority  which  reminds  one  of  the  might 
of  Wolsey  before  his  fall.  Nikon,  like  the  great  cardinal,  was  over- 
thrown, but  was  not,  like  him,  broken  in  spirit.  Among  his  inno- 
vations were  coiTections  in  the  liturgical  forms,  which,  among  a 
people  so  punctilious  in  their  formalism  as  the  Russians,  raised  a 
storm  of  opposition.  Raskol,  or  dissent,  sprang  partly  out  of  the 
refusal  to  acquiesce  in  ritual  alterations.  But  it  involved,  also, 
a  protest  against  the  contemporaneous  growth  of  serfdom,  the  in- 
crease of  luxury,  and  the  introduction  of  Polish  customs  at  vari- 
ance with  former  ways  of  living  in  Eussia.  The  innovations  of 
Peter  the  Great  fomented  the  tendency  to  withstand  deviations  from 
ancestral  ways  of  worship  and  of  living.  The  influence  of  Protes- 
tantism and  of  rationalistic  opinions  is  also  clearly  discerned  in 
these  dissenting  sects.  Alexander  I.  made  great  exertions  to  edu- 
cate and  elevate  his  peoj)le.  For  a  time,  the  Bible  was  distributed 
freely,  under  the  auspices  of  a  Bible  Society,  auxiliary  to  the  Bible 
Society  in  London  ;  but  this  undertaking  was  stopped  by  a  churchly 
reaction,  in  1826.  Nicholas  I.  (1825-1855)  showed  no  favor  to  evan- 
Eeforms  of  gelical  influences  from  abroad.  Alexander  11.  (1855-1881) 
Alexander  II.  cherished  the  same  conservative  temper,  but,  through 
Tolstoi,  the  Minister  of  Instruction,  instituted  wholesome  changes 
in  the  Russian  Church.  The  condition  of  the  inferior  clergy  was 
improved,  and  the  cloisters  were  reformed.  Missions  to  Moham- 
medans and  to  the  heathen  were  encouraged.  In  18G1,  the  plan  for 
the  emancipation  of  the  serfs  was  carried  out.  Nihilism  spread  in 
the  latter  part  of  his  reign,  and  in  1881  he  fell  a  victim  to  Nihilist 
plots  against  his  life.  A  party  of  socialistic  democracy  had  devel- 
oped itself  in  Eussia  as  eai'ly  as  1874.     This  revolutionary  party 


558  FROM  THE  PEACE  OP  WESTPHALIA.  [Pekiod  IX. 

had  been  growing  up  for  a  decade  of  years.  Out  of  this  party,  in 
1875,  came  the  "Terrorists,"  a  secret  society  aiming  at  the  annihi- 
lation of  all  authority  in  Church  and  State.  Such  was  the  remedy 
that  Nihilism  proposed  for  the  evils  and  oppressions  of  govern- 
ment. 

It  is  a  curious  fact,  as  marking  the  character  of  the  times,  that 
the  Empire  of  the  Turks  has  long  been  upheld  and  saved  from 
destruction  by  Christian  powers.     Twice — in  1832,  and 
""^  ^^'  again  in  1840 — the  sultan  was  delivered  fi'om    the  at- 

tacks of  his  own  subject,  Mehemet  AH,  from  whom  Syria  was 
wrested  by  an  alliance  of  European  nations.  A  conflict  respecting 
the  guardianship  of  the  holy  places  at  Jerusalem,  between  the 
Greeks  and  the  Latins,  was  the  immediate  occasion,  in  1853,  of 
the  Crimean  War.  The  czar  virtually  claimed  the  j)osition  of 
protector  of  the  Eastern  Church.  The  refusal  of  the  Western 
powers  to  compel  Turkey  to  adopt  the  reforms  which  the  sultan 
promised  to  introduce  in  the  government  of  Herzegovina  and  other 
provinces  in  revolt,  determined  Eussia  to  undertake  war  by  her- 
self (1877).  Turkey  was  overcome,  but  was  again  saved  by  the 
Western  nations,  through  the  Berlin  Conference. 

The  independence  of  the  Greeks  was  acknowledged  by  the 
London  Conference  in  1830.  In  1833,  the  Church  in  Greece  broke 
off  its  connection  with  the  patriarchate  of  Constantino- 
ple. It  is  governed  by  a  Holy  Synod,  which  is  appointed 
by  the  king,  but  is  in  spiritual  matters  independent.  The  king 
must  be  a  member  of  the  Greek  Church,  but  freedom  of  worship 
is  extended  to  other  confessions. 

In  Syria,  a  war  which  broke  out  in  1860  between  the  Di-uses 
and  the  Maronites  led  to  a  fierce  persecution  of  all  the  Christians 
in  that  region.  It  was  estimated  that  in  Damascus 
alone  eight  thousand  were  slaughtered.  Turkish  troops 
were  sent  from  Constantinople  to  punish  the  perpetrators  of  the 
massacre,  and  showed  for  a  while  some  energy.  French  troops, 
also,  remained  for  a  time  in  the  country,  for  the  protection  of  the 
Christian  population. 

The  Bulgarian  Church  was  subject  to  the  Greek  Patriarch  of 
Constantinople,  and  was  misgoverned  by  that  ecclesiastic,  who 
gave  away  the  high  Church  offices  to  Greek  priests 
who  would  pay  the  highest  price  for  them,  and  whose 
aim  it  was  to  enrich  themselves  by  extortion.  But  in  1870  the 
Bultan  issued  a  firman  granting  a  distinct  existence  to  the  Bul- 
garian  Church,    and   placing   it  under    the    government    of    an 


1648-1887.]  RELIGIOUS  DENOMINATIONS  IN  UNITED  STATES.  559 

"exarch."  The  patriarch,  Gregory,  excommunicated  the  Bul- 
garians, but  his  anathema  was  not  recognized  in  other  branches  of 
the  Greek  Church. 

It  has  been  the  policy  of  the  Turks  to  permit  the  adherents  of 
other  religions  to  keep  up  their  own  organizations,  their  chief 
TheArme-  officers  being  appointed  by  themselves  in  conjunction 
nians.  ^^j^j^   ^j-^g   Turkish  Government.     The  great  Armenian 

Church  has  thus  been  practically  subject  to  its  patriarch.  It  has 
stood  aloof  from  both  the  Greek  and  the  Koman  Catholic  com- 
munions, being  hostile  to  certain  peculiarities  of  each.  The 
"  United  Armenians,"  or  Armeno-Catholics,  a  comparatively  small 
body,  own  allegiance  to  the  pope.  But  in  1SG7,  Pius  IX.,  in  the 
bull  Reversurus,  asserted  such  prerogatives  respecting  the  appoint- 
ment and  deposition  of  all  their  patriarchs  and  bishops,  that  a 
revolt  ensued.  A  new  patriarch  was  chosen  in  CiUcia.  He  was 
excommunicated  by  the  pope  in  1871,  and  in  1872  all  who  refused 
to  recognize  the  Patriarch  Hassun  and  the  decrees  of  the  Vatican 
Council  were  visited  with  the  same  penalty. 


CHAPTER  YL 

HISTORICAL    SKETCH    OF    RELIGIOUS  DENOMINATIONS    IN    THE 

UNITED  STATES. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  American  Revolution,  the  Episcopal 
Church  was  established  in  the  Southern  colonies.  In  New  Jersey 
.  and  New  Yoi'k,  it  enjoyed  the  special  favor  of  the  govern- 
nations  at  mcut  ofl&cials.  In  Massacliusetts  and  Connecticut  there 
the  Revoiu-  had  ucver  been  an  establishment,  in  the  strict  sense  of 
the  term.  Every  town  was  obliged  to  sustain  public 
worship  and  support  a  minister.  There  was  an  assessment  upon 
the  inhabitants  for  this  purpose.  As  the  people  were  for  a  long 
time  almost  exclusively  Congregationalists,  the  worship  was  of  this 
character.  As  other  denominations  arose,  the  laws  were  so  modi- 
fied as  to  allow  the  tax  to  be  paid  by  each  of  the  organizations  to 
the  support  of  its  own  worship.  Such  an  act  was  passed  in  Con- 
necticut in  reference  to  the  Episcopalians  in  1727,  shortly  after 
the  founding  of  Christ  Church  in  Stratford,  their  first  religious 
society  in  the  State  ;  and  in  1729  the  same  right  was  extended 
to  Quakers  and  Baptists.     In  places  where  no  congregations  had 


ggO  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

been  gathered  by  dissidents  from  the  prevailing  system,  individu- 
als, whatever  their  religious  beliefs  might  be,  were  compelled  to 
contribute  to  the  support  of  the  Congregational  worship  there  ex- 
isting'. This  requirement  was  more  and  more  counted  a  hardship. 
It  is  believed  that  in  all  the  colonies  there  were  religious  tests 
in  some  form.  Even  in  Pennsylvania  and  Delaware,  none  could 
vote  save  those  who  professed  faith  in  Christ.  When  the  revolu- 
tionary contest  began,  it  was  natural  that  there  should  sjDring  up 
movements  to  abolish  the  religious  inequalities  which  were  a  heri- 
tao-e  from  the  past.  The  Baptists,  who  were  outnumbered  by  none 
of  the  rehgious  bodies  except  the  Congregationalists,  and  who  had 
felt  themselves  especially  aggrieved,  at  once  bestirred  themselves 
in  Massachusetts  and  Virginia  to  secure  the  repeal  of  obnoxious 
restrictions.  A  Baptist  committee  laid  their  complaints  before  the 
Massachusetts  delegates  in  the  first  Continental  Congress  at  Philadel- 
phia. The  support  which  the  Baptists  lent  to  the  patriotic  cause, 
and  the  proclamation  of  human  rights  which  was  made  on  every 
hand,  won  a  hearing  for  their  demands,  and  rendered  them,  after 
tedious  delays,  successful.  In  Virginia,  Patrick  Henry,  Jefferson, 
and  Madison  enlisted  in  their  favor.  In  1785,  the  statute  of  relig- 
ious freedom  was  adopted,  of  which  Jefferson  deemed  it  a  great 
honor  to  have  been  the  author,  by  which  intervention  in  matters  of 
faith  and  worship  was  forbidden  to  the  State.  All  denominations 
were  thus  put  on  a  level,  and  none  were  taxed  for  the  support  of 
religion.  In  New  England,  the  release  from  this  last  requirement, 
or  from  the  payment  of  a  tax  for  a  particular  form  of  religion  to 
be  chosen  by  the  citizen,  was  accomplished  later.  It  took  place  in 
Connecticut  in  1818  ;  and  the  last  of  the  provisions  of  this  character 
did  not  vanish  from  the  statute-book  in  Massachusetts  until  1833, 
when  Church  and  State  were  fully  separated.  In  that  State,  from 
1780  to  1811,  a  religious  society  had  to  be  incorporated  in  order  to 
have  its  members  exempted  from  taxation  for  the  parish  church. 

The  Constitution  of  the  Federal  Government,  a  government  of 
limited  and  defined  powers,  had  a  strong,  though  indirect,  influence 

in  secularizing  the  governments  of  the  several  States. 
ofgov^'°^    The  Constitution  provided  that  "no  religious  test  shall 

ever  be  required  as  a  qualification  to  any  office  or  public 
trust  under  the  United  States."  But  this  was  considered  an  inade- 
quate safeguard ;  and  the  first  of  the  amendments  contained  the 
provision  that  "  Congress  shall  make  no  law  respecting  an  establish- 
ment of  religion,  or  prohibiting  the  free  exercise  thereof."  The 
neutral  character,  as  respects  religion,  of  the  national  Constitution 


1648-1887.]  RELIGIOUS  DENOMINATIONS  IN  UNITED  STATES.  561 

conspired,  with  the  influences  which  had  availed  to  stamp  this 
character  upon  it,  to  ehminate  one  after  another  of  the  various 
provisions  implying  the  obUgations  of  religion,  which  formed  a 
part  of  the  organic  law  in  the  older  States.  The  tendency  has 
prevailed  to  regard  legal  enactments  for  the  observance  of  Sun- 
day, for  the  appointment  of  chaplains,  etc.,  as  dictated,  not  by  a 
distinctively  religious  motive,  but  by  a  reasonable  regard  for  the 
comfort  and  peace  of  large  bodies  of  citizens.  In  the  legal  en- 
actments for  common-school  education,  there  has  been  manifest  a 
growing  disposition  to  cast  aside  studies  and  regulations  which 
might  offend  the  religious  views  or  prejudices  of  any  considerable 
number  of  people.  Courts  have  held — as  in  the  Girard  will  case 
it  was  declared  by  Judge  Story — that  Christianity — "  general 
Christianity,"  as  distinguished  from  the  tenets  of  any  particular 
sect — is  a  part  of  the  common  law  of  the  States,  in  the  sense  that 
the  Christian  religion  may  not  be  wantonly  assailed,  or  bequests 
for  the  diffusion  of  infidelity  allowed  to  be  valid.  This  was  the 
contention  of  Daniel  Webster  in  this  case,  and  it  had  been  asserted 
before,  in  the  TJpdegraph  case,  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  Pennsyl- 
vania. But  the  difficulty  of  defining  "general  Christianity,"  if  one 
is  to  go  beyond  that  code  of  Christian  morals  which  the  reason  of 
civilized  men  accepts  from  its  own  manifest  truth  and  worth,  would 
be  generally  admitted.  In  the  new  States,  where  the  constitutions 
and  laws  have  been  framed  apart  from  the  traditional  legislation 
and  the  history  which  have  affected  the  older  poHtical  communities, 
the  movement  towards  a  thorough  and  consistent  secularizing  of 
the  civil  polity  has  had  full  play. 

It  is  often  said  that  the  effect  of  the  voluntary  system  is  to 
create  a  mvdtiplicity  of  sects.  But  the  statistics  show  a  tendency 
to  an  aggregation  in  a  few  large  denominations.  It  has 
voluntary  been  obscrved  that  most  of  the  denominations  which 
eystem.  j^^^^  j^^^  ^-^^  largest  growth  are  compact  in  their  organi- 

zation. The  Baptists,  Avho  stand  third  in  point  of  numbers,  are  an 
exception  ;  but  their  opinion  upon  the  sacraments  has  served  as  a 
bond  of  union,  and,  to  a  certain  extent,  as  a  stimulus  to  activity. 
Other  peculiarities  in  their  character  and  history,  which  will  be 
adverted  to,  help  to  explain  their  remarkable  prosperity. 

The  Congregational  churches  at  the  close  of  the  Eevolution 
were  chiefly  confined  to  New  England.  There  was  so  little  objec- 
The  congre-  ^io^  ^^^^  ^J  them  to  the  Presbyterian  polity  that  when 
gationaiists.  -^^^  Englaudcrs  migrated  to  the  West,  they  joined  with 
no  reluctance  Presbyterian  churches.     The  growth  of  Congrega- 


gg2  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

tionalism  in  the  Western  States  was  hindered  by  the  "Plan  of 
Union  "  adopted  in  1801,  which  regulated  the  formation  of  churches 
in  the  new  settlements,  and  allowed  a  Congregational  church  to 
have  a  Presbyterian  minister,  or  the  converse.  In  New  England, 
ns  elsewhere,  the  effect  of  the  Kevolutionary  War,  and  especially  of 
the  French  infidelity  which  was  introduced  and  diffused  in  connec- 
tion with  it,  was  hurtful  to  the  cause  of  practical  religion.  In  the 
closing  years  of  the  last  century,  a  series  of  revivals  took  place  in 
different  parts  of  the  country.  In  Connecticut  and  Massachusetts, 
they  were  remarkably  beneficent  in  their  influence.  Under  the 
preaching  of  President  Dwight,  then  at  the  head  of  Yale  College, 
a  religious  revival  occurred  there,  in  1802.  This  was  the  first  of  a 
succession  of  similar  movements  which  followed  at  intervals  in  the 
same  institution.  Dwight  was  a  theological  teacher,  by  whom 
eminent  leaders  such  as  Lyman  Beecher,  Moses  Stuart,  and  Na- 
thaniel W.  Taylor  were  trained  for  the  pulpit  and  for  theological 
chairs.  The  unity  of  Congregationalism  in  New  England  was 
broken  by  the  gradual  rise  of  Unitarianism  in  the  early  part  of  the 
present  century.  A  prior  drift  of  opinion  is  indicated  by  the  fact 
that  in  1783  King's  Chapel  in  Boston,  an  Episcopal  church,  re-made 
its  liturgy,  excluding  from  it  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity.  Unita- 
rianism established  itself  in  Harvard  College,  and  in  the  eastern 
part  of  New  England  had  numerous  adherents  in  the  cultivated 
class.  The  "  orthodox,"  as  the  trinitarian  Congregationalists  came 
to  be  called,  founded,  in  1808,  the  Andover  Theological  Seminary. 
The  two  parties  of  "  Old  Calvinists  "  and  "  Hopkinsians "  com- 
bined in  this  undertaking.  By  the  agency  of  the  orthodox  Con- 
gregationalists, the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign 
Missions  was  formed  in  1810.  In  the  promotion  of  education  and 
learning,  the  Congregationalists  displayed  an  unsurpassed  zeal. 
Through  the  medium  of  other  voluntary  societies,  in  addition  to 
the  "  American  Board,"  they  cooperated  with  the  New  School 
branch  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  undertakings  for  the  propa- 
gation of  the  gospel.  About  the  middle  of  the  present  century, 
the  conviction  spread  that  the  denominational  interests  of  Congre- 
gationalism needed  to  be  cared  for.  This  feeling  gave  rise  to  a 
convention  at  Albany  in  1852,  for  the  purpose  of  uniting  the  Con- 
gregationalists of  the  East  and  the  West.  This  was  followed  by  a 
national  council  of  Congregationalists,  which  was  held  at  Boston 
The  Plymouth  i^  1865.  It  was  a  large  and  spii-ited  assembly.  It  pro- 
councu.  mulgated  a  declaration  of  faith,  which  pronounced  the 
did  confessions — the  Westminster  and  the  Savoy — that  had  been 


1648-1887.]  RELIGIOUS  DENOMINATIONS  IN  UNITED  STATES.  563 

adopted  by  the  New  England  synods  of  1648  and  1680,  "  substan- 
tially "  worthy  of  acceptance,  but  presented  a  new  statement,  drawn 
up  in  a  catholic  tone,  of  the  evangelical  doctrines.  Originally,  in 
New  England,  members  were  received  into  the  churches  upon  an 
assent  to  a  "covenant,"  their  conversion  having  been  previously 
ascertained  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  church.  Later,  and  especially 
after  fears  wei-e  excited  by  the  spread  of  Unitarian  opinions,  local 
creeds  were  framed  by  the  churches,  in  which  new  members  pro- 
fessed their  belief.  Naturally,  these  confessions  differed,  and  still 
differ,  widely  from  one  another  in  their  contents.  The  Boston 
Council  occasioned  the  permanent  institution  of  national  Congre- 
gational councils,  meeting  at  intervals  of  thi-ee  years.  The  first  of 
them  was  held  at  Oberlin  in  1871.  In  1880,  the  national  council 
which  met  at  St.  Louis  took  measures  leading  to  the  selection  of 
twenty-five  persons  to  prepai-e  a  creed,  or  catechism,  or  both,  "for 
the  instruction  and  edification  of  the  churches."  According  to  the . 
principles  of  Congregationalism,  no  creed  can  be  imposed  on  the 
churches  without  infringing  on  the  right  of  self-government  inher- 
ing in  each  of  them.  A  creed  was  prepared  by  the  Commission  of 
Twenty-five,  and  published  for  the  use  designed. 

Beginning  with  two  churches,  that  at  Providence,  founded  by 

Koger  Williams,  and  the  church  at  Newport,  of  which  John  Clarke 

was  the  founder  and  first  minister,  the  Baptists  made 

ap  IS  s.  ^^^-^  ^^y   -j^  |.j^g  £g^^g  ^j  constant  opposition.     Henry 

Dunster,  a  learned  Orientalist,  the  first  president  of  Harvard  Col- 
lege, and  a  graduate  of  Cambridge  in  England,  renounced  infant 
baptism,  and  resigned  his  office  in  1G54.  He  spent  his  last  days 
in  Scituate,  within  the  bounds  of  the  Plymouth  Colony.  In  1665, 
the  first  Baptist  church  was  gathered  at  Boston  (or  Charlestown). 
A  company  of  Baptists  in  Maine,  who  were  not  suffered  to  live 
there  in  peace,  migrated  to  South  Carolina,  and  in  1693  planted  a 
church  in  Charleston.  A  few  years  later  (1698)  a  Baptist  church 
was  organized  in  Philadelphia.  Associations  of  Baptist  churches 
were  formed.  One  of  them,  the  Philadelphia  Association,  began 
its  existence  in  1707.  Another  was  established  at  Warren,  K.  I., 
in  1767.  These  bodies  had  no  ecclesiastical  authority,  since  each 
church  was  independent.  The  Baptists  issued,  from  time  to  time, 
statements  of  their  doctrinal  belief,  to  which  they  attached  no 
binding  force.  The  confession  adopted  in  England,  in  1689,  is 
the  most  important  of  them.  It  was  the  Westminster  Confession, 
modified  by  changes  on  the  topics  relating  to  the  civil  magistracy, 
the  Church,  and  the  sacraments.     It  was  adopted  in  1742  by  the 


564  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

Baptist  Association  in  Philadelphia.  It  deserves  to  be  stated  that 
as  early  as  1718,  at  the  ordination  of  Elisha  Callender  as  pastor  of 
the  Baptist  Church  in  Boston,  the  three  principal  ministers  of  that 
town  were  present.  Cotton  Mather,  who  preached  the  sermon  on 
that  occasion,  referred  with  disapproval  to  the  "  severities  "  which 
the  Baj^tists  had  suffered  in  former  times.  Their  denomination 
grew  rapidly  after  the  Kevolution.  Their  principle  as  to  the  rela- 
tion of  the  State  to  the  Church  was  advancing  to  a  complete 
triumph.  They  did  not  require  learning  in  their  preachers.  Each 
church  selected  and  installed  its  pastor.  As  to  their  ministers,  if 
their  lack  of  education  was  often  a  manifest  evil,  and  a  ground  of 
offence  to  the  more  cultured  class,  it  commended  them  to  the  favor 
of  those  nearer  their  own  level.  The  spiritual  power  of  these  un- 
lettered teachers  sometimes  occasioned  a  feeling  akin  to  that  of 
those  who  heard  the  first  preachers  of  the  gospel,  and  with  surprise 
"perceived  that  they  were  unlearned  and  ignorant  men."  In  1765 
Brown  University  was  established  ;  and  since  that  time  numerous 
other  institutions  of  learning  have  been  founded  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Baptist  denomination.  The  theological  school  at  Newton 
was  established  in  1825.  Among  its  teachers  have  been  scholars 
of  distinction,  such  as  Sears  and  Hackett.  Some  fear  has  been  felt 
lest,  with  the  demand  for  higher  education  as  a  preparation  for  the 
ministry,  the  homely  vigor  and  fervor  which  charactei'ized  Baptist 
preachers  of  the  old  time  should  diminish,  and  the  number  of 
preachers  become  too  small.  Such  was  the  feeling,  in  his  later 
years,  of  one  of  the  ablest  leaders  of  the  denomination,  a  teacher 
and  author  of  merited  fame,  Francis  Wayland  (1796-1865),  who 
was  president  of  Brown  University  from  1827  to  1855.  In  1850, 
the  American  Bible  Union  was  organized  for  the  purpose  of  procur- 
ing and  circulating  versions  of  the  Bible  which  should  be  conformed 
to  the  interpretations  deemed  by  the  Baptists  to  be  correct.  A  re- 
vision of  the  authorized  English  version  was  made  by  Baptist 
scholars,  of  which  Dr.  T.  J.  Conant  was  one  of  the  principal 
authors.  In  1845,  in  consequence  of  the  agitation  respecting 
slavery,  the  Southern  and  the  Northern  Baptists  separated  by 
mutual  consent,  and  began  to  conduct  their  missionary  and  other 
benevolent  work  under  distinct  organizations. 

In  addition  to  the  Regular  or  Calvinistic  Baptists,  who  have  just 
been  described,  there  are  several  other  sects  which  adopt  like 
Pree-wui  Bap-  vicws  respecting  the  sacraments.  One  of  these,  a  much 
*^^-  smaller  body,  is  the  Free-will  Baptists,  who  are  Armin- 

ians  in  theology.     Their  first  chm'ch  in  America  was  organized  in 


1648-1887.]  RELIGIOUS  DENOMINATIONS  IN  UNITED  STATES.  565 

1780,  in  New  Hampsliire.  In  1827  they  established  a  General 
Conference  in  New  England.  The  Mennonites  were  early  estab- 
lished in  Pennsylvania.  There,  also,  the  "Dunkers,"  a  small  part 
of  whom  became  "  Seventh-day  "  Baptists — called,  in  England,  Sab- 
batarians— were  planted  in  1719. 

In  1810,  Alexander  Cami^beU,  from  the  North  of  Ireland,  edu- 
cated at  Glasgow,  and  a  Hcentiate  of  the  "  Seceder  "  Church  in  Scot- 
The"Cam-  ^^^^'  ^ecame  a  Presbyterian  pastor  in  Pennsylvania, 
beiiite  Bap-  His  orignal  efforts  wei-e  directed  to  the  restoration  of 
what  he  considered  the  main  principles  of  aj^ostolic 
Christianity,  and  to  the  promotion  of  Christian  union.  He  soon 
became  convinced  that  immersion  is  the  only  right  method  of  bap- 
tism, and  that  infant  baptism  is  unlawful.  The  dissent  of  Camp- 
bell and  his  followers  from  some  of  the  opinions  of  the  Baptists  led, 
in  1827,  to  his  exclusion  from  their  fellowship.  He  formed  a  sep- 
arate organization,  which  grew  to  be  very  numerous,  especially  in 
the  Western  and  Southwestern  States.  Campbell  taught  that 
regeneration  is  by  the  word,  or  the  truth  presented  in  the  Script- 
ures, through  which  exclusively  the  Holy  Spirit  exerts  his  influence, 
and  that  in  baptism  the  regeneration  of  the  beHever  is  completed 
by  his  personal  acceptance  of  pardon  and  justification.  All  creeds 
of  human  composition  were  discarded.  The  "  Campbellites  "  as 
they  are  popularly  called,  styled  themselves  simply  "Disciples"  or 
"Christians."  Each  church  is  independent,  but  the  churches  unite 
in  missionary  and  other  Christian  labors.  The  officers  of  each 
church,  elders  and  deacons,  are  chosen  by  its  members.  Camj)bell 
was  a  man  of  extraordinary  talents,  and  was  much  distinguished  for 
his  readiness  in  debate.  He  wrote  "  The  Christian  System,"  and 
other  works.  In  most  particulars  the  "  Disciples  "  are  in  full  ac- 
cord with  the  generality  of  evangelical  believers.  They  have  estab- 
lished numerous  literary  institutions,  one  of  which  is  the  college 
at  Bethany,  in  West  Virginia.  The  late  President  Garfield  was  one 
of  the  "  Disciples,"  and  for  several  years  was  a  teacher  in  their  col- 
lege at  Hiram,  in  Ohio. 

At  the  close  of  the  Kevolutionary  War,  the  Episcopal  Chm-ch 
in  America  was  in  a  prostrate  condition.  There  had  been  occa- 
sional conversions  to  Episcopacy,  the  most  notable  of 
paiians.  which  was  that  of  Dr.  Cutler,  Rector  of  Yale  College,  a 

Congregational  minister,  who  went  to  England  in  1722  to  receive 
ordination.  He  was  accompanied  by  Samuel  Johnson,  another 
Congregational  minister,  of  Connecticut,  who  was  reordained  at 
the  same  time  (1723),  and  afterwards  became  President  of  King's 


QQQ  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

(now  Columbia)  College.  The  Episcopal  congregations  were  in- 
creased by  the  addition  of  persons  who  were  displeased  with  White- 
field's  preaching  and  the  "  Great  Revival,"  and  with  views  of  con- 
version and  of  the  religious  life  which  grew  up  in  connection  with  it. 
The  scrutiny  into  personal  feelings,  and  the  custom  of  interro- 
gating jDersous  respecting  them — practices  not  uncommon  in  re- 
vivals— have  at  different  times  made  converts  to  Episcopacy. 
The  Episcopal  ministers  in  the  Eastern  States  at  the  beginning  of 
the  war  were  generally  missionaries  of  the  Propagation  Society, 
who  either  left  the  country  for  England  or,  if  they  remained,  were 
known  to  be  in  sympathy  with  the  English  Government  in  the 
contest  with  the  colonies.  The  official  countenance  given  to  the 
Episcopal  Church  in  the  central  provinces,  only  made  it  less 
popular  with  all  who  resisted  the  pretensions  of  Parliament  to  lord 
it  over  the  American  communities.  In  Philadelphia,  Duche  was  a 
patriotic  clergyman  at  the  beginning,  but  in  1777  he  tried  to  induce 
Washington  to  desist  from  what  he  thought  a  hopeless  contest. 
He  was  obliged  to  leave  the  countiy,  and  his  property  was  con- 
fiscated. White  continued  a  steadfast  adherent  of  the  American 
cause.  In  Virginia  the  clergy  often  led  careless  lives.  During  the 
war  a  great  part  of  them  left  for  England.  At  intervals,  during 
the  century  that  preceded  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  fears 
had  been  awakened,  in  particular'  in  New  England,  of  a  jDurpose 
on  the  part  of  the  British  Government  to  establish  an  episcopate 
over  the  colonies.  That  Archbishop  Seeker,  and  othei'S  with  him, 
who  at  one  time  proposed  such  a  scheme,  desired  only  the  creation 
of  bishops  with  purely  religious  functions,  is  true.  But  mission- 
aries of  the  Propagation  Society  were  then  active  in  the 
villages  of  New  England.  What  might  grow  out  of  such 
a  project,  if  it  were  caiTied  out,  no  one  could  foresee.  There  was  a 
dread  of  the  usurpations  of  Parliament.  It  was  supposed  that  an 
Act  of  Parliament  would  be  required  for  the  ajipointment  of  bish- 
ops in  America.  "There  was  a  general  and  just  apiDrehension," 
wrote  John  Adams  at  a  later  day,  "  that  bishops  and  dioceses 
and  churches  and  priests  and  tithes  were  to  be  imposed  on  us  by 
Parliament."  This  apprehension  was  not  confined  to  the  Puritans 
of  New  England.  In  Virginia  there  was  a  general  opposition  to 
projects  of  this  nature,  and  on  the  same  grounds.  The  Virginia 
House  of  Burgesses,  composed  mostly  of  Episcopalians,  thanked 
four  clergymen  for  protesting  against  such  a  proposal.  They  pre- 
ferred all  the  disadvantages  of  being  without  bishops  to  the  danger 
of  enlarging  the  jurisdiction  of  Parliament  and  of  diminishing  the 


164S-1S87.]  RELIGIOUS  DENOmNATIOIfS  IN  UNITED  STATES.  567 

powers  of  self-government  belonging  to  the  provincial  legislatures. 
Bishop  White  observes  that  the  laymen  at  that  time  were  generally 
opposed  to  the  obtaining  of  an  American  bishop.  With  character- 
istic candor,  this  noble  man  acquits  of  all  insincerity  those  who 
had  felt  political  apprehensions  in  reference  to  the  projects  for  an 
American  episcopate.  He  adduces  the  fact  that  its  opponents  laid 
aside  their  resistance  as  soon  as  independence  was  achieved.  Then 
the  efforts  to  procure  consecration  for  American  bishops  in  England 
were  warmly  furthered  by  John  Adams.  Bishop  White  himself 
avows  that  he  had  shared  in  the  apprehensions  referred  to.  "  It 
was  not  unUkely,"  he  says,  "  that  the  British  Government,  had  they 
sanctioned  an  episcopacy  in  the  colonies,  would  have  endeavored 
to  render  it  subservient  to  the  support  of  a  pai-ty,  on  the  plan  of 
the  newly  projected  domination." 

The  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States  owes  its  organiza- 
tion and  its  continued  life,  after  the  revolutionary  struggle,  chiefly 
^      .     .       to  two  men.     One  of  them  was  William  White,  and  the 

Organization  c^  ch  m        i      • 

after  the         othcr  was  Samuel  Seabury.      To  their  remarkable  for- 

Revolution.  i    /-i-,     •    i-  •    ■,  •,  -,  ,-,  ,« 

bearance  and  Christian  wisdom  it  was  due  that,  out  of 
elements  that  seemed  hopelessly  discordant,  union  and  harmony 
emerged,  and  under  forms  and  arrangements  having  in  them  the 
seeds  of  permanence  as  well  as  of  growth.  The  first  question  was, 
how  to  obtain  bishops.  White,  who  was  a  rector  in  Philadelphia,  was 
an  Episcopalian  of  so  very  moderate  a  cast  that  he  even  suggested 
that  "  overseers  "  should  be  chosen  who  should  exercise,  without 
consecration,  the  functions  of  bishops.  After  various  consultations, 
at  a  convention  of  clerical  and  lay  dej^uties  from  seven  States,  from 
New  York  to  Virginia,  together  with  South  Carolina,  a  revision  was 
made  of  the  Prayer  Book  and  Articles.  The  volume  thus  prepared 
was  known  as  "  the  proposed  book."  The  changes  were  by  no 
means  confined  to  such  alterations  as  the  establishment  of  an  in- 
dependent American  government  required  or  suggested.  The 
Articles  were  considerably  modified,  and  were  reduced  to  twenty  in 
number.  Both  the  Nicene  and  Athanasian  creeds  were  left  out, 
and  the  clause,  "He  descended  into  hell,"  was  omitted  from  the 
Apostles'  Creed.  Meantime,  the  few  clergymen  in  Connecticut 
had  met  at  Woodbury,  in  that  State,  and  chosen  Samuel  Seabury 
to  be  their  bishop ;  and  he,  meeting  with  political  obstacles  in 
the  way  of  his  consecration  in  England,  had  been  consecrated  by 
nonjuring  bishops  in  Scotland.  Seabury  and  the  Connecticut 
clergymen  were  not  in  the  least  friendly  to  changes  in  the  formu- 
laries of  BO  radical  a  nature  as  the  "  proposed  book  "  embodied. 


gQQ  FROM  THE  PEACE  OP  WESTPHALIA.  [Peuiiod  IX. 

Fortunately  for  the  prospects  of  tmion,  the  English  prelates,  from 
whom  White  and  his  associates  looked  for  the  consecration  of  their 
bishops,  were  not  satisfied  with  innovations  carried  to  such  an  ex- 
tent. The  omission  of  the  Nicene  Creed  was  not  generally  ap- 
proved in  the  IVIiddle  States,  and  it  was  restored,  as  was  the 
omitted  sentence  of  the  Apostles'  Creed.  The  "  proposed  book  " 
was  so  far  modified  as  to  open  the  way  for  the  English  bishops  to 
act.  Samuel  Provoost,  chosen  bishop  in  New  York,  and  William 
White,  elected  to  the  same  oflice  in  Pennsylvania,  were  conse- 
crated at  Lambeth  on  February  4,  1787.  Subsequently  (Septem- 
ber 19,  1790),  James  Madison,  of  Virginia,  was  consecrated  in 
London  ;  so  that  there  were  three  bishops  in  the  English  succes- 
sion. In  1789,  the  General  Convention  assembled,  and  Bishop  Sea- 
bury,  with  his  brethren  in  the  East,  were  present  by  invitation. 
The  constitution  of  the  Church  had  been  agreed  upon.  The  type 
of  churchmanship  which  was  cherished  by  Bishop  White  and  his 
associates  was  quite  dissonant  from  the  High  Chui'ch  predilections 
of  the  other  party.  Moreover,  Provoost  hesitated  about  admitting 
the  validity  of  tho  consecration  of  Seabury,  and  was  j)ersonally 
inimical  to  him.  This  was  chiefly,  it  would  appear,  on  political 
grounds.  Seabtiry  had  been  chaplain  of  a  British  regiment,  and 
a  loyalist  through  the  war.  Here  were  all  the  materials  of  an  irre- 
concilable, enduring  division.  But  the  difficulties,  personal  and 
theological,  were  swept  away  by  the  good  sense  of  Wliite  and  Sea- 
bury.  Neither  of  them  was  an  acute  or  learned  theologian,  but 
they  brought  to  their  conferences  with  one  another  a  conciliatory 
spirit.  It  was  decided  that  the  Nicene  Creed  should  be  retained. 
The  American  The  Athauasiau  Creed,  Seabury  reluctantly  consented  to 
Prayer  Book,  exclude.  He  scems  to  havc  thought  that  it  was  in  use 
in  the  Eastern  Church.  He  was  gratified  by  changes  in  the  Com- 
munion Service,  that  introduced  peculiarities  of  the  Scottish  Prayer 
Book  which  he  strongly  favored.  The  "oblation"  and  "invoca- 
tion "  were  made  to  precede  the  distributing  of  the  bread.  The 
reading  of  the  clause  in  the  Apostles'  Creed,  "  He  descended  into 
hell,"  was  made  optional.  The  same  provision  was  adopted  respect- 
ing the  sign  of  the  cross  in  baptism.  The  Absolution  is  left  out  of 
the  office  for  the  Visitation  of  the  Sick.  "Minister"  is  in  various 
places  substituted  for  "priest."  At  the  convention,  in  1801,  the 
Thirty-nine  Articles,  the  retention  of  which  Seabury  had  not  favor- 
ed, were  adopted  with  slight  modifications,  but  no  explicit  subscrip- 
tion to  them  is  exacted  of  the  clergy.  It  is  a  question  whether  they 
are  in  any  sense  obligatory  in  the  American  Church.   In  the  consti- 


1643-1887.]  RELIGIOUS  DENOMINATIONS  IN  UNITED  STATES.  569 

tution  of  the  American  Episcopal  Church  there  were  to  be  both 
diocesan  conventions  and  a  national  convention.  The  principle  of 
lay  representation  was  adopted.  In  the  General  Convention  meas- 
ures were  to  be  carried  by  the  concurrent  action  of  the  House  of 
Bishops,  and  of  a  House  of  Deputies,  composed  of  clerical  and  lay 
delegates.  In  distinction  from  the  Church  of  England,  there  is  not 
only  an  entire  separation  from  the  State,  but  the  very  important 
innovation — important  from  a  theological  point  of  view — of  the 
participation  of  laymen  in  church  legislation. 

The  happy  auguries  naturally  suggested  by  the  surprising  tri- 
umph over  the  dangers  of  discord  were,  for  a  considerable  time, 
not  fulfilled  by  a  corresponding  growth  and  progress  of  the  Epis- 
copal Church  in  the  United  States.  The  sale  of  the  glebe  lands 
and  of  the  rest  of  the  Church  property  in  Virginia,  in  1802,  by  or- 
der of  the  legislature,  was  a  severe  blow.  Madison  was  an  inac- 
tive bishop.  But  under  Moore,  his  successor,  and  especially  after 
the  election,  in  1829,  of  William  Meade  as  Assistant 
Bishop  of  Virginia,  the  Episcopal  Church  in  that  region, 
owing  to  his  indefatigable  and  discreet  exertions,  was  revived.  He 
had  previously  taken  the  lead  in  founding  a  theological  school  at 
Alexandria.  In  New  England,  Griswold  was  for  many  years 
(1811-1843)  an  esteemed  bishop.  But  the  highest  influence  in 
building  up  the  Church  and  stimulating  its  extension  is  attributed 
Hobart.  *°  Hobart,  Bishop  of  New  York  from  1811  to  1830.     He 

refused  to  allow  the  validity  of  any  but  Episcopal  orders, 
stood  aloof  from  religious  societies  in  which  other  Christian  bodies 
cooperated,  and  in  general  stoutly  upheld  the  High  Church  the- 
ory. Apart  from  this  sort  of  activity,  he  carried  an  intense  fer- 
vor into  practical  Christian  work.  The  rise  of  the  "  Anglo-Catho- 
lic  "  school  at  Oxford  naturally  attracted  much  sympathy  on  this 
side  of  the  Atlantic.  Among  the  products  of  what  is  called  the 
more  liberal  school  is  the  "Memorial  Movement,"  in  1853,  of  which 
William  A.  Muhlenberg  (1796-1877),  was  the  principal  authoi*. 
This  was  a  petition  to  the  bishops,  calling  for  a  greater  degree  of 
liturgical  freedom  and  for  the  opening  of  the  door  to  a  wider  admis- 
sion to  Episcopal  ordination.  The  establishment  of  a  church  con- 
gress, meeting  annually,  for  the  discussion  of  questions,  theoretical 
and  practical,  of  special  interest  to  the  Church  and  to  American 
.  Christians,  is  due  to  leaders  of  the  liberal  school.     Its 

the  Prayer      first  meeting  was  held  in  1874.     In  obedience  to  a  wide- 
spread desire,  not  confined  to  any  class  of  theologians, 
a  committee  was  appointed  by  the  General  Convention  to  revise 


570  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Pebiod  IX. 

the  Prayer  Book,  for  the  pm-pose  of  enriching  the  liturgical  ser- 
vices and  imparting  greater  flexibility  in  their  use.  The  outcome  of 
theii'  labors  was  embodied  in  the  "Book  Annexed."  Some  of  the 
recommendations  have  been  adopted,  and  respecting  many  others  a 
decision  is  awaited.  The  bishops,  in  1886,  issued  a  communication 
to  the  public  on  the  subject  of  Christian  union,  written  in  a  con- 
ciliatory tone,  and  professing  a  willingness  to  make  large  conces- 
sions with  regard  to  modes  of  worship  and  on  other  points,  pro- 
vided Episcopal  ordination  is  upheld. 

The  spread  of  the  Anglo-Catholic  theology  and  the  growth  of 
the  High  Church  party  awakened  strenuous  opposition.  One  fruit 
of  the  Low  Chm-ch  sentiment  was  seen  in  persevering  efforts  to  se- 
cure such  changes  in  the  Prayer  Book  as  were  thought  requisite  to 
remove  elements  alleged  by  some  to  be  "Eomanizing"  in  their 
character.  Circumstances  connected  with  the  meeting  of  the 
Evangelical  Alliance  in  New  York,  in  1873,  had  the  effect  of  lead- 
ing George  D.  Cummins,  Assistant  Bishop  of  Kentucky,  to  with- 
draw from  the  ministry  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church.  By 
him  and  others  the  "Reformed  Episcopal  Church"  was 
Episcopal  now  Organized.  Its  framers  disavowed  the  doctrines 
of  the  divine  right  of  Episcopacy,  of  a  distinction  of 
order  betw^een  bishops  and  presbyters,  of  a  special  priesthood  in 
the  Church,  of  the  presence  of  Christ  in  the  bread  and  wine,  of 
the  Lord's  Supper  as  an  oblation  on  an  altar  of  the  body  and  blood 
of  Christ,  and  of  regeneration  as  inseparable  from  baptism.  The 
Prayer  Book  was  amended  with  a  design  to  exclude  these  opin- 
ions. The  bishops  of  the  Reformed  Church  were  to  sit  with  other 
presbyters  in  one  body.  It  should  be  stated  that  the  bishops 
of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  in  1871,  issued  a  "Declara- 
tion "  to  the  effect  that  the  word  "  regenerate "  in  the  baptismal 
office  does  not  "  determine  that  a  moral  change  in  the  subject  of 
baptism  is  wrought  in  the  sacrament." 

Early  settlements,  which  did  not  prove  to  be  permanent,  were 
made  by  Huguenot  Presbyterians  from  France,  in  Florida  (1562),  in 
The  Presby-  the  Caroliuas  (1565),  and  in  Nova  Scotia  (1604).  A  large 
terions.  emigi'atiou  of  Huguenots  to  South  Carolina  took  place 

in  1685.  Huguenot  names  are  among  those  most  distinguished  in 
the  history  of  that  State.  But  in  New  England,  in  New  York,  and  in 
the  Carolinas,  most  of  the  French  Protestants  united  w^ith  the 
churches  already  formed  by  Congregationalists,  Episcopalians,  or 
Presbyterians,  of  British  oi'igin.  In  the  seventeenth  centmy,  a  con- 
siderable number  of  English-speaking  Presbyterians  emigrated  to 


1648-1887.]  RELIGIOUS  DENOMINATIONS  IN  UNITED  STATES.  571 

New  England,  but  found  no  difficulty  in  uniting  with  the  Congrega- 
tional churches  as  they  were  then  constituted.  The  government 
of  the  Congregational  churches  in  Connecticut,  after  1708,  was 
semi-Presbyterian  in  its  character.  Chui'ches  formed  by  Connecti- 
cut people  on  Long  Island  eventually  became  Presbytex'ian.  Most 
of  the  Presbyterian  emigx-ants  from  Scotland  and  Ireland,  in  the 
Caroline  period,  settled  in  East  and  West  Jersey,  Pennsylvania, 
Delaware,  and  Maryland.  In  1G83,  Eev.  Fi-ancis  Mackemie  was 
sent  from  the  North  of  Ireland,  as  a  missionary,  and  took  up  his 
abode  in  Maryland.  The  first  presbytery  Avas  organized  in  Phila- 
delphia, in  1705,  and  the  first  synod,  composed  of  three  presbyter- 
The  Adopt-  ies,  was  formed  in  1716.  In  1729  the  synod  passed 
ingAct.  "The  Adopting  Act,"  by  which  the  Westminster  Con- 

fession was  taken,  as  regards  "  all  the  essential  and  necessary 
articles,"  as  the  standard  of  doctrine  and  polity.  Facts  in  Presby- 
terian history  during  the  last  century,  including  the  divisions  con- 
sequent on  the  "Great  Revival,"  have  akeady  been  related. 

Prior  to  the  Revolution,  the  Presbyterian  Chui-ch  had  made  a 
steady  progress.  Its  members  were  generally  earnest  defenders  of 
the  cause  of  American  liberty.  John  Witherspoon,  a 
native  of  Scotland,  an  accomplished  divine,  and  Presi- 
dent of  Princeton  College,  was  a  strong  advocate  of  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence,  being  a  member  of  the  Congress  which 
passed  it,  and  was  afterwards  influential  in  jiublic  affairs.  After 
the  end  of  the  war,  four  synods  were  formed  out  of  the  sixteen 
presbyteries  which  then  existed  ;  and  in  the  next  year  (1789),  the 
First  General  ^^'^t  General  Assembly  was  convened  at  Philadelphia. 
Assembly.  There  the  constitution  of  the  national  Presbyterian 
Church  was  framed.  The  Westminster  creeds  were  adopted,  with 
a  few  alterations,  almost  exclusively  on  points  relating  to  civil 
government  and  the  duties  of  the  magistracy.  Near  the  end  of  the 
century,  an  extensive  revival  in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  added 
much  to  the  strength  of  the  denomination,  but  gave  occasion,  at 
the  same  time,  to  a  division,  and  to  the  rise  of  the  "  Cumberland 
Presbyterians."  The  "Plan  of  Union"  with  the  Congregational- 
ists,  agreed  upon  in  1801,  was  a  means  of  promoting  the  spread 
of  Presbyterianism  in  New  York,  and  in  the  States  north  of  the 
Division  of  Ohio.  DoctHnal  disagreements  gradually  ai-ose  between 
'nd'^"N'^°°'"  ^^®  churches  and  presbyteries  which  had  sprung  pre- 
school." dominantly  from  the  Scottish  and  Irish  elements  in  the 
Church,  and  those  which  were  imbued  with  the  modified  Calvinism 
of  New  England.    The  former  were  strictly  wedded  to  the  Presby- 


572  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

terian  polity,  and  were  opposed  to  such  forms  of  cooperation  with 
Congi-egationalists  and  others,  as  were  exemphfied  in  the  "Plan  of 
Union,"  and  in  the  societies  for  the  propagation  of  the  gospel  at 
home  and  abroad.  To  these  doctrinal  and  ecclesiastical  differences, 
a  new  source  of  contention  was  added  by  the  progress  of  the  anti- 
slavery  agitation  in  the  country,  which  mingled  its  influence  in  the 
debates  and  proceedings  of  the  general  assembhes.  Much  con- 
troversy was  connected  with  attempts  to  convict  of  heresy  Albert 
Bai-nes,  George  Duffield,  and  Lyman  Beecher,  distinguished  min- 
isters holding  the  "  New  School "  opinions.  The  result  was,  that  in 
1838  there  was  a  division,  and  two  assembhes  were  organized. 
Very  prominent  among  the  theologians  in  the  "Old  School" 
branch  were  the  professors  in  the  Princeton  Theological  Seminaiy, 
which  had  been  established  in  1812,  by  whom  the  "  Biblical  Reper- 
tory," a  theological  review,  was  published.  The  Union  Theological 
Seminary,  founded  in  1836,  in  New  York,  was  one  of  the  leading 
institutions  in  which  the  moderate  Calvinism  of  the  "New  School" 
was  inculcated.  There  Dr.  Edward  Robinson,  best  known  for  his 
works  on  the  geography  of  Palestine,  held  the  chair  of  Biblical 
Literature  from  1837  until  his  death  in  1863.  He  edited  a  learned 
theological  quarterly,  the  "Biblical  Repository."  Auburn  Semi- 
nary, established  in  1820,  was  in  sympathy  with  the  "New  School." 
On  the  eve  of  the  war,  in  1862,  the  Old  School  Assembly  was  divided, 
and  the  Southern  Presbyterian  Church  was  constituted.  Among 
Northern  Presbyterians,  the  old  issues  in  controversy  were  obsoles- 
cent. A  conciliatory  and  catholic  spirit  had  come  to  prevail,  so  that 
in  1869  a  reunion  was  effected,  and  in  May,  1870,  the 
first  reunited  assembly  held  its  meeting  at  Philadelphia. 
The  organization  of  the  Church  for  prosecuting  missionary  and 
other  Christian  work  was  perfected  by  the  union,  in  boards  and 
commissions,  of  both  of  the  formerly  dissevered  branches. 

The  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Chiu-ch  arose  in  circumstances 

connected  with  the  revival  which  began  in  Kentucky  in  1797.    Ob- 

iection  was  made  to  the  ordination,  in  that  State,  by  the 

The  Cumber-     >,,,,,-.  "^ 

landPresby-  Cumberland  Presbytery,  of  men  whose  education  was 
thought  to  be  defective.  The  differences,  thus  arising, 
caused,  in  1810,  the  reorganization  of  this  presbytery,  which  had 
been  dissolved  by  the  higher  judicatory  of  the  Church.  The  new 
denomination  excluded  from  its  creed  the  Calvinistic  doctrines  of 
predestination  and  limited  atonement ;  but  in  other  respects  ad- 
hered to  the  Westminster  symbols.  It  has  become  a  flourishing  body. 
The  "United  Presbyterian  Church"  of  North  America  is  the 


1648-1887.]  RELIGIOUS  DENOMINATIONS  IN  UNITED  STATES.  573 

product  of  a  combination  of  the  "  Associate  Eeformed  "  and  the 
"  Associate  "  Churches.  The  "  Associate  Kefoi-med  " 
Presbyterian  had  itself  arisen  from  the  union  of  two  small  bodies, 
ofishoots  of  the  Presbyterianism  of  Scotland  and  Ire- 
land. One  of  them  was  composed  of  a  number  of  so-called  ' '  As- 
sociate churches  ; "  the  other,  the  "  Eeformed  Presbyterians,"  had 
consisted  of  emigrants  from  Scotland  who  were  dissatisfied  with 
the  settlement  of  1688,  as  giving  too  much  power  to  the  State  over 
the  Church.  The  union  referred  to,  giving  rise  to  the  "  Associate 
Eeformed  Church,"  took  place  in  1782.  John  M.  Mason,  one  of 
the  most  powerful  preachers  whom  America  has  produced,  Avas  a 
leading  divine  in  this  chui'ch,  and  became  a  professor  in  a  theo- 
logical school  which  it  founded  in  New  York  in  1804.  The  rem- 
nant of  "  Associate  Presbyterians  "  who,  in  1782,  had  stood  aloof 
from  the  union,  remained  distinct  until  1858,  when  they,  too,  joined 
with  the  "Associate  Eeformed"  in  the  "United  Presbyterian" 
body.  But  a  remnant  of  the  "  Associate  Eeformed,"  that  did  not 
join  in  the  union  of  1782  is  jDerpetuated  in  the  "  Eeformed  Presby- 
terian Church  of  America."  Many  of  the  members  of  this  sect 
have  strongly  objected  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  as 
infidel,  in  consequence  of  its  omission  of  any  explicit  recognition 
of  the  being  of  God  and  the  obligations  of  religion,  and  have, 
therefore,  declined  to  exercise  the  right  of  suffrage. 

The  term  "  Eeformed  "  was  used  in  America,  as  in  Europe,  to 
designate  the  Calvinistic  division  of  Protestants.  It  was  applied, 
as  is  seen  above,  to  more  than  one  denomination  of  British  origin. 
It  formed,  also,  a  part  of  the  title  of  Calvinistic  bodies  composed 
originally  of  emigrants  from  Holland  and  from  Germany.  Of  the 
latter,  the  "  German  Eeformed,"  we  shall  soon  speak.  The  former, 
■which  was  formed  by  Christians  from  Holland,  was  originally  styled 
the  "  Dutch  Eeformed  Church."  Its  proper  name  is  now  the  "  Ee- 
formed Church  in  America."  It  is  one  of  the  oldest  and  most 
respectable  religious  denominations  in  America.  It  was 
chOTchin™^  planted  in  New  Amsterdam  (New  York)  by  the  first 
America.  settlers.     Its  first  church  was  formed  there  in   1628. 

For  a  long  time  its  ministers  were  sent  over  from  Holland.  This 
circumstance,  in  connection  with  the  long-continued  use  of  the 
Dutch  language  in  divine  service,  retarded  the  growth  of  this 
body,  which  had  in  it  many  sources  of  strength.  It  was  slow  in 
securing  a  united  organization  under  a  system  of  self-management. 
Its  organization  includes  the  classis,  the  particular  synod,  and  the 
general  synod,  and  resembles  that  of  the  Eeformed  Church  in  Hoi- 


574  FROM  THE  PEACE  OP  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

land.  "While  it  adopts  the  Belgic  Confession,  and  the  Creed  of 
Dort,  its  principal  symbol  is  the  Heidelberg  Catechism.  Rutgers 
CoUeo'e,  its  principal  literary  institution,  was  founded  in  1770.  In 
1867,  the  term  "  Dutch  "  was  dropped  by  a  formal  act  from  the 
title  by  which  the  denomination  up  to  that  time  had  been  known. 

In  the  seventeenth  century,  Lutherans  came  over  to  New  York 
from  Holland,  and  from  Sweden  to  the  banks  of  the  Delaware. 
The  Hither-  ^^  1710,  four  thousaud  Lutherans,  driven  from  the  Palat- 
^'^^-  inate,  were  assisted  by  Queen  Anne  to  emigrate  to  New 

York,  Pennsylvania,  and  South  Carolina.  In  1734,  another  band 
of  Lutheran  exiles  from  Salzbui'g  settled  in  Georgia.  There  was  a 
considerable  number  of  Lutheran  Christians  in  different  parts  of 
the  country,  but  they  had  come  without  pastors,  had  no  stable  or- 
ganization, and  were  obliged  to  depend  on  school-teachers  and 
other  laymen  to  conduct  their  religious  meetings.  Persons,  some 
of  whom  were  loose  or  irregular  in  their  conduct,  would  occasion- 
ally assume  to  exercise  clerical  functions.  At  length,  in  1742,  in 
consequence  of  an  interest  felt  in  them  by  the  Lutheran  chaj)lain 
at  London  and  by  managers  of  the  institution  established  by 
Francke,  at  Halle,  Henry  Melchior  Muhlenberg,  a  min- 

en  erg.  .^^^^^  ^^  admirable  ciualifications  for  effective  service,  was 
sent  over.  Two  of  the  three  congregations — one  of  which  was  in 
Philadelphia — which  were  specially  committed  to  his  charge,  he 
found  to  be  in  a  disorderly  and  divided  state.  He  was,  more- 
over, immediately  brought  into  conflict  with  Zinzendorf  and  other 
Moravians.  They  were  inclined  at  first  to  loek  on  him  as  an  in- 
truder into  a  field  which  belonged  to  them.  To  his  unwearied  in- 
dustry and  unfeigned  religious  fervor,  which  were  blended  with 
high  intellectual  gifts,  the  Lutherans  were  indebted  for  their  or- 
ganization. Under  his  leadership,  the  first  Lutheran  synod  was 
formed  at  Philadelphia,  in  1748.  In  1787,  the  year  of  Miihlen- 
berg's  death,  Franklin  College  in  Pennsylvania  was  established, 
and  his  son  was  made  the  first  president.  Two  of  his  sons  served 
in  the  American  revolutionary  army.  Several  thousand  Hessians 
remained  after  the  end  of  the  war,  and  attached  themselves  to  the 
Lutheran  Church.  For  a  considerable  period  there  was  a  lack  of 
prosperous  growth  in  this  denomination,  one  reasoti  of  which  was 
the  determination  of  the  more  conservative  portion  to  retain  the  Ger- 
man language,  while  a  great  number  wished  to  have  their  children 
The  General  ffii^iliar  with  English,  and  to  have  religious  services  in  the 
Synod.  English  tongue.     A  promising  event  was  the  forming,  in 

1820,  of  the  General  Synod  of  American  Lutherans.     Numerous 


1648-1887.]  RELIGIOUS  DENOMINATIONS  IN  UNITED  STATES.  575 

institutions  and  benevolent  societies  wore  founded.  The  great  and 
increasing  influx  of  emigrants  gave  rise  to  diversities  of  religious 
opinion.  A  rupture,  on  doctrinal  grounds,  in  1864,  led  to  tlie 
The  General  formation  of  another  great  Lutheran  organization,  the 
Council.  "General  Council,"  which  held  its  first  meeting  in  1867. 

It  was  to  be  composed  of  strict  adherents  of  the  Augsburg  Confes- 
sion. One  of  the  leading  members  of  this  branch  of  the  Lutherans 
was  an  eminent  teacher  and  author,  Charles  P.  Krauth.  The  de- 
mand for  a  still  more  strict  adhesion  to  the  Lutheran  standards 

caused  the  establishment,  in  1872,  of  a  third  body,  the 
icai Confer-      "Lutheran  Synodical  Conference."     Its  members  were 

very  numerous  in  Missouri.  Many  had  come  over  from 
Saxony  with  a  strong  attachment  to  the  old  Lutheran  orthodoxy. 
In  addition  to  these  three  divisions,  there  arose,  at  the  beginning  of 
the  civil  war,  the  General  Synod  of  the  Southern  States,  composed  of 
Lutherans  who  withdrew  from  fellowship  with  their  brethren  in 
the  North.  In  the  Lutheran  churches  there  has  been  a  decided 
and  growing  preference  for  the  liturgical  forms  so  long  in  use  in 
Germany.  Their  polity  may  be  described  in  general  as  containing 
a  mixture  of  Congregational  with  Presbyterian  elements. 

The  German  Reformed  Church — the  "  Reformed  Church  in  the 
United  States  " — was  mostly  composed,  at  the  beginning,  of  exiles 
The  German  '^^^m  the  Palatinate,  who  generally  planted  themselves 
Reformed       in  Pennsylvania.     The  first  coetus,  or  synod,  was  formed 

Church,  .      -        _        T  .  1 

m  1747.  Its  proceedings  were  always  sent  for  revision 
to  the  classis  at  Amsterdam,  since,  like  the  Dutch  Reformed 
Church,  it  stood  in  a  subordinate  relation  to  the  Church  in  Hol- 
land. Emigration  went  on,  but  comparatively  few  ministers  at- 
tended the  new-comers.  In  1773  the  coetus  dissolved  its  connec- 
tion with  the  Amsterdam  classis.  For  the  next  thirty  years,  the 
American  Church,  now  independent,  received  large  accessions,  but 
was  less  prosperous  as  regards  orderly  administration  and  the  ed- 
ucation of  its  ministers.  It  was  infected,  moreover,  to  some  extent 
with  rationalistic  opinions  which  were  brought  in  from  Germany. 
A  reaction  followed,  and  a  theological  seminary  was  founded  in 
1825,  which,  ten  years  later,  was  placed  at  Mercersburg.  There, 
in  1836,  Marshall  College  was  established.  In  this  college,  F.  A. 
Ranch,  an  able  teacher  in  philosophy,  was  the  first  president.  In 
1840,  John  W.  Nevin  became  the  Professor  of  Dogmatic  Theology 
in  the  seminary,  and  the  second  president  of  the  college.  There 
Philip  Schaff  began  his  important  labors  as  a  teacher  and  writer  in 
Church  history.     After  a  time,  a  commotion  was  excited  by  what 


576     •  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

■5\-as  termed  the  "  Mercersburg  theology,"  in  the  group  of  learned 
The  Mercers-  expositors  of  which  Ncvin  was  the  most  conspicuous. 
burg  theology,  j^^q  i]^q  Heidelberg  Catechism,  the  creed  of  the  German 
Keformed  Church,  there  had  flowed  influences  from  the  school  of 
Melanchthon,  the  character  of  which  may  be  described,  in  some- 
what vague  terms,  as  churchly  and  sacramental,  in  conjunction  with 
influences  from  a  more  defined,  yet  not  rigid,  type  of  Calvinism. 
In  the  writings  of  the  Mercersburg  school,  the  former  of  these  two 
elements,  that  which  emanated  from  Melanchthon,  was  once  more 
brought  into  the  foreground.  A  central  position  in  the  system  was 
given  to  the  Divine-human  person  of  Christ,  by  whom,  it  was 
taught,  not  only  reconciliation,  but  a  new  spiritual  life  is  intro- 
duced into  the  race,  which  in  the  first  Adam  fell  from  God.  In  the 
room  of  a  shai'p  antagonism  to  the  conceptions  of  the  Church  of 
Eome,  there  was  an  endeavor  to  appropriate  the  truth  embodied 
in  them,  yet  with  no  surrender  of  the  distinctive  principles  of  the 
Reformation.  The  sacraments,  it  was  insisted,  are  pledges  of  for- 
giveness, and  vehicles,  as  well  as  signs,  of  grace.  In  connection 
with  this  teaching,  there  was  a  revival  of  liturgical  worship.  An 
Order  of  Worship,  prepared  by  Schaff  and  others,  was  introduced 
for  optional  use  in  the  churches.  Gi-eat  importance  was  attached 
to  training  in  the  Church,  in  contrast  with  what  has  been  styled 
"the  spasmodic  revival  system." 

There  w«re  German  fugitives  from  the  Palatinate  who  settled 
in  Ireland,  and  there  embraced  Methodism.  A  company  of  these 
The  Meth-  emigrated  to  New  York.  Among  them  was  Philip  Em- 
odists.  bury,  a  class-leader  and  local  preacher.     In  compliance 

with  the  urgent  exhortation  of  one  of  their  number,  a  pious  woman 
named  Barbara  Heck,  he  resumed,  in  17G6,  the  work  of  preaching  to 
his  fellow-emigrants.  He  found  an  unexpected  assistant  in  a  Brit- 
ish officer.  Captain  Thomas  Webb,  whom  Wesley  had  licensed  as  a 
local  preacher.  Not  far  from  the  same  time,  another  local  preacher 
from  Ii-eland,  Kobert  Strawbridge,  formed  a  Methodist  society  and 
organized  classes  in  Maryland.  In  1771,  Wesley  sent  over  Francis 
Asbury,  to  act  as  superintendent,  who  was  soon  followed  by  Thomas 
Eankin,  to  whom  he  became  an  assistant.  The  work  of  planting 
the  Wesleyan  teaching  was  auspiciously  begun  in  different  quarters, 
when  the  War  of  the  Revolution  broke  out.  The  Methodist  mission- 
aries were  naturally  objects  of  suspicion.  In  June,  1775,  Wesley 
wrote  to  the  English  premier  and  the  colonial  secretary  to  dissuade 
them  from  the  use  of  force  against  the  Americans,  although  he  pro- 
fessed himself  in  his  letter  "  a  High  Chui'chman,  the  son  of  a  High 


1648-1887.]  RELIGIOUS  DENOMINATIONS  IN  UNITED  STATES.  577 

Churchman,"  bred  up  from  childhood  "  in  the  highest  notions  of 
passive  obedience  and  non-resistance."  But  soon  after,  he  was  im- 
pressed by  Dr.  Johnson's  anti-American  pamphlet,  "  Taxation  no 
Tyranny,"  and  came  out  himself  with  a  pamphlet  which  was  hardly 
more  than  an  abridgment  of  it.  He  instructed  his  preachers  in 
America,  however,  to  observe  a  strict  neutrality,  and  this  advice 
Asbui-y  and  others  followed.  But  such  a  position  could  not  fail  to 
subject  them  to  obloq^uy  and  threatening,  and  even  to  occasional 
violence.  The  Episcopal  Church  was  so  broken  up  that  it  was 
difScult  during  the  war  for  the  Methodist  converts  to  receive  the 
Sacrament  from  that  source.  Asbury  was  opposed  to  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  Lord's  Supper  by  the  Methodist  preachers  ;  but 
Strawbridge  could  not  be  controlled  in  this  particular.  The  close 
Coke  sent  of  the  Revolution  brought  relief.  In  1784,  "Wesley  or- 
oyeras  daiued  Thomas  Coke  as  superintendent  or  bishop,  and 

after  his  arrival  in  America,  he  consecrated  Asbury  to 
the  same  office.  Coke  did  not  abide  permanently  in  this  country, 
although  he  visited  it  nine  times.  After  a  laborious  career,  he  died 
on  his  way  to  Ceylon,  whither  he  was  going  to  found  a  mission.  In 
December,  1784,  a  general  conference,  attended  by  sixty  ministers, 
was  held  in  Baltimore.  There  the  choice  of  Coke  and  Asbury  was 
confirmed,  and  a  creed,  composed  by  "Wesley  and  con- 
sisting of  Twenty-five  Articles,  Avas  accepted.  It  was 
framed  on  the  basis  of  the  Thirty-nine  Articles  of  the  English 
Church.  The  Augustinian  or  Calvinistic  features  of  doctrine  are 
omitted  ;  there  is  a  careful  avoidance  of  phraseology  which  might 
be  thought  by  some  indirectly  to  favor  the  idea  of  "  baptismal  re- 
generation," to  which  Wesley  had  been  formerly  attached,  and 
which,  perhaps,  he  never  explicitly  disavowed  ;  but  Wesley's  own 
views  as  to  the  witness  of  the  Spirit  and  Christian  perfection  are 
not  introduced.  The  question  arises  whether  it  was  expected 
that  all  who  join  the  Methodist  societies  should  believe  in  this 
creed.  In  the  "  General  Eules  of  the  United  Societies,"  which 
Wesley,  in  connection  with  his  brother,  published  in  1743,  there 
is  no  dogmatic  requisite  for  membership  presented.  The  only 
qualifications  are  the  desire  to  be  saved,  and  particulars  of  Chris- 
tian conduct.  All  his  life,  Wesley  asserted  that  nothing  was  to  be 
demanded  of  members  but  "  a  real  desire  to  save  their  souls."  For 
preachers,  an  agreement  was  required  with  Wesley's  "  Notes  on  the 
New  Testament,"  and  with  a  portion  of  his  "Sermons."  Stevens, 
in  his  thorough  works  on  the  history  of  Methodism,  concludes 
that  the  Articles  adopted  at  Baltimore  are  applicable  to  the  clergy 
37 


QjQ  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

alone.  It  should  be  remarked,  however,  that  Wesley  left  the  Apos- 
tles' Creed  in  the  Baptismal  Office. 

^he  way  was  now  open,  under  the  leadership  of  Asbury,  for  the 
complete  organization  of  Methodism,  with  its  rule  of  itinerancy 
for  all  classes  of  ministers,  its  class  system,  its  local 
Asbury.  conferences,  and  its  General  Conference  for  the  entire 
country.  Asbury  survived  until  1816.  He  had  received  in  his 
youth  but  little  education,  for  he  had  begun  to  preach  at  the  age 
of  sixteen.  But  he  acquired  some  knowledge  of  Greek  and  Hebrew  ; 
and  his  native  sagacity  and  clearness  of  intellect  went  far  towards 
making  up  for  deficiencies  in  early  training.  In  addition  to  his 
capacity  as  a  preacher,  he  had  a  power  of  command  and  a  genius 
for  organization  which  had  been  quickened  by  his  intercourse 
with  Wesley.  Asbury's  life  would  involve  a  history  of  American 
Methodism  for  the  first  half-century  of  its  being.  He  travelled  in- 
cessantly ;  journeying,  it  is  said,  on  an  average,  six  thousand  miles 
a  year.  He  ordained  upwards  of  four  thousand  preachers.  By  him 
and  his  co-laborers  the  gospel  was  carried  into  the  scattered  abodes 
of  the  pioneers  in  the  Western  communities,  and  was  received  by  a 
multitude  whom  no  other  agency  would  have  reached.  The  records 
of  the  journeyings  and  the  toils  of  the  Methodist  preachers  remind 
one  vividly  of  the  apostles  and  their  helpers,  and  of  the  perils 
through  which  they  passed  in  the  first  age  of  Christianity.  Their 
Church  organization  was  so  complete  that  nothing  which  was  once 
gained  was  lost.  In  process  of  time,  numerous  academies  and  col- 
leges grew  up,  and  a  great  establishment  for  the  publication  of 
books — the  "  Book  Concern,"  begun  in  1789 — was  established.  In 
the  pulpit,  along  with  the  rude  but  effective  eloquence  of  thou- 
sands of  more  obscure  preachers,  were  heard  the  voices  of  revival 
orators  such  as  Summerfield  (1798-1825),  and  Maffit  (1794-1850), 
and  of  powerful  reasoners  like  Stephen  Olin  (1797-1851).  The- 
ological schools  were  j)lanted,  and  Methodist  scholars  have  made 
valuable  contributions  to  theological  literature.  In  1872,  lay  rep- 
resentation was  introduced  into  the  General  Conference.  In  1845, 
the  Methodist  Church  was  divided  by  the  slavery  controversy,  and 
the  Southern  Church  was  separately  organized.  This  rupture  was 
one  of  the  grave  omens  that  preceded  the  American  Civil  War. 

Of  the  minor  Methodist  bodies,  the  "Protestant  Methodist 
^^  ^  Church "  is  the  most  numerous.     This  was  organized  in 

TheProtes-       -„„„     .  p    l-i 

tent  Method-   IbdO,  m  consequence  of  a  desire  of  a  fraction  of  the 

local  preachers  and  of  laymen  to  be  admitted  to  a  share 

in  the  ecclesiastical  government  of  the  whole  denomination,  and 


1648-1887.]  RELIGIOUS  DENOMINATIONS  IN  UNITED  STATES.  579 

of  a  dislike  of  the  power  exercised  by  the  episcopate,  which,  in  the 
new  organization,  was  abolished.  Its  creed  is  not  different  kom 
that  of  the  princii3al  Methodist  body. 

The  "  United  Brethi-en "  are  a  religious  organization  having  a 
near  affinity  to  the  Methodists.  Its  founder  was  Philip  William 
The  United  Otterbeiu,  a  missionary  of  the  German  Keformed  Church, 
Brethren  ^^^  ^^  native  of  Germany,  who  came  to  America  in  1752. 
While  preaching  at  Lancaster,  Pennsylvania,  an  awakening  in  his 
own  mind  of  religious  fervor,  which  he  felt  to  be  really  a  new  birth, 
moved  him  to  hold  meetings  in  different  places.  Among  the  at- 
tendants from  different  denominations  there  came,  on  one  of  these 
occasions,  Martin  Boehm,  a  Mennonite  preacher,  who  delivered  an 
imj^ressive  discourse.  At  the  close  of  his  sermon,  Otterbein  grasped 
his  hand  in  token  of  fraternal  fellowship,  saying :  "We  are  brethren." 
This  suggested  the  name  of  the  Church,  which,  by  their  joint  labors, 
acquired  a  stable  form.  Lay  preachers  were  commissioned  by  them. 
The  "United  Brethren"  are  Armiuian  in  their  creed,  and  their 
organization  resembles  that  of  the  Methodists.  They  elect  their 
bishops  for  a  limited  term  of  years.  They  have  been  strenuous 
opponents  of  slavery.  They  have  not  been  wanting  in  active  exer- 
tions for  the  building  uj)  of  institutions  of  learning  and  the  diffu- 
sion of  religious  knowledge. 

In  174;0,  the  Moravians  settled  in  Pennsylvania,  where  they 
founded  three  towns,  of  which  Bethlehem,  the  seat  of  a  college  and 
The  Mora-  theological  institution,  is  the  best  known.  They  estab- 
^"'°^'  lished  another  centre  in  Salem,  North  Carolina.     Since 

1844,  the  rule  excluding  non-Moravians  from  their  towns  has  been 
entirely  abandoned  in  America.  The  three  houses  for  the  unmar- 
ried— the  brothers',  the  sisters',  and  the  widows'  houses — no  longer 
exist  in  this  country.  They  have  bishops  who  are  exclusively  em- 
powered to  ordain.  A  general  synod  meets  every  ten  years  at 
Hermhut ;  but  America  is  a  separate  province,  with  two  districts, 
each  having  a  Provincial  Elders'  Conference,  which  attends  to  the 
concerns  of  the  Church  within  its  limits.  The  episcopal  system  is 
not  diocesan.     The  Moravian  worship  is  liturgical. 

A  yery  important  event  relating  to  the  history  of  the  Society  of 
Friends  was  their  separation,  in  1827,  into  two  divisions.  Elias 
Hicks  (1748-1830),  a  popular  preacher  among  the  Quak- 
ers, leaned  in  his  teaching  to  Unitarian  opinions  respect- 
ing the  person  of  Christ  and  the  atonement.  A  wide-spread  contro- 
versy arose,  which  resulted  in  the  formation,  by  about  one-third  of 
the  society,  of  a  distinct  body,  generally  called  "Hicksite  Quakers," 


030  FROM  THE  PEACE  OP  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

while  the  remainder,  adhering  to  the  old  views,  are  called  the 
"  orthodox." 

The  congregations  of  the  Friends  are  connected  in  the  monthly, 
quarterly,  and  yearly  meetings,  delegates  being  sent  from  the  lower 
to  the  higher  assemblies.  Those  who  give  evidence  of  a  call  of  the 
Spirit  to  preach  are  recognized  as  ministers.  The  activity  of  the 
Friends  in  the  education  of  the  young,  in  behalf  of  morality,  and 
in  labors  of  philanthropy,  has  been  much  beyond  what  is  usual  in 
religious  bodies  having  so  small  a  membership. 

When  American  Independence  was  declared,  there  were  few  Ro- 
man Catholics  outside  of  Mai-yland  and  Pennsylvania.  In  Mary- 
TheEoman  ^^ud  there  wcre  sixteen  thousand,  and  in  Pennsylvania 
Catholics.  about  half  of  that  nvimber.  After  the  Pevolution,  the 
laws  which,  in  many  of  the  colonies,  restricted  their  civil  privileges, 
gradually  disappeared.  The  law  which  had  somehow  found  its  way 
into  the  statute-book  of  Ehode  Island,  forbidding  them  to  vote, 
was  repealed  in  1784.  The  first  Eoman  Catholic  bishop  in  America 
was  John  Carroll  (1735-1815),  a  native  of  Maryland,  who  was  edu- 
cated in  France,  and  had  lived  many  years  abroad.  The  see  was 
established  in  1789.  Carroll  was  consecrated  in  England.  He 
assumed  the  title  of  Bishop  of  Baltimore,  and  was  made  an  arch- 
bishop shortly  before  his  death.  He  was  a  man  of  learning,  and 
was  held  in  just  esteem  for  his  moral  excellence.  The  first  Bishop 
of  Boston  was  Cheverus  (1768-183G),  a  Frenchman,  and  a  curate  in 
France,  who  joined  the  Catholic  mission  in  Boston  in 
1795,  and  after  performing  a  very  important  work  for 
his  Church  in  New  England,  where  he  enjoyed  the  esteem  of  many 
Protestants,  was  recalled  to  France  in  1823,  and  was  advanced,  near 
the  end  of  his  life,  to  the  rank  of  a  cardinal.  Baltimore  was  made  a 
metropolitan  see  in  1808.  The  first  provincial  council  was  held  in 
that  city  in  1829.  The  progress  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  in 
the  United  States  is  owing  to  the  vast  immigration  of  members  of 
that  body  from  foreign  countries.  The  American  converts  from 
Protestantism  have  not  been  very  numerous.  Among  them  have 
been  some  clergymen,  and  of  these,  one  bishop  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church,  Bishop  Ives,  of  North  Carolina  (1852).  One  of 
the  most  brilliant  of  the  American  converts  to  the  Church  of  Rome 
was  Orestes  A.  Brownson  (1803-187G).  His  early  education  was 
defective.     His  mind  was  exceedingly  active  and  specu- 

Brownson.         ,      .  __  °  "^  _,  ,  _ 

lative.  He  was  an  enthusiastic  student  of  French  and 
German  philosophy,  and  wrote,  with  much  vigor  of  style  and  orig- 
inality, on  political  and  social  subjects,  as  well  as  on  theology. 


nicunts.     The  number  of  its 
■ent  denominations  are  from 


int-  the  number  of  adherents 
Httbner  (1884)  estimates  the 
0(1    or  30. a  per  cent,  of  the 

lies  he  makes  to  be  218,000,000  ; 
83.000,000  ;  all  others.  8,000,- 

ents  the  following  table  : 

OOp.OOO,  or    8.3  per  cent. 
■,00;.),000,  or    0.5       " 
I.OO'i.UOO,  or  35.0 
1.000,000,  or    9.G 

OOJ,000,  or  16.4        " 

|5.0«0,000,  or  100  per  cent. 

of  drawing  lines  between  the 
the  Chinese  are  all  reckoned 


as  Buddhists.  Another  source  of  disagreement  among  statisticijins 
is  in  regard  to  the  total  population  of  China.  This  is  judged  by 
Wagner  (1874)  to  be  nearly  405,000,000;  by  Riohthofen  (1S82),  to  be 
at  least  430,000,000.  Some  authorities  consider  it  to  be  more  than 
50.000,000  )ess. 

The  New  York  Independent  (May  10.  1887)  gives  the  following  table 
of  the  leading  denominations  in  the  United  States.  The  number  of 
Roman  Catholic  communicants  is  only  a  probable  estimate. 

Churthea. 

1.  Methodists 47  302 

2.  Roman  Catholics 6,910 

3.  Baptists 40,854 

4.  Presbyterians 12,868 

5.  Lutherans 7.573 

6.  Congi-egationalists 4,277 

7.  Episcopalians 4,524 


Ministers. 

29,493 

4,.532,658 

7.658 

4.000,000 

27,889 

3,727,020 

9,429 

1,082,436 

3.990 

930,&30 

4.090 

436.379 

11,531 


2,000,000 


2,500,000 


3.000,000 


750,000,000 


1,000,000,000 


RELIGIOUS   STATISTICS. 


1648-1887.]  RELIGIOUS  DENOMINATIONS  IN  UNITED  STATES.  581 

From  a  skeptical  position  he  passed  over,  in  1844,  to  the  Church 
of  Rome,  which  he  defended  for  many  years  in  his  "  Quarterly  Re- 
view." A  noted  polemic,  as  well  as  efficient  person  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  episcopal  office,  was  John  Hughes  (1798-18G4),  the 
Hu  hes  ^^'^^  Catholic  archbishop  of  New  York.     A  landmark  in 

the  annals  of  the  Roman  Catholics  in  the  United  States 
was  the  assembling  of  a  National  Plenary  Council  at  Baltimoi-e,  in 
1852,  There  the  opposition  of  the  Church  to  secret  societies,  and 
to  the  system  of  public  schools,  Avas  enunciated.  The  third  plen- 
ary council  assembled  at  Baltimore  on  November  9,  1884,  and  con- 
tinued in  session  about  one  month.  The  progress  of  the  Church 
is  shown  in  the  fact  that  there  were  in  attendance,  belonging  to 
the  United  States,  fourteen  archbishops,  sixty  bishops,  and  one 
prefect  apostohc.  The  president  was  Archbishoi?  Gibbons.  The 
pastoral  letter  of  the  council  dwelt  on  the  importance  of  educa- 
tion for  the  clergy  in  the  non-theological  as  well  as  the  technical 
branches  of  knowledge  ;  on  the  need,  for  the  preservation  of  civil 
and  I'eligious  liberty,  of  a  religious  training  of  the  people,  in  con- 
nection Avith  a  secular  schooling ;  and  on  family  duties,  including 
the  benefit  of  household  devotions.  It  is  understood  that  the  coim- 
cil  proposed  that  rectors  should  be  irremovable  except  for  cause, 
and  should  elect  the  bishops ;  that  a  catechism  should  be  made  for 
the  whole  country  ;  and  that  a  Catholic  university  should  be  estab- 
lished. Should  the  first  of  these  proposed  changes  be  carried  out, 
the  Roman  Catholic  Chui-ch  would  no  longer  stand  in  the  depend- 
ent relation  of  a  missionary  church. 

A  sketch  of  religious  i^henomena  in  the  United  States  can  hardly 
omit  a  notice  of  the  Mormons.  As  in  the  case  of  Mohammedan- 
TheMor-  i^m,  it  may  be  a  question  whether  Mormonism  has  in 
mons.  ||.  enough  of  Christianity   to  entitle  it  to  the  name  of 

a  heresy,  or  whether  it  is  not  properly  classified  with  false  or 
heathen  religions.  The  Mormon  sect  was  foimded  at  Manchester, 
New  York,  in  1830,  by  Joseph  Smith.  He  professed  to  have  been 
guided  by  an  angel  to  a  sj)ot  where  he  found  buried  the  "  Book  of 
Mormon,"  written  on  thin  gold  plates.  How  far  a  manuscript, 
written  for  quite  another  purpose  by  one  Solomon  Spalding,  fur- 
nished the  material  for  this  Mormon  Bible,  is  an  unsettled  question. 
In  style,  it  is  an  imitation  of  the  Authorized  Version  of  the  Script- 
ures. It  was  alleged  to  be  the  production  of  Moi'mon,  a  Hebrew, 
the  sui-vivor  of  emigrants  from  Palestine  to  Chili,  who  came  thither 
centuries  before  the  Christian  era.     Smith  established  the  sect  of 


582  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

Mormons,  or  "  Latter  Day  Saints,"  as  lie  styled  them,  on  the  basis 
of  this  imposture.  In  1843,  he  professed  to  have  a  revelation 
sanctioning  polygamy.  Driven  from  Illinois  in  1848,  the  Mormons 
removed  to  the  Territory  of  Utah,  and  founded  Salt  Lake  City. 
Brigham  Young  had  taken  the  place  of  Smith  as  a  leader,  who  had 
been  killed  by  a  mob.  Young  died  in  1877,  and  was  succeeded  by 
John  Taylor,  an  Englishman.  He  has  lately  died.  The  Mormon 
reci-uits  have  been  obtaiued  by  emissaries  sent  to  Europe,  largely 
from  the  working-class  in  Great  Britain,  in  Sweden,  and  in  Norway. 
A  body  of  anti-polygamist  seceders  from  the  Mormon  community 
has  been  formed,  and  still  another  Mormon  sect,  opposed  to  polyg- 
amy, originated  in  1851. 


CHAPTEE  VII. 

CHRISTIAN   MISSIONS. 


The  IVIissions  which  the  CathoHc  Church,  with  so  much  zeal  and 
energy,  had  planted  in  all  parts  of  the  world  during  the  first  age  of 
the  Eeformation,  began  to  languish  as  the  eighteenth  century  drew 
to  a  close.  The  controversy  on  the  Chinese  and  Malabar  customs, 
which  has  already  been  spoken  of,  the  suppression  of  the  Jesuit 
order  in  1773,  and  the  political  revolution  which  convulsed  France 
and  Europe,  and  curtailed  for  a  time  the  power  of  the  Koman  see, 
were  the  principal  causes  of  this  decline.  Hardly  had 
ouc  missions    the  present  century  begun,  however,  when  the  Church 

in  the  nine-  ,  ,  ...  ,         -r^. 

teenth  cen-  entered  upon  a  new  era  of  missionary  conquest.  Pius 
tury.  Yji  regained  the  lost  prerogatives,  restored  the  Jesuits, 

and  reopened  the  College  of  the  Propaganda,  the  foremost  of  all  the 
Catholic  institutions  for  the  education  of  missionaries.  The  pros- 
perity of  the  college  continued  to  increase,  and  in  18G7  there  were 
represented  among  its  students  so  many  nations,  that  on  the  first 
Sunday  after  Epiphany  the  blessings  of  the  advent  were  chanted 
in  twenty-five  different  languages.  The  missions  of  the  Catholic 
Church  have  been  in  this  centiuy,  as  before,  under  the  dii-ection  of 
Their  organi-  the  Congregation  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith,  at 
zation.  Rome,  or  the  Propaganda,  as  it  is  usually  called,  which 

■was  founded  in  1622.  By  its  authority  a  simple  mission  with 
chapel,  orphanage,  and,  perhaps,  hospital,  might  be  raised  to  an 
apostolic  prefecture,  or  a  vicariate,  or,  last  of  all,  to  an  episcopate 


164S-1887.]  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS.  683 

of  a  higher  or  lower  grade.  In  this  way  the  hierarchical  organiza- 
tion of  the  Church  of  Kome  has  been  extended  well-nigh  over  the 
whole  world.  The  movements  of  its  missionaries  have  been  aU  the 
more  effective  from  having  been  guided  by  a  single  committee 
composed  of  the  cardinals  of  the  Propaganda.  Under  such  a  sys- 
tem there  could  not  be  that  interference  with  each  other  which 
has  so  often  hindered  the  efforts  of  Protestant  missionary  societies. 
The  most  notable  of  the  organizations  which  have  contributed  to 
the  support  of  the  missions  is  the  Society  for  the  Pi-opagation  of 
the  Faith,  which  was  founded  at  Lyons  in  1822. 

Not  only  the  training  colleges  but  also  the  religious  orders,  and 
especially  the  Jesuits,  the  Franciscans,  the  Dominicans,  the  Laza- 
The  mission  ^'i^^^^  ^^^  Picpus  Socicty,  the  Capuchius,  and  the  Carme- 
aries  and        lites,  havc  scut  forth  missionaries  to  bear  the  message  of 

their  work. 

the  Church  to  all  the  nations  of  the  earth.  In  the  Turk- 
ish Empire  and  Persia,  as  well  as  in  Egypt  and  Abyssinia,  they  have 
continually  endeavored,  and  not  without  a  measure  of  success,  to 
bring  the  sects,  the  Armenians,  the  Copts,  etc.,  into  allegiance  to 
the  See  of  Rome.  The  work  in  India,  weakened  as  it  was  in  the 
last  centiu'y  by  the  controversy  about  the  Malabar  customs  and  by 
the  suppression  of  the  Jesmts,  was  still  further  disturbed,  after  the 
year  1834,  by  a  schism  at  Goa.  But  such  misfortunes  did  not  pre- 
vent the  steady  gi'owth  of  the  Church.  In  Eastern  Asia,  inAnnam, 
Cochin  China,  China,  and  Japan,  the  missionaries  were  persecuted 
again  and  again,  until  religious  liberty  was  proclaimed  in  these 
lands  thx'ough  the  influence  of  the  European  powers.  Nor  was  the 
climate  of  Africa  less  destructive  than  the  swords  of  the  Orientals. 
But  the  missionaries,  who  knew  no  allegiance  but  that  to  Christ  and 
the  Holy  Mother  Church,  were  not  to  be  turned  back  by  danger. 
Many  of  them  even  coveted  the  martyr's  crown.  Across  the  ocean, 
in  British  America  and  the  United  States,  the  Church  has  steadily 
grown  in  numbers  and  in  authority,  while  in  Mexico  and  in  several 
of  the  South  American  republics  it  has  been  deprived  of  much 
of  its  wealth  and  many  of  its  ancient  privileges.  The  Cath- 
olic missionaries,  though  they  have  laboi'etl  assiduously  in  these 
older  countries,  have  not  been  forgetful  of  the  South  Sea  Islanders. 
Their  work  among  these  peoples  has  centred  in  the  Wallis  and 
Gambler  islands,  where  they  have  established  flourishing  missions. 
But  the  present  century  has  been  signalized  not  so  much  by  the 
successes  of  the  Roman  Church  in  the  various  lands  of  the  world  as 
by  the  rise  of  Protestant  missions. 

The  Protestant  Churches,  as  we  have  already  seen,  were  not  at 


584  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX 

the  outset  moved  by  a  desire  to  carry  the  gospel  to  the  nations 
which  then  lay  bej;ond  the  confines  of  Christendom.  Many  years 
passed  before  the  missionary  sjDirit,  now  so  characteristic  of  all 
evan^'elical  communities,  began  to  make  itself  felt.  In  1644,  the 
General  Court  of  Massachusetts  ordered  that  the  county  courts 
should  see  to  it  that  the  Indians  residing  within  their  respective 

shires  should  be  "instructed  in  the  knowledge  and  wor- 
estantmis-      shij)  of  God."     To  further  thcse  and  similar  efforts,  the 

Long  Parliament,  five  years  later,  created  a  corporation, 
called  the  "President  and  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel 
in  New  England,"  This,  the  first  Protestant  missionary  society, 
j;]iot  contributed  to  the  support  of  John  Eliot  and  others,  who 

1604-1690.  labored  among  the  Indians  dwelling  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  Puritan  colonies.  The  work  thus  begun  was  carried  forward 
in  the  following  century  by  such  men  as  David  Brainerd  (1718-1747) 
and  Jonathan  Edwards.  The  East  Indies,  where  the  hardy  Neth- 
erlanders  had  wrested  many  colonies  from  the  rule  of  the  Portuguese, 
was  the  theatre  of  Dutch  missionary  activity  in  the  early  part  of 
the  seventeenth  ceutury.  Thousands  were  here  influenced  by  con- 
siderations of  woi'dly  advantage  to  accejit  Christianity,  only  to  re- 
lapse into  heathenism  when  these  motives  were  withdrawn.  Such 
isolated  endeavors  as  the  Dutch  and  English  put  forth  at  this  time 
could  accomplish  but  little.  The  religious  life  of  Protestant  Chris- 
tendom must  first  be  quickened :  instead  of  a  dead  orthodoxy  there 
must  be  a  living  Christianity.  The  work  of  Spener  (1635-1705) 
and  Francke  (1663-1727),  the  German  pietists,  was  influential  in 
The  Danish-  bringing  about  so  needful  a  change.  It  was  Dr.  Liit- 
Haue  Mission.  j.g^^  ^  court-preacher  of  Denmark,  and  a  friend  of  Spener 
and  Francke,  who,  in  1704,  supported  by  King  Frederick  IV.,  com- 
menced the  first  mission  in  the  spirit  of  this  revived  Chi-istianity. 
The  men  whom  he  sent  out  to  Tranquebai',  on  the  Southeastern  coast 
of  India,  had  been  trained  in  the  atmosphere  of  German  pietism. 
The  mission  itself  owed  more  to  the  efforts  of  Francke,  the  founder 
of  the  orphan-house  at  Halle,  than  even  to  the  Danish  king  and 
his  chaplain.  It  was  thus  appropriately  styled  the  Danish-Halle 
IVIissiou.  The  accounts  which  Ziegenbalg  sent  to  Francke  of  the 
success  of  the  work  at  Tranquebar  i-aised  up  many  friends  for  the 
enterprise.  Money  and  books  were  contributed  by  English  soci- 
eties, and  from  King  George  I  came  a  letter  expressing  his  grati- 
fication, not  only  at  the  progress  of  the  mission,  "  but  also,"  said  he, 
"  because  that,  in  this  our  kingdom,  such  a  laudable  zeal  for  the 
promotion  of  the  gospel  prevails." 


1648-1887.]  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS.  585 

From  the  pietist  movement  the  Moravian  Church  received,  in 
part  at  least,  its  first  missionary  impulse.  Count  Zinzendorf,  on 
Moravian  whosG  cstates  the  persecuted  brethren  from  Moravia 
missions.  settled  in  1722,  was  no  less  devout  than  themselves. 
His  early  intercourse  with  Francke  had  confirmed  his  already  strong 
inclination  to  earnest  communion  with  Christ.  In  one  of  his  ser- 
mons, after  he  was  ordained  bishop  of  the  Moravian  Church  (1737), 
he  exclaimed,  "  I  have  one  passion,  and  it  is  He,  He  alone."  Incited 
by  the  story  of  the  sufferings  of  the  negroes  at  St,  Thomas,  in  the 
"West  Indies,  and  of  the  patient,  though  unsuccessful  efforts  of 
Hans  Egede,  a  Norwegian  pastor,  in  Greenland,  Zinzendorf  and 
the  brethren  determined,  in  1732,  to  send  two  of  their  number  to 
each  country.  Before  a  quarter  of  a  century  had  passed,  eighteen 
missionaries  had  gone  forth,  almost  without  purse  or  wallet,  from 
Herrnhut  to  plant  stations  in  various  lands,  and  to  gather  a  Chris- 
tian community  abroad  which  should  far  outnumber  that  at  home. 

The  Evangelical  revival  in  England,  together  with  the  new  sym- 
pathy for  humanity  which  manifested  itself  in  the  social  and  political 
The  era  of  movcmeuts  of  the  later  years  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
missionary  ushcred  iu  a  brilliant  era  of  missionary  activity,  an  era 
which,  in  the  history  of  missions,  is  only  less  remarkable 
than  the  first  of  the  Christian  ages.  In  1784,  a  memorial  was 
drawn  up  by  an  association  of  Baptist  ministers  at  Nottingham,  in 
England,  urging  the  people  to  more  earnest  prayers  for  the  out- 
pouring of  God's  Spirit  on  both  churches  and  pastors,  and  adding : 
"  the  spread  of  the  gospel  to  the  most  distant  parts  of  the  hab- 
itable globe"  should  "be  the  object  of  your  fervent  requests." 
These  thoughts,  through  the  efforts  of  William  Carey,  a  minister 
Carey,  ^^  Moultou,  wcro  tumcd  iuto  action.     Carey  was  born  in 

1761-1834.  1761,  and  was  the  son  of  a  Northamptonshire  school- 
master and  parish  clerk.  In  his  youth  he  loved  to  study  plants, 
and  to  observe  the  habits  of  insects,  birds,  and  animals.  Nor  did 
he  neglect  the  languages.  Notwithstanding  many  hinderances 
from  the  circumstances  in  which  he  was  placed,  he  learned  Latin, 
Greek,  French,  Dutch,  and  Hebrew.  As  early  as  1781,  three  years 
before  the  meeting  at  Nottingham,  he  began  to  be  absoi-bed  in  one 
thought,  the  sending  of  the  gospel  to  the  heathen.  On  the  walla 
of  the  shop  where  he  worked  at  his  trade  as  a  shoemaker,  hung  a 
map  of  the  world,  on  which  were  arranged  the  latest  religious  and 
political  statistics  of  each  countiy.  As  soon  as  he  became  pastor 
at  Moulton,  he  urged  his  views  upon  the  neighboring  ministers, 
but  they  refused  to  believe  that  such  a  project  was  not  beset  by 


556  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

insuperable  obstacles.  As  the  association  which  met  at  Notting- 
ham in  May,  1792,  was  about  to  disperse,  he  seized  An- 
Mi^'^ionary  drcw  FuUer  by  the  arm,  and,  in  a  beseeching  tone,  asked. 
Society,  i<  '.  «^jj^  g^j^.g  yQ^^  after  all,  going  again  to  do  nothing?" 
These  words  were  not  without  their  effect.  On  October  2d  the 
Baptist  society  was  founded,  with  Carey  as  one  of  its  first  mis- 
sionaries. Carey  sailed  for  India,  and  there,  with  the  help  of 
other  members  of  the  same  society,  founded  the  mission  of  Ser- 
ampore. 

The  letters  which  Carey  sent  to  his  friends  in  England  aroused 
the  interest  of  benevolent  men,  both  clergy  and  laity,  not  only 
among  the  dissenters,  but  also  in  the  Established  Church. 
Missionary  So-  Out  of  this  feeling  Sprang  the  London  Missionary  So- 
"^*^'  '  ■  ciety,  which  was  to  be  a  union  of  Independents,  Presby- 
terians, Methodists,  and  Episcopalians,  whose  "  only  strife,"  it  was 
said,  "shall  be,  not  to  promote  the  interests  of  a  special  section, 
since  Christ  is  not  divided,  but  with  united  earnestness  to  make 
known  afar  the  glory  of  his  person,  the  perfection  of  his  work,  the 
wonders  of  his  grace,  and  the  overflowing  blessings  of  his  redemp- 
tion." The  directors  of  the  society,  interested,  as  Carey  had  been, 
in  "  Cook's  Voyages,"  chose  the  South  Sea  Islands  as  the  field  of 
its  first  operations.  Meanwhile  the  religious  movements  of  the  age 
had  aroused  the  Church  of  England  to  new  life.  In  1799,  sixteen 
of  the  clergy,  encouraged  by  Wilberforce,  the  great  anti-slaveiy 
advocate,  and  other  like-minded  men,  founded  the  organization 
The  Church  which  in  1812  became  the  Church  Missionary  Society  for 
dity,  rrsJ;  ^°"  ^^^ica  and  the  East.  One  of  its  principles  was  that  "  the 
1812.  friendly  relation  to  other  missionary  societies  shall  be 

maintained."  Thenceforward  the  London  Society  passed  gradually 
under  the  control  of  the  Independents.  At  about  the  same  time 
the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign 
Parts,  an  outgrowth  of  the  old  Puritan  corporation,  came 
into  the  hands  of  the  High  Church  party.  Since  then,  complaint 
has  been  made  that  "it  considers  itseK  justified,  as  the  repre- 
sentative of  '  the  Church,'  to  '  build  everywhere  on  other  men's 
foundations.' "  The  Methodists  were  not  behind  their  brethren 
Coke,  in   missionary   zeal.     In   1786,  Coke,  having  sailed  for 

1747-1814.  Nova  Scotia,  was  driven  south  by  a  storm  and  landed 
in  the  West  Lidies,  where  he  forthwith  began  to  preach  to  the 
negro  slaves.  The  work  which  he  commenced  there  and  in  Cey- 
lon was  taken  up  by  the  Wesleyan  Missionary  Society,  which  was 
formed  soon  after  his  death. 


1648-1887.]  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS.  587 

The  efforts  of  the  English  and  L*ish  Presbyterians  were  naturally 
overshadowed  by  those  of  their  more  numerous  brethren  in  Scot- 
scottish  mis-  ^^^^-  The  Scottish  and  Glasgow  Missionary  Societies, 
ci^iel  ^"^  founded  in  1796,  ceased  before  the  middle  of  the 
present  century  to  have  an  existence  separate  from  the 
organizations  of  the  Churches  of  Scotland.  The  opposition  to 
missions  which  had  hitherto  existed  in  the  Established  Church,  was 
overcome  by  the  earnest  words  of  Chalmers,  as  well  as  by  his  strong 
Buff.  personal  influence.     The  result  was  that  in  1829  Alex- 

ander Duff,  one  of  the  most  remarkable  missionary 
leaders  of  modern  times,  was  sent  out  to  India.  When  the  eccle- 
siastical Disruption  of  1843  came,  Duff  entered  the  Free  Church 
movement,  and  was  foremost  in  building  up  its  eminently  suc- 
cessful mission  work.  From  the  year  1847,  the  United  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Scotland  has  energetically  supported  many  missionary 
enterprises,  chiefly  in  the  West  Indies.  In  cooperation  with  these 
British  associations  have  been  the  Keligious  Tract  Society,  founded 
Auxiiiaiyso-  ^^  1799,  which  circulates  books  and  pamphlets  in  one 
cieties.  hundred  and  sixty-six  languages,  and  the  British  and 

Foreign  Bible  Society,  established  in  1804,  which  publishes  and 
distributes  the  Scriptures,  or  parts  of  them,  in  at  least  one  hundred 
and  ninety-six  languages  or  dialects.  In  addition  to  these,  a  similar 
work  has  been  done  by  other  smaller  organizations.  There  is  also 
a  Medical  Missionary  Society  in  Edinburgh.  Trained  in  its  insti- 
tution, physicians  go  forth  to  the  various  heathen  nations  to  preach 
the  gospel,  not  only  by  words  but  by  merciful  deeds  of  healing. 
Connected  with  many  of  the  larger  societies  are  women's  associa- 
tions, whose  purpose  it  is  to  enlighten  and  save  the  ignorant  and 
suffering  women  of  pagan  lands. 

While  the  missionary  activity  was  growing  up  in  Great  Britain, 
the  Christians  of  America  were  becoming  animated  with  a  like 
zeal.  In  1808,  through  the  efforts  of  Samuel  Mills,  a  so- 
missSna^y  cicty  was  formcd  at  Williams  College,  called  "  The  Breth- 
ren," with  the  object  "to  effect,  in  the  persons  of  its  mem- 
bers, a  mission  or  missions  to  the  heathen."  Not  long  after,  the 
society  was  transferred  to  the  newly  founded  Andover  Theological 
Seminary,  where  its  members  were  increased  by  young  men  from 
other  colleges.  One  of  the  ablest  of  these,  Adouiram  Judson,  drew 
up  a  memorial  to  the  General  Association  of  Massachusetts,  which 
met  in  1810  at  Bradford,  asking  whether  they  would  receive  the 
support  of  the  churches  in  their  purpose  to  become  missionaries. 
To  the  memorial  were  affixed  the  names  of  Judson,  Nott,  Mills,  and 


588  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.        .[Period  IX, 

Newell.  This  appeal  led  to  the  founding  of  the  American  Board  of 
The  A  B  c  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions.  Early  in  the  year 
F.  M. '  1S12  the  first  missionaries  sailed  for  Calcutta.     Through 

the  intolerance  of  the  East  India  Company's  Government,  they 
were  forced  to  take  refuge,  two  in  Bombay,  one  in  Burmah,  and 
another  in  Ceylon.  About  this  time  an  event  of  a  different  kind, 
which  was  equally  disheartening  to  the  friends  of  the  enterprise, 
was  the  change  in  the  views  of  Judson  and  Kice  on  the  question 
of  baptism,  and  their  consequent  separation  from  the  Board.  In 
the  end,  however,  this  proved  to  be  not  a  misfortune  but  a  bless- 
The  Ameri-  i^g ;  for  by  it  the  American  Baptist  churches  were 
M^sionarf  aroused  to  form  a  union  for  the  promotion  of  the  cause 
Union,  1814.  of  missious.  Burmah,  whither  Judson  found  his  way  in 
July,  1813,  has  been  the  field  of  their  most  successful  labors.  The 
American  Board,  though  originating  with  the  Congregationalists, 
enjoyed  for  many  years  the  cooperation  of  the  Presbyterian  and  of 
the  Dutch  Keformed  Churches.  But  in  1837,  the  old-school  Presby- 
terians founded  an  indei^endent  board  of  their  own,  in 


terfanMoard,  the  support  of  which  the  new  school  joined  after  the  re- 
1837;  1S70.  ^^.^^  ^^  ^^^  ^^^  branches  of  the  Church  in  1870.  The 
Dutch  Reformed,  likewise,  in  1857,  severed  their  connection  with 
the  American  Board,  and  carried  on  their  work  alone.  The  work 
of  the  American  Board  in  India,  the  Sandwich  Islands,  and  among 
the  degenerate  churches  of  "Western  Asia,  is  especially  noteworthy. 
Connected  with  it  is  an  independent  and  prosperous  Woman's 
Board,  having  the  same  purpose  as  the  organizations  of  a  similar 
nature  already  mentioned.  The  Presbyterians  and  the  Baptists  in 
like  manner  have  women's  missionary  societies.  It  is  impossible 
to  do  more  than  allude  to  the  organizations  of  the  Methodists,  the 
Episcopalians,  and  the  Lutherans,  as  well  as  of  the  many  other  de- 
nominations which  exist  in  America. 

The  evangelical  communities  on  the  Continent — in  the  Nether- 
lands, in  Germany,  and  in  France — though  they  are  far  behind  their 
English-speaking  brethren  in  the  extent  of  their  labors — are  imbued 
with  the  missionary  spirit.     The  society  which  has  its 

The  societies  ''      ±  ./ 

ontheCouti-  headquarters  at  Basel,  and  in  consequence  bears  the 
name  of  that  city,  although  it  is  in  reality  a  German  or- 
ganization, is  remarkable  for  its  harmonious  combination  of  both 
Lutheran  and  Reformed  Churches.  No  less  so,  and  for  the  same 
reason,  is  the  Rhenish  Missionary  Society. 

Having   given  this  brief,  and  therefore  necessarily  imperfect, 
sketch  of  the  organizations  which  carry  on  the  work  of  sending  the 


1648-1887.]  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS.  589 

gospel  to  the  heathen,  it  remains  to  state  what  has  been  accom- 
plished in  the  different  lands.     The  obstacles  which  the 
to  missionary  missionaries  were  obliged  to  overcome  in  laying  the  foun- 
^^°''*'  dations  of  their  work  were  in  many  places  of  such  a  nat- 

ure that  years  passed  before  the  missions  were  securely  established 
and  their  various  agencies  set  in  operation.  Strange  languages 
and  dialects,  which  in  their  structure  and  forms  bore  little  re- 
semblance to  the  European  tongues,  and  some  of  which  had 
not  even  been  reduced  to  writing,  were  to  be  mastered.  It  was 
necessary  to  make  grammars  and  dictionaries,  as  well  as  transla- 
tions of  the  Scrij)tures.  The  peoples  to  whom  the  missionaries 
sought  to  teach  the  principles  of  Christianity  and  Christian  civili- 
zation were  either  under  the  dominion  of  religions  of  their  own, 
religions  which,  though  corrupted  by  superstition  and  idolatry,  in- 
culcated much  that  was  commendable,  or  else  were  sunk  in  the 
lowest  stages  of  savagery,  with  little  sitsceptibility  to  moral  and  re- 
•ligious  impressions.  Nor  were  these  the  only  difficulties  which  be- 
set the  path  of  the  missionaries.  Their  work  was  hindered  by  the 
bitter  jealousy  of  profligate  European  adventurers,  or  by  the  sus- 
picion and  fears  of  great  trading  companies,  which  saw  an  end  of 
their  despotism  in  the  coming  of  Christian  enlightenment.  But 
from  the  time  when  Bartholomew  Ziegenbalg  lay  in  the  Danish 
prison  at  Tranquebar,  or,  seated  on  the  sands  with  the  native  chil- 
dren, learned  the  Tamil  language,  men  went  forth  in  the  sj^irit  of 
the  apostles,  endured  hardship  as  became  good  soldiers  of  the  cross, 
and  labored  patiently  in  the  face  of  many  discouragements,  until 
hardly  a  barrier  remained  in  the  way  of  the  diffusion  of  the  gospel 
and  of  the  Scriptures  in  every  land,  among  nations  sjDeaking  more 
than  three  hundred  languages. 

In  India,  which  was  the  theatre  of  some  of  the  earliest  mission- 
ary efforts,  the  people  spoke  twenty-five  languages  and  adhered  to 
Mission  work  fo^i'  great  religious  systems — Hinduism,  which  is  Brah- 
in  India.  mauism,  as  somewhat  modified  by  the  teaching  of  Buddha, 
Parseeism,  Mohammedanism,  and  the  so-called  Devil  worship.  In 
1706,  Ziegenbalg  and  Pliitschau  began  the  Danish-Halle  IMission  at 
Tranquebar  on  the  Coromandel  coast.  These  men  and  their  suc- 
cessors gave  the  Scriptures  to  the  people  in  the  vernacular,  founded 
schools,  and  gathered  many  converts.  From  Tranquebar  they  went 
forth  into  the  neighboring  region.  They  labored  in  Madras.  In 
Schwartz,  1758,  onc  of  them,  Kiernander,  established  a  mission  in 
1726-1798.  Calcutta.  Schwartz,  who  arrived  on  the  field  in  1750,  and 
who  was  the  ablest  of  those  sent  out  by  the  Danish-Halle  Society, 


g90  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

had  so  wide  a  reputation  for  probity  that  the  famous  Hyder  Ali, 
■with  whom  the  Madras  Government  was  negotiating,  said,  "  Send 
me  the  Christian,  he  will  not  deceive  me."    In  1793,  Will- 
^"''^'  iam  Carey,  a  man  who  did  still  more  for  the  evangehza- 

tion  of  India,  landed  at  Calcutta.  After  securing  a  position  as  super- 
intendent of  an  indigo  factory,  and  thus  rescuing  himself  and  his 
family  from  want,  thrown  as  they  were  in  a  strange  land  upon  their 
own  resources,  he  devoted  his  splendid  linguistic  abihties  to  the 
translation  of  the  Scriptures  into  Bengali  and  the  other  languages 
of  India.  Not  long  after,  he  was  appointed  to  a  professorship  of 
Bengali,  later  of  Sanskrit  and  Mahratti,  in  the  new  government 
college  founded  at  Calcutta  by  the  Marquis  of  Wellesley.  From 
this  time  he  devoted  a  large  part  of  his  ample  revenues  to  the  sup- 
port of  the  Serampore  Mission.  He  and  his  associates,  Marshman 
and  Ward,  "  had  all  things  common,"  and  the  brotherhood  of  which 
they  were  the  leading  members  contributed  £80,000  to  the  mis- 
sion, in  various  ways,  before  the  half-century  closed.  Carey  died 
in  1834,  having  done  a  pioneer  work  in  the  study  of  Oriental  lan- 
guages, invaluable  not  only  to  the  cause  of  missions  but  to  the 
science  of  philology. 

Meanwhile  the  London  and  Church  Missionary  Societies,  to- 
gether with  the  Propagation  Society,  had  sent  their  representatives 
to  India.  In  1823,  Keginald  Heber  succeeded  Middle- 
ton,  as  Bishop  of  Calcutta.  In  1830,  Alexander  Duff,  who 
was  sent  out  by  the  Church  of  Scotland,  established  a  school  in 
Calcutta  in  which  instruction  was  conveyed,  not  through  the 
medium  of  the  vernacular  but  of  the  English  language.  The  re- 
markable success  which  attended  this  enterprise  gradually  over- 
came the  opposition  with  which  it  was  at  first  greeted.  The 
missionaries  of  many  societies  pressed  eagerly  into  the  field.  Sta- 
tions were  formed  in  the  Orissa  district,  the  seat  of  the  degrading 
worship  of  Juggernaut,  and  in  the  most  distant  regions  of  Bengal. 
Even  the  people  of  Benares,  "  the  Athens  of  India  and  the  chief 
stronghold  of  Hinduism,"  began  to  long  for  a  purer  and  better  re- 
ligion than  that  which  flourished  in  their  thousand  temples.  Still 
farther  North  went  the  persevering  Moravians,  and  labored  in  the 
valley's  of  the  Himalayas.  During  the  early  years  of  Indian  mis- 
sions, the  East  India  Company's  jealousy  thwarted  the  efforts  of 
the  missionaries.  It  was  this  intolerance  which  drove  Hall  and 
The  A.  B.  c.  Nott,  of  the  American  Board,  to  Bombay,  Newell  to  Cey- 
lon, and  Judson  to  Burmah,  and  thus  was  the  occasion 
of  founding  three  prosperous  missions.     From  Bombay  the  repre- 


I&t8-1887.]  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS.  591 

sentatives  of  the  Board  established  their  mission  at  Ahmednuggur, 
which  gathered  many  converts  through  direct  evangelistic  work 
and  the  labors  of  native  Bible  women.  The  mission  which  shared 
Ceylon  with  the  Wesleyans,  Baptists,  and  English  Church  societies, 
sought,  in  1834,  to  divert  a  part  of  its  energies  to  labor  on  the  main- 
land. Thus  arose  the  Madura  Mission.  What  Alexander  Dufif  did 
for  Calcutta  was  done  for  Bombay  by  another  Scotchman,  John 
Wilson,  Wilson,  who  became  a  distinguished  Orientalist.     The 

1804-1875.  ■work  of  all  these  and  of  the  many  other  societies  was 
restricted,  for  the  most  part,  to  the  men  of  India.  To  carry  the 
gospel  and  Christian  education  to  the  women  has  been  the  purpose 
of  many  devoted  Christians  of  their  own  sex,  and  since  1854  it  has 
been  done  in  an  organized  form  known  as  the  Zenana  Mission. 
As  a  result  of  the  efforts  which  have  been  expended  in  India  and 
Ceylon,  there  were,  in  1883,  over  six  hundred  thousand  native 
Christians,  about  one-fourth  of  whom  were  communicants. 

In  Burmah,  Judson  labored  six  years  before  there  was  a  single 

convert.     Although  from  the  end  of  that  time  churches  gradually 

ecrew  up,   the   most   remarkable   success  was   attained 

Burmah ;  °  ■•■  .        ,        .  .  ™,  . 

Judson,  among  the  Karens  who  dwelt  m  the  interior.     The  mis- 

sionaries, undismayed  by  the  assertion  that  this  people 
"  were  as  untamable  as  the  wild  cow  of  the  mountains,"  entered 
their  country.  The  natives  who  ventured  out  from  their  hiding- 
places  in  the  jungle,  relieved  to  know  that  the  new-comers  were 
not  government  officials  but  teachers  of  religion,  said,  "  Our  fathers 
say  the  Karens  once  had  God's  book,  written  on  leather,  and  they 
carelessly  allowed  it  to  be  destroyed :  since  then,  as  a  punishment 
we  have  been  without  books  and  without  a  written  language." 
The  missionaries  listened  to  their  appeal,  translated  the  Bible  into 
their  language,  and  gathered  many  thousands  of  them  into  the 
Burman  Church. 

China,  which  proudly  cherished  the  maxims  of  Confucius  and 
worshipped  according  to   the  degenerate   rites  of   Taouism  and 
Buddhism,  did  not  admit  the  messengers  of  the  gospel 
*^''*°*'  within  her  borders  until  she  was  forced  to  throw  open 

her  gates  to  the  sellers  of  opium.  During  the  long  interval  be- 
tween 1807 — the  time  when  Kobert  Morrison,  sent  out  by  the  Lou- 
don Missionary  Society,  began  to  live  in  disguise  at  Canton — and 
1842,  when  Europeans  were  allowed  to  reside  in  the  five  "  treaty 
ports,"  the  Bible,  together  with  other  Christian  writings,  were 
translated  and  circulated  in  Chinese.  The  American  Board,  was 
the  second  society  to  begin  work  in  China.     Afterwards  not  less 


g92  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

than  twenty-eight  entered  the  country.  As  the  years  went  on,  the 
provinces  along  the  coast  were  occupied,  together  with  a  few  of 
those  in  the  interior.  It  has  been  one  of  the  principal  aims  to  in- 
fluence the  intellectual  classes  by  means  of  a  pure  Christian  litera- 
ture. Not  until  1865  was  an  attempt  made  to  reach  the  central 
provinces.  In  that  year,  the  Chinese  Inland  IVIission  was  founded, 
and  began  its  work,  which  at  first  was  necessarily  one  of  prepara- 
tion. Among  the  millions  of  China,  there  were  in  1883  only  about 
seventy  thousand  Christians,  not  less  than  twenty  thousand  being 
communicants  ;  and  yet  much  had  already  been  done  to  dispel  the 
darkness  of  idolatry  and  superstition. 

The  Japanese,  while  to  some  extent  adhering  to  their  ancient 
Shintoism,  like  so  many  Oriental  peoples,  became  followers  of 
Buddha.  From  the  year  1854,  the  date  of  the  Perry 
Japan.  expedition,  they  have  eagerly  sought  after  the  material 

civilization,  science,  and  thought  of  the  West.  The  Presbyterians 
of  America  were  the  first  among  the  Protestants  to  carry  to  them 
the  rehgion  of  the  Western  nations.  In  1877,  they  joined  with  the 
Scotch  United  Presbyterian  and  the  American  Reformed  Churches, 
in  "  the  Union  Church  of  Christ."  The  year  previous,  the  govern- 
ment showed  its  inclination  towards  Christian  institutions  by  mak- 
ing Sunday  an  ofiicial  holida3\ 

Fi'om  Japan,  with  its  thirteen  thousand  Christians,  about  five 
thousand  of  whom,  in  1883,  were  communicants,  and  from  its 
promising  future,  we  turn  to  Western  Asia  and  to  the  refoi-ma- 
tion  among  the  degenerate  remnants  of  the  ancient  churches. 
In  1821,  Levi  Parsons,  of  the  American  Board,  after  travelling 
over  the  region  once  occupied  by  the  Seven  Churches,  became  the 
The  Syrian  ^^st  Protcstaut  missionary  resident  at  Jerusalem.  The 
Mission.  anarchy  which  prevailed  in  that  part  of  Palestine  made 
it  imjiossible  to  remain,  and  the  Syrian  Mission  dates  its  beginning 
from  the  arrival  of  William  Goodell  and  Isaac  Bird  at  Beyrout,  in 
1823.  Their  labors  were  opposed  by  the  Marouites,  whose  patri- 
arch resided  at  Kanobin,  and  who,  though  they  were  a  branch  of 
the  ancient  Mouothelite  sect,  had,  during  the  middle  ages,  united 
themselves  to  the  Roman  See.  Four  years  later,  representatives 
of  the  Episcopal,  Lutheran,  Latin,  Greek,  Maronite,  Armenian,  and 
Abyssinian  Chui'ches,  met  and  celebrated  the  communion.  Thus 
began  the  Syrian  Evangelical  Church.  The  translation  of  the 
Smith,  Bible  into  Arabic,  begun  by  Dr.  Eli  Smith,  and  after  his 

iaoi-i8r,7.  death  completed  by  Dr.  Van  Dyck,  was  published  in 
1865,     Six  years  later,  the  corner-stone  of  the  Syrian  Protestant 


1648-1887.]  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS.  593 

College  was  laid  at  Beyrout.  Meanwhile  the  mission  had  been 
surrendered  into  the  hands  of  the  Presbyterian  Board,  strength- 
ened as  it  was,  in  1870,  by  the  accession  of  the  new-school  Presby- 
terians. Stations  at  Jerusalem,  Nazareth,  and  other  historic  towns 
were  founded  by  the  Church  Missionary  Society.  In  addition  to 
these,  other  missions,  both  medical  and  educational,  were  estab- 
lished. 

The  beginnings  of  a  new  life  in  the  Armenian  Church  came  from 
the  publication,  by  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  with  the 
aid  of  a  society  in  Kussia,  of  the  Scriptures,  both  in  ancient 
and  modern  Armenian.  Several  educated  men  earnestly  studied 
The  Arme-  the  Bible  and  embraced  the  evangelical  faith.  In  1831, 
IZS''°''''  I>r.  Goodell  was  sent  to  Constantinople  to  open  a 
1792-1867.  mission.  For  a  time  it  seemed  Hkely  that  there  would 
be  a  reformation  within  that  Church.  But  the  Armenian  ecclesi- 
astics, like  their  Greek  brethren,  became  more  and  more  jealous  of 
the  movement  for  reform.  Finally,  in  1846,  they  launched  their 
ecclesiastical  anathemas  against  those  who  should  continue  to  hold 
the  new  views.  This  led  to  the  formation  in  that  year  of  the  First 
Evangelical  Armenian  Church.  Other  churches  were  immediately 
organized  in  the  various  cities  to  which  the  work  of  the  mission- 
aries had  been  extended  from  Constantinople.  The  field  was  di- 
vided in  1860  into  three  great  departments,  the  Eastern,  Central, 
and  Western  Turkey  Missions,  in  each  of  which  there  later  grew 
up  a  thriving  college.  The  unsatisfactory  character  of  former  ver- 
sions made  it  necessary  to  procure  a  translation  of  the  Scriptures 
into  Armeno-Turkish.  Few  names  deserve  so  high  a  place  in  the 
history  of  this  branch  of  missionary  effort  as  that  of  Dr.  Goodell, 
schauffler,  whosc  work  was  completed  in  1861.  Beside  him  stands 
1798-I8a3.  j)j,  Schauffler,  who  translated  the  New  Testament  into 
Turkish,  using  the  Arabic  or  sacred  character.  Drawn  by  all  these 
and  similiar  influences,  the  Christian  community  of  the  Turkish 
Empire  steadily  grew  until,  in  1883,  it  numbered  wellnigh  one 
hundred  thousand.  The  American  Board  began  an  equally  inter- 
esting work  among  the  Nestorians  in  Western  Persia, 
Ma'rtyii,  which  in  1871  it  turned  over  to  the  Presbyterians.  The 
1781-1812.  £^g^  ^^  enter  the  Eastern  districts  of  Persia  were  the 
Moravians.  After  suffering  great  hardships,  they  were  obliged  to 
withdraw.  In  1811,  Henry  Martyn,  Enghsh  government  chaplain 
at  Cawnpore,  entered  the  dominions  of  the  Shah,  that  he  might 
perfect  the  translation  of  the  New  Testament  into  Persian.  His 
already  shattered  health  was  still  fui'ther  undermined,  and  a  year 


594  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHAJLIA.  [Period  IX. 

later,  his  version  then  being  completed,  he  died,  while  on  his  way 
to  Constantinople.  In  this  part  of  the  field,  the  Church  Missionary 
Society  is  can-ying  on  the  work  begun  by  these  early  pioneers. 

In  Africa  there   still   exist  remnants   of  the  early   Christian 
churches.     These  are  the  MonojAysite  Copts,  and  the  Abyssiniaus, 
who  cherish  a  similar  faith.     To  reach  these  sects,  the 
^^ '  Moravian  Brethren  started  for  Egypt  in  the  last  century, 

but  their  efforts,  as  well  as  the  first  attempts  of  the  English  Church 
missionaries,  did  little  but  prepare  the  way  for  the  more  success- 
ful labors  of  the  United  Presbyterians  of  America,  who  entered 
the  field  in  1854.  Thirty  years  of  preaching  and  teaching  raised 
up  a  Christian  community  from  among  the  Copts,  numbering  eight 
thousand,  of  whom  a  little  over  eleven  hundred  were  communicants. 
The  sending  of  the  gospel  to  the  other  regions  of  Africa,  where 
dwelt  hundreds  of  different  tribes,  degraded  by  superstition, 
speaking  strange  and  barbarous  tongues,  and  frequently  engaged 
in  bloody  conflicts  with  one  another,  is  a  record  of  much  suffering. 
In  1768,  nine  Moravians  landed  on  the  unhealthy  Western  coast, 
but  in  less  than  two  years  had  fallen  victims  to  disease.  They 
The  Western  ^^^^  the  first  of  thosc  who  havc  willingly  sacrificed  their 
coast.  lives  to  plant  missions  from  Senegambia  to  Cape  Colony. 

The  sixteen  societies  which  have  entered  this  region  have  brought 
about  one  hundred  thousand  natives  into  the  Christian  commu- 
nity. 

A  still  more  effective  work  has  been  done  in  South  Africa,  be- 
ginning with  the  planting  of  a  mission  among  the  Kafirs  by  Van- 
south  Africa,  dcrkcmp,  of  the  London  Missionary  Society,  in  the  last 
Moffat,  years  of  the  eighteenth  century.     The  well-known  Eob- 

1795-1883.  gj.^  Moffat,  once  a  Scotch  gardener,  was  among  the  first 
to  press  beyond  the  Orange  River  to  the  wild  tribes  dwelling  in 
Bechuanaland.  Under  the  influence  of  such  men  as  he,  savage 
chieftains  were  transformed  into  friends  of  justice  and  peace.  His 
associate  and  son-in-law  was  the  celebrated  David  Livingstone, 
who,  together  with  others,  did  much  to  throw  open  the  interior 
Linngstone,  o^  Africa  to  the  influences  of  Christian  civilization.  Liv- 
1813-1873.  ingstone  in  1849  started  for  Lake  Ngami,  and  thus  began 
those  memorable  expeditions  into  the  unexplored  regions  of  Africa 
which  only  ended  with  his  life  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Bangweolo, 
on  May  1,  1873.  The  first  result  of  this  work  was  the  attempt  to 
found  a  "Universities  Mission "  (representing  Oxford,  Durham,  and 
DubHu)  at  the  south  of  Lake  Nyassa,  near  the  Shire  River,  in  1861. 
More  prosperous  were  those  established  at  Livingstonia  and  Blan- 


1648-1S87.]  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS.  595 

tyre,  the  one  on  Lake  Nyassa,  the  other  not  far  from  the  site  of  the 
Central  unfortuuate  "  Universities  Mission,"  and  commemorating 

Africa.  ^}jg  name  and  birthplace  of  the  explorer  whose  endur- 

ance of  untold  privations  and  dangers  made  them  possible.  Sta- 
tions were  soon  after  erected  on  the  shores  of  the  greater  lakes  to 
the  north,  along  the  banks  of  the  Congo,  and  at  Bihe,  one  of  the 
principal  caravan -centres  of  Africa. 

When,  in  1818,  the  missionaries  of  the  London  Society  entered 
Madagascar,  the  natives  had  long  forsaken  the  simple  faith  of  their 
ancestors,  which  tradition  says  once  flourished  in  the 
land,  and  had  become  idolaters.  The  king,  Radama  I., 
though  himself  a  pagan,  favored  the  introduction  of  a  Christian 
education  among  his  people.  At  his  death,  in  1828,  one  of  his  wives 
seized  the  throne,  after  putting  to  death  all  those  who  stood  in  her 
way.  Although  ardently  devoted  to  the  idols  of  her  nation,  she 
did  not  prevent  the  forming  of  two  Christian  churches  in  1831. 
But  only  a  few  years  passed  before  the  pagan  party  persuaded  her 
that  the  devotees  of  the  new  religion  were  plotting  treason.  She 
then  began  a  persecution  which  in  ferocity  has  scarcely  ever  been 
excelled,  and  which  only  ended  with  her  death  in  1861.  Here,  as 
in  many  other  places  and  ages,  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  was  the 
seed  of  the  Church.  The  region  about  the  capital,  with  its  quarter 
of  a  million  of  native  Christians,  was  in  1883  the  centre  from  which 
the  rest  of  the  island  must  soon  be  evangelized. 

On  the  western  hemisphere  Protestant  missions  have  been 
planted  from  Greenland  to  Patagonia.  The  Eskimos  received  the 
North  and  gospcl  from  the  Moravians,  the  Indians  of  British  Amer- 
southAmer-  ica  from  the  Church  missionaries  and  the  Wesleyans. 
The  native  tribes  which  dwell  within  the  borders  of  the 
United  States,  as  well  as  the  negroes  and  the  Chinese  immigrants, 
have  been  to  some  extent  cared  for  by  various  organizations  of  the 
American  Churches.  Li  the  West  Indies,  the  missions,  which  the 
Moravians  were  the  first  among  the  Protestants  to  establish,  were 
pushed  forward  with  great  success  by  the  Baptists  and  Methodists. 
Notwithstanding  the  ravages  of  disease  in  Central  America  and 
Guiana  and  the  ferocity  of  the  natives  in  Patagonia  and  the  islands 
on  its  shores,  missions  were  founded  in  these  lands  and  have  built 
up  small  Christian  communities. 

The  missions  of  the  South  Sea  Islands  form  one  of  the  most 
The  South  interesting  pages  in  the  story  of  the  triumphs  of  Chris- 
sea  Islands,  tiauity.  There,  in  less  than  a  half-century,  thousands  of 
degraded  cannibals  were  transformed  into  intelligent,  peace-loving 


59(5  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

men  and  women.     To  reach  them  the  missionaries  shrank  neither 
from  toil  nor  from  danger.    The  London  Society  in  1796  despatched 
their  first  mission  to  Tahiti,  an  island  of  great  natural 
Tahiti.  beauty,  but  inhabited  by  a  race  given  over  to  supersti- 

tion, sensuality,  and  cannibalism.  The  missionaries  were  well  re- 
ceived by  Pomare,  the  king,  whose  son,  Pomare  IL,  also  favored 
the  introduction  of  the  new  religion.  But  it  was  not  until  1815, 
when  Pomare  became  victorious  over  his  rebellious  chiefs,  that 
Christianity  gained  the  ascendency.  Two  years  later,  the  princi- 
pal men  of  the  island  gathered  to  see  the  early  sheets  of  the  Ta- 
hitian  spelling-book,  catechism,  and  Gospel  of  Luke,  stnick  off  on 
jjiiig  the  press  recently  brought  by  William  Ellis.     The  na- 

1794-1872.  tives,  whcu  they  saw  the  first  printed  page,  "raised  a 
general  shout  of  astonishment  and  joy."  Soon  after,  "  aged  chiefs, 
and  priests  and  warriors,  with  their  spelling-books  in  their  hands, 
might  be  seen  sitting  on  the  benches  in  the  schools,  side  by  side, 
perhaps,  with  some  little  boy  or  girl  by  whom  they  were  now  be- 
ing taught  the  use  of  letters."  Already  the  island  and  the  islands 
about  it  had  been,  at  least  outwardly,  Christianized,  when  the  Jes- 
uits landed  under  the  guns  of  a  French  cruiser  and  broke  up  the 
church.  But  the  converts  remained  faithful,  and  in  1863  were 
organized  anew  by  the  Paris  (Protestant)  Missionary  Society. 

A  still  more  remarkable  work  was  done  in  the  Sandwich  Islands, 
which  early  in  this  century  were  united  under  the  sway  of  Kame- 
The  Sand-  hamcha  L  Liholiho  (Kamehameha  11.),  who  succeeded 
wich  Islands,  j^jj^j  jj^  1819,  allowed  the  tyrannical  ordinances  of  the 
Hawaiian  religion  to  be  set  at  naught,  and  when  the  idolatrous 
chiefs  rose  in  rebellion,  he  not  only  crushed  the  revolt  but  de- 
stroyed the  national  idols  and  temples.  Meanwhile  several  Sand- 
wich Islanders  had  found  their  way  to  the  United  States.  Among 
them  was  a  youth  named  Obookiah,  who,  having  landed  at  New 
Haven,  Conn.,  and  being  attracted  by  the  buildings  of  Yale  Col- 
lege, asked  what  was  the  use  to  which  they  were  put.  Some  time 
afterwards  he  was  discovered  on  the  steps  of  one  of  these  buildings, 
weeping  because  there  was  no  one  to  give  him  instruction.  The 
interest  which  this  incident  excited  led  to  the  estabHshment  of  the 
Work  of  the  Hawaiian  Mission  by  the  American  Board,  When,  in 
A.  B.  c.  F.  M.  ]^820,  the  missionaries  landed  on  the  Sandwich  Islands, 
they  were  astonished  to  find  that  the  country  had  been  swept 
by  a  war  in  which  the  ancient  religion,  with  its  idols,  temples, 
and  priesthood  had  perished.  The  people  listened  gladly  to 
the  teaching  of  the  missionaries.     Year  after  year  the  church  in- 


697 

'gious  feel- 
were  con- 
at  in  1848 
I,  prepai'a- 
,  the  mis- 
elical  As- 
ken,  with 
)n  to  the 
r  own  to 

the  Fiji 

ubdued 
ager  to 
history 
associ- 
)ecially 
ie  son 
iridge, 
tEton 
V  Zea- 
e  Co- 
up in 
le  be- 
gton. 
'nger 
gave 
He 
>nse- 


sby- 
ives 
rere 
the 
ical 
ical 
ted 
fu- 


he 
le 


1648-1887.]  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS.  697 

creased  in  numbers  and  power.  In  1837,  a  wave  of  religious  feel- 
ing swept  over  the  land,  and  more  than  twenty  thousand  were  con- 
verted. The  mission  met  with  such  wonderful  success  that  in  1848 
the  Board  began  to  organize  independent  native  churches,  prepara- 
tory to  withdrawing  from  the  field.  Fifteen  years  later,  the  mis- 
sion was  placed  under  the  control  of  the  Hawaiian  Evangelical  As- 
sociation. In  the  meantime,  the  Hawaiians  had  undertaken,  with 
the  advice  and  assistance  of  the  American  Board,  a  mission  to  the 
Micronesian  Islands,  and  an  independent  mission  of  their  own  to 
the  islands  of  Marquesas. 

Taught  and  guided  by  the  Wesleyans,  thousands  of  the  Fiji 

Islanders,  the  fiercest  cannibals  of  the  South  Seas,  were  subdued 

under  the  power  of  the  gospel,  and  became  eager  to 

ands^the  New  ^^^^J  ^^  ^^  pagan  tribcs  beyond  their  shores.    The  history 

Hebrides ;       of  the  efforts  to  Christianize  the  New  Hebrides  is  associ- 

Patteson, 

1827-1871.  ated  with  the  names  of  many  noble  men,  but  especially 
with  that  of  John  Coleridge  Patteson.  He  was  the  son 
of  Justice  Patteson  of  the  Queen's  Bench,  and  Frances  Coleridge, 
niece  of  Samuel  Taylor  Coleridge.  It  was  while  he  was  away  at  Eton 
that  Selwyn,  who  had  been  recently  appointed  Bishop  of  New  Zea- 
land, said  to  his  mother  :  "  Lady  Patteson,  will  you  give  me  Co- 
ley  ?  "  The  desire  to  go  with  the  bishop  which  then  sprang  up  in 
Patteson's  mind  did  not  pass  away  as  the  years  went  on  and  he  be- 
came a  fellow  of  Merton  College,  Oxford,  and  curate  of  Alfington. 
"When  Selwyn  was  again  at  his  house,  in  1854,  he  could  no  longer 
smother  this  cherished  wish.  With  unselfish  love  his  family  gave 
him  to  the  work  of  preaching  the  gospel  to  the  Melanesians.  He 
labored  under  Selwyn's  direction  until  1861,  when  he  was  conse- 
crated Bishop  of  Melanesia.  Almost  his  first  duty  was  the  sad 
one  of  burying  Gordon  and  his  wife,  missionaries  from  the  Presby- 
terian Church  in  Canada,  who  had  been  murdered  by  the  natives 
of  Erromanga.  In  1867,  the  headquarters  of  the  mission  were 
moved  from  New  Zealand  to  Norfolk  Island,  which  was  nearer  the 
scene  of  Patteson's  labors,  as  well  as  better  suited  to  the  physical 
constitution  of  the  children  whom  he  brought  from  the  tropical 
islands  on  the  north  to  be  educated.  Four  years  more  of  devoted 
work,  and  then  he  lay  dead,  slain  by  the  savage  inhabitants  of  Nu- 
kapu.  With  such  labors  and  sacrifices  as  these  has  Christianity 
been  carried  to  the  islands  of  the  Pacific. 

It  is  impossible  to  estimate  the  results  of  modern  missionary 
activity  by  merely  counting  the  number  of  converts,  or  even  the 
number  of  those  who  belong  to  the  Christian  community.     While 


098  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Pbbiod  IX, 

it  has  been  the  principal  aim  of  the  missionaries  to  substitute 

the  law  of  Christ  for  the  reign  of  sujjerstition,  it  is  to  be  remem- 

its  of  bered  that  in  bringing  about  this  change  they  have  fre- 

modern  mis-    nuentlv  given  a  civilization  to  savages  and  a  literature 

Bionary  activ-     l  ./    o  o 

ity.  to  nations  that  had  no  alphabet.     Nor  should  we  be  un- 

mindful of  how  much,  in  other  ways,  they  have  contributed  to  the 
advancement  of  human  knowledge.  To  them  almost  every  science, 
and  especially  geography,  ethnology,  sociology,  and  philology,  owes 
some  of  its  richest  materials.  In  fine,  even  the  humblest  mission- 
ary has  shared  in  a  work  which,  in  the  nobility  of  its  object  and  the 
beneficence  of  its  results,  is  one  of  the  principal  achievements  of 
modern  times. 


CHAPTER  YIII. 

THE    HISTORY     OF    DOCTRINE. 

In  the  latter  half  of  the  seventeenth  century  there  arose  in  the 
Chm^ch  of  England  a  class  of  divines  who  were  called  by  their 
The  Latitudi-  Opponents  "  Latitudinarians."  They  were  generally  con- 
narians.  nccted  with  the  University  of  Cambridge.  The  appeal 
which  they  made  to  reason  in  theology  laid  them  open  to  the  impu- 
tation of  laxness  of  doctrine.  They  wei-e  genial  students  of  the 
ancient  classical  authors.  They  set  a  high  value  upon  the  teaching 
of  Plato.  While  attached  to  Episcopacy,  they  did  not  consider  that 
polity  among  the  criteria  of  a  true  church.  In  theology  they  were 
in  sympathy  with  the  Greek  fathers  and  with  the  Axminians.  They 
devoted  themselves  to  the  attempt  to  build  up  a  rational  system, 
which  might  win  the  adhesion  of  skeptics  and  inquirers  and  promote 
peace  among  Christian  believers.  "With  Dissenters  they  cultivated 
friendly  relations,  and  did  their  best  to  soften  the  asperities  engen- 
dered in  the  Puritan  controversy  and  the  civil  war.  As  regards  the 
Church  of  England  they  manifested  the  same  irenical  spirit.  They 
favored  a  comprehension  broad  enough  to  satisfy  the  scruples  of  the 
Puritans,  which  had  so  long  existed  respecting  certain  points  of  doc- 
trine and  rite.  They  were  stimulated  in  such  endeavors  by  the  mis- 
chievous effect  of  the  writings  of  Hobbes,  and  the  evils  threatened 
by  the  progress  of  infidelity.  The  founder  of  this  school 
wurth,  was  Dr.  Whichcot,  whose  character  is  depicted  by  Bur- 

net in  a  very  attractive  light.     The  most  eminent  writer 
of  their  number  was  Cud  worth,  who  in  his  "  Treatise  on  Immutable 


1648-1887.]  THE  HISTORY  OF  DOCTRLNB.  699 

Morality,"  and  in  his  "  Intellectual  System  of  the  Universe,"  advo- 
cated with  profound  ability  an  intuitive  theory  of  morals,  presented 
a  noble  exposition  of  the  Platonic  system,  and  confuted  the  different 
schemes  of  Pantheism  and  Atheism.  Henry  More,  the  author  of 
the  "  Antidote  to  Atheism,"  and  other  writings,  a  disciple  of  Plato  ; 
John  Norris,  who  wrote  the  "  Theory  of  the  Ideal  and  Intelligible 
World,"  besides  numerous  other  works ;  Theophilus  Gale,  author 
of  "  The  Court  of  the  Gentiles ; "  John  Smith,  whose  Discourses  are 
"  a  delightful  mixture  of  philosophy  and  poetry,"  were  connected 
with  this  school,  in  which  philosophical  reasoning  was  often  con- 
nected with  an  interesting  vein  of  mysticism.  A  distinguished 
preacher  and  commentator  of  the  same  class  was  Bishop  Patrick, 
whose  exposition  of  the  Old  Testament  is  the  best-known  of  his 
works.  The  most  renowned  of  the  preachers  of  the  Cambridge 
John Tiiiotson,  school  was  Tillotsou,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  His 
1630-1694.  clearness  of  intellect,  sweetness  of  temper,  and  prudence 
in  his  high  station  are  warmly  commended  by  all  his  contempora- 
ries. He  was  the  chief  representative  of  a  new  style  of  preaching, 
in  which  pedantry  and  scholasticism  of  every  sort  were  abjured,  and 
teaching  from  the  pulpit  was  clothed  in  plain,  correct,  and  effective 
English.  If  the  new  type  of  preaching  fell  below  that  of  the  old 
Puritan  divines  in  the  power  to  rouse  the  conscience  and  affect  the 
soul  with  an  awe-inspiring  sense  of  the  realities  of  the  supernatural 
world,  it  presented  the  ethical  aspects  of  the  gospel  in  a  way  to  in- 
terest the  generality  of  hearers.  In  London,  which  had  been  the 
stronghold  of  Puritanism,  large  accessions  were  gained  by  the  new 
preachers  to  the  Established  Church.  Bishop  Burnet,  himself  of 
the  Latitudinarian  school,  says  of  Tillotson  :  "I  never  knew  any 
clergyman  so  universally  esteemed  and  beloved  as  he  was  for  above 
twenty  years."  His  style  received  the  highest  praise  from  Dryden 
and  from  Addison. 

The  great  and  acknowledged  merits  of  Tillotson  did  not  shield 
him  from  suspicion  and  attack.  He  believed  in  the  influence  of 
Theology  of  the  Divinc  Spirit  in  the  soul,  yet  stood  aloof  from  what- 
Tiiiotson.  Q^Qy.  u^igiit  seem  mystical.  The  design  of  Christ's  death, 
he  said,  was  to  create  in  us  a  deep  feeling  of  the  guilt  of  sin. 
Christ  died  in  our  stead  ;  yet  the  same  truth  is  expressed  when  it 
is  said  that  he  died  for  our  benefit.  In  a  sermon  preached  before 
Queen  Mary,  on  the  eternity  of  future  punishment,  he  hinted  at 
the  possibility  of  restoration,  while  denying  any  authorized  hope 
of  such  a  result.  His  language  is  :  "He  that  threatens  keeps  the 
right  of  punishing  in  his  own  hand,  and  is  not  obliged  to  execute 


600  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.         [Period  IX 

■what  he  hath  threatened  any  further  than  the  reasons  and  ends  of 
government  do  require."  He  adverts  to  the  case  of  Nineveh  and 
the  "  peevish  prophet,"  Jonah.  Such  tendencies  of  thought  and 
expressions  in  Tillotson  led  to  his  being  charged  with  Socin- 
ianism. 

In  the  earher  part  of  the  century  there  had  been  precursors  of 
the  Latitudinarian  school.  Jeremy  Taylor,  vflao  turned  away  from 
Calvinistic  doctrine,  might  be  counted  among  them.  One  of  these 
forerunners  was  John  Hales,  Fellow  at  Eton,  and  previously  Greek 
professor  at  Oxford,  of  whom  one  of  his  friends  relates  that  on 
hearing  a  speech  of  Episcopius  "  he  bid  John  Calvin  good-night,  as 
he  often  told."  He  did  not,  however,  join  the  Arminians,  but  held 
himself  aloof  from  parties.  "  Those  things,"  he  wrote,  "  which  we 
reverence  for  antiquity,  what  were  they  at  their  first  bii'th  ?  Were 
they  false?  Time  cannot  make  them  true.  "Were  they  true? 
Time  cannot  make  them  more  true."  Another  writer,  who  had 
Chiiiingworth,  earlier  applied  reason  to  theology,  in  the  tone  character- 
1602-1644.  ig^jg  Qf  ^]^0  Cambridge  school,  was  WiUiam  Chilling- 
worth.  In  his  youth  he  was  made  a  convert  to  the  Church  of 
Kome  ;  but  impartial  inquiry,  to  which  he  was  recommended  by 
Laud,  his  godfather,  brought  him  back  to  Protestantism.  He  had 
objected  to  signing  the  Thirty-nine  Articles,  but  he  altered  his 
mind  and  subscribed  to  them,  declaring  that  nothing  more  was 
implied  in  the  act  than  a  pledge  not  "  to  disturb  the  peace  or  re- 
nounce the  communion  "  of  the  Church  of  England.  The  custom 
thus  began  of  loose  subscription  to  the  Articles,  not  as  "  articles  of 
truth,"  but  as  "  articles  of  peace."  In  his  "  Eeligion  of  Protes- 
tants a  Safe  Way  to  Salvation,"  a  work  which  has  always  been 
deemed  a  masterpiece  of  logic,  ChiUingworth  shows  that  authority 
must  rest  on  a  basis  of  reason.  "If  Scripture,"  he  says,  "cannot 
be  the  judge  of  any  controversy,  how  shall  that  concerning  the 
Church  and  the  notes  of  it  be  determined  ?  And  if  it  be  the  sole 
judge  of  this  one,  why  may  it  not  be  of  others?  Why  not  of  all  ? 
Those  only  excepted  wherein  the  Scripture  itself  is  the  subject  of 
the  question,  which  cannot  be  determined  but  by  natural  reason, 
the  only  principle,  besides  Scripture,  which  is  common  to  Chris- 
tians." Thus  he  showed  that  the  argument  for  Rome  was  a  piece 
of  circular  reasoning.  If  we  cannot  interpret  Scripture,  how  can 
we  interpret  the  passages  which  are  said  to  confer  this  exalted  pre- 
rogative on  the  Church  ?  Chiiiingworth  says  :  "I  am  fully  assured 
that  God  does  not,  and,  therefore,  that  men  ought  not,  to  require 
any  more  of  any  man  than  this— to  believe  the  Scripture  to  be  God's 


1648-1887.]  THE  HISTORY  OF  DOCTRINE.  601 

word,  to  endeavor  to  find  the  true  sense  of  it,  and  to  live  according 
to  it." 

The  most  important  controversy  among  Christian  believers  in 
England  was  that  relating  to  the  Trinity.  This  doctrine  had  been 
.  maintained  against  the  Socinians,  and  against  historical 
tarian  con-  vicws  of  Petavius,  a  Roman  Catholic,  and  of  Arminian 
troversy.  writers,  by  Bishop  Bull.  His  "  Defence  of  the  Nicene 
leT^ni^""'  ^^'^^^  "  ^^^  published  in  1685.  It  was  a  work  of  gi-eat 
learning,  although  he  ascribes  to  the  Ante-Nicene  writers 
a  more  precise  and  formulated  conception  of  the  doctrine  than 
scholars  at  present  attribute  to  them.  He  wrote  other  works 
on  the  same  theme.  He  was  thanked  by  Bossuet,  in  the  name 
of  the  Roman  CathoUc  clergy  of  France,  for  his  vindication  of 
the  orthodox  doctrine.  Expressions  in  a  work  on  this  subject  by 
Bishop  Sherlock,  in  1690,  led  to  his  being  accused  of  Tritheism 
by  Dr.  "VVallis,  and  by  the  famous  preacher,  Robert  South,  who  in 
their  turn  were  charged  with  SabeUianism.  Among  the  writers 
who  mingled  in  this  debate  were  StilUngfleet  and  the  Puritan 
divines,  Owen  and  John  Howe.  The  Arian  controversy  properly 
began  with  the  pubUcation  of  Dr.  Samuel  Clarke's  "Scripture 
Doctrine  of  the  Trinity."  This  was  in  1712.  Clarke  was  the  lead- 
ing English  metaphysician  of  the  time.  His  doctrine  was  high- 
Arian,  approaching  near  to  the  orthodox  view,  but  falling  below 
it.  The  principal  opponent  of  Clarke  was  Dr.  Daniel  Waterland  ; 
but  numerous  authors,  on  one  side  or  the  other,  took  part  in  the 
discussion.  "Whitby,  Whiston,  and  Sykes  favored  the  Arian  cause. 
Ai-ianism  had  many  adhei'ents  among  the  clergy  of  the  Establish- 
ment, and  not  a  few  in  the  dissenting  bodies. 

A  high  degree  of  interest  belongs  to  the  Deistic  controversy. 
It  was  connected  with  the  spmt  of  rationalism — as  it  may  be 
The  Deistic  termed,  for  the  lack  of  a  better  name — which  character- 
controversy.  ^^ed  the  age.  The  principal  occasion  of  the  rise  of  De- 
ism was  the  intense  agitation  and  prolonged  strife  of  parties  on 
the  subject  of  religion,  which  had  existed  in  England  for  nearly 
two  centuries.  As  the  excitement  of  partisan  conflict  began  to 
subside,  many  began  to  inquire  if  there  was  not  a  substance  of 
doctrine  which  was  held  in  common  by  all  the  contending  parties ; 
and  it  occurred  to  them  that  it  might  be  found  in  the  simple  truths 
of  natural  religion.  Everything  beyond  these  was  imagined  to 
spring  from  delusion,  either  deliberate  or  undesigned.  What  was 
required,  as  it  was  thought,  was  to  sweep  away  this  overgrowth  of 
superstitions.     Thus  the  Deists  acknowledged  the  being  of  God, 


603  FKOM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX 

but  denied  revelation  and  miracle.  This  was  their  defining  char- 
acteristic. It  was  not  until  Hume  wrote  his  "  Dialogues  on  Nat- 
ural Ileli""ion  "  that  skepticism  went  so  far  as  to  call  in  question 
the  grounds  of  natural  theology,  and  to  broach,  respecting  the 
orifTin  of  religion  in  general,  theories  akin  to  those  which  ai-e  cur- 
rent among  skeptics  at  the  present  day. 

The  toleration  granted  by  English  law  did  not  include  the  pro- 
tection from  penalties  of  such  as  assailed  the  Christian  revelation 
or  its  leading  doctrines.  Hence  the  Deistical  writers  made  no 
du-ect  assault.  They  availed  themselves  of  insinuation  and  irony, 
and  sought  to  undermine  the  edifice  which  it  was  neither  safe  nor 
decorous  openly  to  attack.  The  evidences  commonly  relied  upon 
by  believers  in  Christianity  they  endeavored  to  show  to  be  weak 
and  insufficient. 

The  father  of  English  Deism  was  Lord  Herbert  of  Cherbury. 
He  was  for  a  time  an  ambassador  to  France,  and  he  served  with 
Herbert,  ^hc  Princo  of  Orange  as  a  soldier  in  Holland.  He  was 
1581-164S.  g^  j^g^jj  Qf  pure  character,  and  was  accustomed  to  pray. 
His  philosophical  and  religious  opinions  are  set  forth  in  two  works, 
the  "  De  Veritate,"  published  in  1624,  which  is  a  philosophical  trea- 
tise of  uncommon  originality,  and  in  his  book  on  the  heathen  re- 
ligions— "  De  Keligione  Gentilium."  He  finds  five  truths  at  the 
foundation  of  all  religions — the  existence  of  a  supreme  God,  the 
duty  of  worship,  the  obligations  of  virtue  and  piety  as  involved  in 
this  service  owed  to  the  Deity,  the  duty  of  repenting  of  sins  and  of 
forsaking  them,  the  fact  of  rewards  and  punishments  in  this  life  and 
in  the  life  to  come.  There  is  no  polemic  against  Christianity,  but 
it  is  not  doubtful  that  the  writer  considers  everything  beyond  the 
five  tenets  to  be  the  invention  of  priests,  or  otherwise  a  form  of 
superstition.  The  writer  who,  more  than  any  other,  provoked  con- 
Hobbes,  troversy  and  gave  rise  to  multiplied  defences  of  religion, 

1588-1679.  ^g^g  Thomas  Hobbes.  With  a  strong  intellectual  grasp, 
and  in  a  remarkably  lucid  style,  he  propounded  in  his  principal 
work,  "The  Leviathan,"  doctrines  which  are  subversive  of  the  basis 
of  morals.  The  work  was  a  plea  for  absolutism  in  civil  government, 
and  for  the  unqualified  obligation  of  obedience  on  the  part  of  the 
subject.  Assuming  that  the  state  of  nature  is  a  state  of  war,  each 
man  being  bent  on  self-gratification,  he  not  only  infers  the  need  of 
a  common  power  for  the  sake  of  peace,  but  makes  subjection  to  this 
power,  even  in  religious  professions  and  in  all  the  externals  of 
worship,  the  primary  duty.  He  even  recognizes  no  justice  prior 
to  the  organization  of  society,  which  is  based  on  expediency.     Ap- 


1648-1887.]  THE  HISTORY  OF  DOCTRINE.  603 

parently  no  room  is  left  for  the  moral  sentiments.  Might  has  the 
precedence  over  right.  The  term  "Leviathan  "  signified  the  State. 
The  doctrine  of  the  treatise  is  shaped  to  uphold  the  highest  pre- 
tensions of  the  Stuart  kings.  Besides  the  direct  antagonists  of 
Hobbes,  there  were  many  eminent  writers  whoso  labors,  to  use 
the  words  of  Mackintosh,  "  were  excited  and  their  doctrines  modi- 
fied by  the  stroke  from  a  vigorous  arm  which  seemed  to  shake 
ethics  to  its  foundation."  One  of  the  foremost  advocates  of  Deism 
Blount,  was  Charles  Blount.     He  wrote  a  work  on  the  opinions 

165-1-1693.  Qf  ^j^Q  ancients  respecting  the  immortality  of  the  soul, 
in  which  he  covertly  depreciated  Christianity  by  showing  how 
much  was  made  known  by  "  unenlightened  nature."  He  pubHshed 
a  translation  of  the  "  Life  of  Apollonius  of  Tyana,"by  Philostratus, 
for  the  sake  of  exhibiting  a  supposed  parallel  between  the  miracles 
told  of  Apollonius  and  those  recorded  in  the  Gospels.  The  "Ora- 
cles of  Eeason  "  was  printed  after  the  author's  death  by  suicide. 
Blount  adopts  Herbert's  five  principles,  and  everything  else  in  the 
religions  of  mankind  he  refers  to  corrupt  additions  made  to  them 
by  priests.  On  the  other  side,  Henry  More  afiirmed  that  the  light 
possessed  by  heathen  philosophers  was  imparted  by  the  divine 
Word,  or  Logos  ;  Gale,  that  it  was  derived  from  the  Hebrew  Script- 
ures. Leslie's  "  Short  and  Easy  Method  with  the  Deists  "  was  in 
answer  to  Blount.  He  laid  down  four  rules  by  which  the  credibil- 
ity of  proof  adduced  for  matters  of  fact  can  be  tested,  and  sought 
to  show  that  the  biblical  narratives  are  verified  by  the  applica- 
tion of  them.  He  further  supports  his  cause  by  a  contrast  of 
Christianity  with  the  three  other  principal  religions  of  the  world — 
Judaism,  Heathenism,  and  Mohammedanism.  A  conspicuous  part 
John  Locke,  ^^  ^^^  Deistic  conti'oversy  was  taken  by  John  Locke,  a 
1632-1704.  strong  advocate  of  the  rights  of  free  inquiry  and  of  the 
duty  of  tolei-ation.  Li  his  "  Essay  concerning  Human  Understand- 
ing," he  defines  faith  to  be  the  belief  which  is  founded  on  testi- 
mony, the  veracity  and  competence  of  the  witnesses  being  first 
established  by  sufficient  proof.  On  the  subject  of  liberty  and  ne- 
cessity, he  is  a  determinist.  He  holds  that  choice  is  the  efiect  of  a 
preponderance  of  desire,  and  accords  with  the  last  dictate  of  the 
understanding,  either  true  or  illusive,  as  to  the  happiness  that  will 
result.  On  this  point  of  libei-ty  and  the  philosophy  of  choice,  he 
confesses,  in  his  correspondence,  that  he  is  still  in  the  dark,  although 
confident  that  the  wiU  is  free.  Eejecting  all  the  attempted  demon- 
strations of  the  being  of  God,  he  makes  an  argument  for  this  truth 
from  the  existence  of  the  soul,  which,  being  wholly  distinct  in  its 


604  FROM  THE  PEACE  OP  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

nature  from  matter,  cannot  be  derived  from  it.  His  theological 
opinions  are  set  fortli  in  his  work  on  the  Ejjistles,  and  iu  his  trea- 
tise on  "The  Reasonableness  of  Christianity."  It  is  in  this  last 
production  that  he  seeks  to  meet  the  objections  of  Deism  to  the 
religion  of  the  Bible.  He  presents  a  system  of  his  own  which,  in 
various  particulars,  is  peculiar.  Adam's  sin  brought  upon  the  race 
death,  or  complete  annihilation  ;  they  are  saved  from  death  by 
Christ,  and  the  race  continues;  mankind,  however,  sin  for  them- 
selves, in  their  probation  under  law  ;  through  grace,  salvation  is 
offered  on  the  condition  of  faith  ;  faith  is  the  belief  that  Jesus  is 
the  Messiah  ;  all  who  believe — Locke  explained  afterwards  that 
he  did  not  leave  out  the  condition  of  repentance — are  saved ; 
all  others  perish,  that  is,  their  whole  being  will  become  extinct ; 
the  heathen  may  be  saved  by  repentance  and  by  using  the  light 
they  have.  Locke  assigns  five  reasons  why  revelation  is  requii-ed. 
They  include  the  desirableness  of  more  light  respecting  God 
and  duty,  and  new  incentives  and  helpa  to  a  virtuous  and  holy 
life — such  as  the  proclamation  of  immortal  life,  the  example  of 
Jesus,  the  aids  of  the  Spix'it.  Locke  was  charged  with  leaving 
out  of  his  system  the  Atonement.  In  truth,  he  was  not  a  be- 
liever in  the  supreme  divinity  of  Christ,  and  he  made  the  legis- 
lative or  teaching  function  of  Jesus  to  be  his  principal  office. 
He  rejected  the  doctrines  of  Election  and  the  Perseverance  of  the 
Saints,  and  did  not  adopt  the  prevailing  view  of  the  extent  of 
biblical  inspiration.  Locke's  argument,  in  the  treatise  referred  to 
above,  however  it  may  have  affected  Deists,  gave  umbrage  to  or- 
thodox believers.  They  found  in  it  too  large  an  infusion 
of  rationalism.  A  year  after  the  issue  of  Locke's  trea- 
john  Toiand,  tisc  Toland  published  his  "  Christianity  not  Mysterious." 
16G9-1722.  gg  pretended  to  be  a  disciple  of  Locke— a  relation  which 
Locke  himself  repudiated.  Toland  went  beyond  the  statement  of 
Hobbes  and  Locke  that  there  is  nothing  in  Christianity  contrary  to 
reason,  and  asserted  that  there  is  nothing  in  it  above  reason.  There 
were  no  mysteries,  he  said,  in  the  primitive  doctrine,  but  these 
have  been  introduced,  partly  in  accommodation  to  Judaism,  and 
j)artly  from  a  mixture  of  philosophy.  Toland  wrote,  also,  a  covert 
attack  on  the  evidence  for  the  scriptural  canon,  which  moved  Clarke 
to  compose  his  "  Historical  Account  of  the  Canon  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment." Clarke's  "  Demonstration  of  the  Being  and  Attributes  of 
Boyle,  God"  was  prepared  as  a  course  of  "Boyle  Lectures,"  on 

ifi-auiuDi.       ^  foundation  established  by  Robert  Boyle,  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  Royal  Society.    The  world— so  Clarke  argues— im- 


1648-1887.]  THE  HISTORY  OF  DOCTRINE.  606 

plies  one  self-existent,  immutable  being.  Duration  and  space  are 
not  substances,  but  attributes.  The  eternity  and  omnipresence  of 
that  being  is  the  inference.  In  carrying  forward  his  ai'gument, 
Clarke  introduces  observed  facts,  especially  in  proving  the  intelli- 
gence of  the  Deity. 

One  of  the  most  noted,  as  he  was  one  of  the  ablest,  of  the 
Deists  was  Collins.  In  his  discourse  on  free-thinking  he  under- 
Anthonv  *°°^  ^°  prove  that  the  free  exercise  of  reason  is  not  only 
<^?i''"^j"„  a  right,  but  also  that,  in  making  a  decision  between 
competing  religions,  it  cannot  be  avoided.  He  was 
answered  by  Bentley,  the  best  critical  scholar  of  the  day,  who 
chose  to  write  under  the  name  of  a  Leipsic  Lover  of  Freedom — Phi' 
leleutherus  Lipsiensis.  Bentley  claims  that  thinking  shall  be  really 
free,  and  not  be  subject  to  the  bias  of  infidel  prejudice.  Collins's 
work  on  the  "  Grounds  and  Reasons  of  the  Christian  Eeligion  " 
was  occasioned  by  Whiston's  argument  for  Christianity  from  proph- 
ecy. Collins  tried  to  make  it  appear  that  prophecy  is  the  only 
valid  proof,  and  is  pertinent  only  on  the  basis  of  typical  and  alle- 
gorical interpretation.  This  author  gained  in  reputation  as  a 
philosopher  through  his  able  "Inquiry  concerning  Liberty  and 
Necessity,"  in  which  he  anticipates  many  later  writers  by  his  ingeni- 
ous reasoning  in  favor  of  determinism,  or  philosophical  necessity. 
Woolston  attacked  the  Christian  miracles,  contending  for  an  alle- 
gorical treatment  of  the  gospel  narratives  in  which  they  are  re- 
corded. Among  the  replies  to  him  was  Bishop  Sherlock's  "  Trial 
of  the  Witnesses,"  an  argument  for  the  historical  fact  of  the 
Matthew  Saviour's  resurrection.  Tindal's  "Christianity  as  old 
?^j"^^!;oo        as  the  Creation  "  was  an  endeavor  to  prove  the  suffi- 

IboT-lTiJa.  _  Iff,  • 

ciency  and  perfection  of  natural  religion,  and  to  show 
that  Christianity,  as  far  as  it  is  new,  is  a  republication  of  this  pure 
system,  which  had  become  overlaid  with  corruptions.  Among  the 
writers  who  took  the  field  in  opposition  to  him  were  Conybeare, 
Waterland,  and  William  Law,  In  opj^osition  to  Waterland,  Henry 
Dodwell,  son  of  a  learned  Nonjuror  of  eccentric  opinions,  of  the 
same  name,  published  anonymously  a  pamphlet  bearing  the  title, 
*'  Christianity  not  Founded  on  Argument,"  He  contends  ironi- 
cally that  the  real  proof  of  Christianity  is  an  inner  light  vouch- 
safed to  each  individual  separately.  One  assailant  of  Warburton'a 
mode  of  defence  was  Conyers  Middleton,  the  author  of  the  "Life  of 
Cicero,"  who  was  probably  far  more  in  sympathy  with  rationalistic 
opinions  than  he  professed  to  be.  In  another  work  he  attacked 
the  credibility  of  the  ecclesiastical  miracles  of  the  first  centuries. 


QQQ  FROM  THE  PEACE  OP  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

An  able  discussion  of  this  whole  subject  of  ecclesiastical  mira- 
cles as  related  to  the  miracles  of  the  gospel,  in  which  the  state- 
ments of  Hume  on  this  subject  are  answered,  is  "  The  Criterion ;  or, 
IMiracles  Examined,"  by  Douglas,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Salisbury. 
Morsran,   in  his  "Moral  Philosopher,"   contended  that 

Thomas  Mor-    -^to'  ,     ^  .       ^     ^    .  ^     ^    .         ^ 

gan,  d.  1T43.  Christianity  had  been  corrupted  by  Judaism,  and  claimed 
Paul  as  the  great  free-thinker  of  his  age.  One  of  the  most  cele- 
brated works  in  the  Deistic  controversy  was  occasioned  by  Morgan's 
book.  This  was  Bishop  Warburton's  "  Divine  Legation  of  Moses," 
a  work  remarkable  for  its  learning  and  for  its  ability.  Warburton 
maintained  that  the  silence  of  the  Pentateuch  on  the  subject  of  the 
future  life,  instead  of  being  an  evidence  against  the  divine  origin  of 
the  Hebrew  religion,  is  a  decisive  argument  in  favor  of  it.  This 
silence  is  without  a  parallel  under  the  circumstances,  and  is  to  be 
explained  only  on  the  supposition  that  Moses  was  interested  to  pro- 
tect his  people  from  the  superstitions  which  in  Egypt  had  been  in- 
separably mingled  with  the  tenet.  Chubb  is  a  Deistic  writer  of 
inferior  consequence  ;  and  the  best  merit  of  another  author  of  the 
same  school,  Mandeville,  is  that  he  furnished  the  occasion  for 
the  composition  of  Berkeley's  "  Minute  Philosopher,"  in  Avhich  the 
principles  of  religion  are  supported,  in  the  form  of  a  dialogue,  by 
cogent  reasoning.  Shaftesbury  was  one  of  the  few  Deists  of  rank 
and  social  jDosition.  He  wrote  the  "  Characteristics,"  which  found 
fault  with  the  gospel  for  making  the  hope  of  reward  and  the  fear  of 
punishment  motives  to  virtue.  Virtue,  he  affirmed,  is  vitiated  so  far 
as  it  is  practised  from  any  other  motive  than  for  its  own  sake.  There 
Boiingbroke,  """^s  ouc  othcr  Dcist  in  the  ranks  of  the  nobility — Lord 
1678-1751.  BoUngbroke.  Profligate  in  his  habits  and  unprincipled, 
he  had  a  brilliant  career  as  a  statesman,  until  his  disappointed 
ambition  led  him  to  join  the  cause  of  the  Pretender.  His  style  is 
diffuse  and  ariificial,  and  he  could  be  as  vituperative  as  the  most 
intolerant  of  theologians.  He  assumes  that  Monotheism  was  the 
primitive  religion,  and  argues  for  it  on  the  ground  of  the  consent  of 
all  tradition  that  the  world  had  a  beginning.  What  goes  beyond  the 
creed  of  nature  is  ascribed  in  great  part  to  the  invention  of  rulers  and 
lawgivers,  who  played  on  the  fears  of  the  mass  of  the  people  in  order 
to  keep  them  in  subjection.  Bolingbroke  is  less  consistent  in  his 
theories  than  most  of  the  champions  of  Deism.  He  left  his  writings 
on  this  subject  to  be  published  by  his  literary  executor,  one  Mallet, 
who  was  a  Scot.  When  Boswell  asked  Johnson  his  opinion  of 
Bolingbroke,  the  gruff  oracle  answered :  "  Sir,  he  was  a  scoundrel  and 
a  coward  ;  a  scoundrel  for  charging  a  blunderbuss  against  religion 


1648-1887.]  THE  HISTORY  OF  DOCTRINE.  607 

and  morality  ;  a  coward  because  ho  had  no  resolution  to  fire  it  off 
himself,  but  left  half  a  crown  to  a  beggarly  Scotchman  to  draw  the 
trigger  after  his  death." 

There  were  writers  towards  the  close  of  the  century  to  whom 
the  appellation  of  "  infidel "  seems  peculiarly  fitting.  Hume  was  a 
philosophical  antagonist  who  confined  himself  to  reasoning  in 
a  temperate  tone  and  in  a  metaphysical  vein.  Gibbon,  on  the  con- 
trary, was  the  most  distinguished  of  the  class  whose  method  was 
"to  sap  a  creed  with  solemn  sneer."  Late  in  the  century,  Thomas 
Thomas  Paine.P^'iiiej  j^st  as  he  was  having  a  narrow  escape  from  the 
1737-1809.  guillotine,  while  Robespierre  was  in  power,  composed 
"The  Age  of  Reason."  He  wrote  in  a  racy  style,  and,  although  he 
has  passages  in  a  woi'thier  tone,  he  easily  falls  into  a  strain  of  coarse- 
ness and  ribaldry.  His  treatment  of  the  Bible  is  equally  supercili- 
ous and  superficial. 

It  is  obvious  that  the  main  tenet  of  Deism  was  borrowed  from 
Christianity.  That  is  to  say,  Monotheism,  practically  regarded. 
Defects  of  Came  to  the  European  nations  through  the  Scriptures  of 
^"^°^-  the  Old  and  New  Testament.     The  defenders  of  Deism, 

while  they  rejected  the  miracles  recorded  in  the  Bible,  accepted 
the  most  stupendous  miracle  of  all — the  miracle  of  creation.  This 
led  frequently  to  a  real,  though  unconscious,  inconsistency  in  their 
temper  of  feeling,  if  not  in  their  reasoning,  on  the  subject.  They 
held  to  the  postulates  of  the  gospel,  the  doctrine  of  one  God  and 
of  sin,  but  they  grasped  this  last  truth  with  so  little  thoroughness 
of  conviction  and  vividness  of  emotion  that  they  did  not  feel  the 
need  of  the  gospel  as  a  means  of  forgiveness  and  a  source  of  help 
in  the  conflict  with  evil  in  the  soul.  It  must  be  said  that  the  de- 
fenders of  the  faith  too  often  failed  likewise  to  appreciate  this 
moral  and  spiritual  office  of  the  gospel,  and  therefore  dwelt  too 
exclusively  on  the  external  evidences. 

In  the  department  of  Chi'istian  evidences,  a  commotion  was 
created  by  the  publication  of  Hume's  "Essay  on  IVIiracles."  His 
Hume  on  objcct  is  to  show,  not  that  miracles  are  impossible,  but 
miracles.  j^-^^^  ^j^gy  canuot  be  provcd.  He  starts  with  the  as- 
sumption that  belief  is  founded  on  exj)erience.  This  statement 
needs  to  be  corrected,  since  trust  is  spontaneous,  however  it  may 
be  checked  and  regulated  by  an  acquaintance  with  the  world.  He 
argues  that,  since  we  have  no  experience  of  a  miracle,  and  have' 
experience  of  the  error  of  testimony,  no  amount  of  testimony  will 
suffice  to  prove  an  alleged  miracle.  The  falsehood  of  the  testi- 
mony is  less  improbable  than  the  "  transgi-ession  " — as  he  terms  it 


608  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  EX. 

of  a  law  of  nature.     He  errs  in  assuming  that  experience  is  all 

adverse  to  the  occuiTence  of  a  miracle.  The  evidence  for  this  as- 
sertion, as  John  Stuart  Mill  has  clearly  stated,  is  "diminished  in 
force  by  whatever  weight  belongs  to  the  evidence  that  certain  mir- 
acles have  taken  place."  Hume's  whole  argument,  moreover,  pre- 
supposes that  we  have  no  knowledge  that  there  is  a  God,  and  that, 
if  He  exist,  he  would  as  soon  suspend  a  law  which  justifies  belief 
in  the  testimony  of  witnesses,  as  suspend  a  natural  law — for  exam- 
ple, by  the  healing  of  a  blind  man — for  the  sake  of  proving  a  mer- 
ciful revelation.  Hume  endeavored  to  fortify  his  reasoning  by 
adducing  instances  of  alleged  miracles,  Hke  the  Jansenist  wonders 
at  the  tomb  of  the  Abbe  Paris,  which  seemed  to  be  well  supported 
by  testimony.  Hume's  essay  called  out  numerous  rejoinders,  not 
all  of  which  succeeded  in  exposing  its  sophistry.  The  most  pop- 
ular wi'iter  in  defence  of  natural  and  revealed  religion,  was 
William Paiey, Paley.  His  "Natural  Theology,"  and  his  "Evidences 
1743-1805.  Qf  Christianity,"  although  not  marked  by  original  con- 
tributions of  thought,  are  models  of  lucidity  and  method.  The 
materials  for  his  work  on  "  Christian  Evidences,"  were  drawn  in 
great  part  from  the  learned  writings  of  Nathaniel  Lardner.  The 
"Horse  Paulina3,"  of  Paley  is  a  more  original  production,  and  as 
ingenious  as  it  is  original.  It  points  out  undesigned  coincidences 
between  the  narrative  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  and  the  Epistles, 
and  thus  presents  a  striking  proof  of  the  authenticity  of  all  these 
documents.  The  ablest  work  on  the  Evidences  which  the  eigh- 
joseph  Butler,  tccuth  ccntury  produced  is  the  "  Analogy  "  of  Bishop 
1692-175-2.  Butler,  in  which  that  profound  thinker  overthrows  the 
objections  to  the  principles  of  religion  and  of  Christianity,  by  show- 
ing that  they  would  lie  equally  against  what  we  plainly  observe  in 
the  constitution  and  course  of  nature. 

England  produced  in  the  earlier  section  of  this  era  a  trio  of 

metaphysicians  of  the  highest  ability,  whose  writings  bore  directly 

^  .    on  rehgious  discussions.     Locke,  in  his  "  Essay  on  the 

Philosophy  m  *=  .     .         '' 

England ;  Humau  Understanding,"  traced  our  knowledge  to  sensa- 
tion and  reflection,  but  in  this  original  and  masterly 
treatise  he  failed  to  define  the  second  of  these  terms  in  such  a  way 
as  to  preclude  the  reference  of  all  our  ideas  to  sensation  as  their 
ultimate  source.  Nor  did  he  make  it  clear  that  we  perceive  ex- 
ternal reality  in  any  other  way  than  by  means  of  intermediate  im- 
Georgc  Berke-  prcssious  ou  the  miud.  Berkeley,  a  divine  and  Bishop 
ey,  1  1(53.  q£  Cloyuc,  who  merited  the  eulogy  of  Pope  ascribing  to 
him   "every  virtue  under  heaven,"  sought  an  impregnable   de- 


1648-1887.]  THE  HISTORY  OF  DOCTRINE.  609 

fence  of  theism  in  an  ideal  theory  of  matter.  Only  minds  exist. 
The  notion  of  a  hard  lump  of  matter  is  a  figment  of  fancy.  Ex- 
ternal objects  are  nothing  more  or  less  than  ideas  impai'ted  to  the 
mind,  according  to  a  fixed  order,  by  tlie  divine  mind,  in  which,  as 
archetypes,  they  originally  reside.  Nature  is  the  succession  or 
connection  of  these  ideas,  and  the  laws  of  nature  denote  the  method 
of  their  association  with  one  another.  In  ethics  Berkeley  held 
that  the  well-being  of  the  race  in  all  times  and  nations  is  the  end 
which  the  Deity  sets  before  himself.  To  this  end  all  human  ac- 
tions should  aim.  The  rules  of  morality  are  a  generalized  state- 
ment of  the  bearing  of  different  sorts  of  conduct  on  this  end,  or 
David  Hume,  of  their  proper  tendency  and  results.  Hume,  on  the 
1.11-17.6.  foundation  of  pi-emises  which  he  professed  to  derive  from 
Locke,  erected  a  fabric  of  philosophical  scepticism.  As  neither 
cause,  substance,  power,  or  the  ego  (self)  are  known  through  the 
senses,  we  have  no  warrant  to  affirm  their  reality.  Cause  is  only  an- 
other term  for  the  uniform  succession  of  phenomena,  which  cus- 
tomary association  leads  us  to  regard  as  necessaiy,  or  as  somehow 
linked  together  by  a  hidden  bond.  If  we  have  always  seen  one 
thing  follow  another,  we  instinctively  and  necessarily  expect  the 
second  when  the  first  occurs,  and  we  transfer,  without  warrant, 
this  necessity  to  the  things  themselves.  Belief  itself  is  simply  the 
product  of  habitual  association  of  mental  states.  The  freedom  of 
the  will  is  likewise  resolved  into  an  illusive  inference.  The  scep- 
Thonias  Reid,  ticism  of  Humc  stimulated  Eeid,  the  founder  of  the  Scot- 
1710-1796.  ^-gij  school  of  philosophy,  to  bring  forward  the  doctrine 
of  common  sense.  The  validity  of  the  ideas  of  power,  substance, 
cause,  etc.,  is  immediately  assured  to  the  mind,  which  is  the  dii-ect 
source  of  these  ideas.  We  have  a  direct  or  face-to-face  perception 
of  the  external  world  :  its  reality  is  not  an  inference  from  some 
intermediate  object  of  perception.  With  these  names  may  be  con- 
samiiei  Clarke,  joined  the  name  of  a  fourth  metaphysician,  who  was 
16T5-1729.  equally  eminent  in  mathematics  and  physical  science, 
and  was  comiDetent  to  carry  forward  a  debate  with  Leibnitz — Dr. 
Samuel  Clarke.  Among  other  tenets  which  he  defended  was  the 
freedom  of  the  will,  in  opposition  to  determinism. 

The  three  principal  wi-iters  on  ethics  in  England,  in  the  last 
century,  were  Butler,  Price,  and  Paley.  Bishop  Butler,  to  whose 
writings  on  the  evidences  of  religion  we  have  already  referred, 
made  a  threefold  division  of  human  nature  into  passions  and  af- 
fections, self-love  and  benevolence,  and  conscience.  Each  of  the 
passions  goes  out  to  its  corresponding  object.     Both  self-love  and 


glO  FROM  THE  PEACE  OP  WESTPHALIA.  [Pebiod  IX. 

benevolence  are  principles  native  to  the  soul,  not  inconsistent  with 
one  another,  but  to  be  exercised  each  in  due  proportion  to  the 
other.  Conscience  is  the  regulative  faculty,  defining  this  pro- 
portion and  binding  to  its  observance.  Equal  love  to  self  and  to 
one's  neighbor,  with  supreme  love  to  God,  constitute  the  sum  of 
duty.  Veracity  and  justice  are  sometimes  treated  as  branches  of 
benevolence — safeguards  against  a  want  of  foresight  of  the  conse- 
quences of  actions.  Sometimes  it  is  intimated  that  they  are  paral- 
Richard  Price,  ^^^  ^i^^^  bcnevolence  and  more  independent.  Price  de- 
1733-1791.  fended  the  doctrine  that  right  is  a  simple  idea,  not 
capable  of  being  resolved  into  other  constituents.  His  views  were 
akin  to  the  subsequent  theory  of  Kant.  Paley  was  the  expounder 
and  advocate  of  the  utilitarian  theory  of  morals.  He  defines  virtue 
as  the  "doing  good  to  mankind,  in  obedience  to  the  will  of  God, 
and  for  the  sake  of  everlasting  happiness."  The  chief  good  is  hap- 
piness ;  the  springs  of  virtue  are  in  self-love.  At  the 
Hutcheson,      opposite  pole  staiids  Hutcheson,  who  had  identified  vir- 

1694-1747.  . 

tue  with  general  benevolence  to  which  he  said  that  we 
must  have  regard  in  every  action  that  partakes  of  virtue.  Adam 
Adam  Smith,  Smith  attempted  to  deduce  the  feelings  of  conscience 
I72:i-i790.  from  sympathy,  or  fellow-feeling  with  others,  but  failed 
to  explain  the  imperative  character  of  conscience.  His  highest 
distinction  was  that  of  being  the  founder  of  economical  science. 
Hartley  and  Tucker  sought  in  other  and  different  ways  for  the 
genesis  of  moral  feelings  and  principles. 

Calvinism,  in  the  Church  of  England,  in  the  last  century,  had 
Thomas  Scott  ^^^  ^^^  prominent  advocates.  Among  them  were  Scott, 
1747-1821.     '  and  Toplady,  the  author  of  the  familiar  hymn, 

"  When  languor  and  disease  invade 
This  trembling  house  of  clay — " 

Toplady  and  John  Wesley  engaged  in  a  controversy  which  was 
marked  on  both  sides  by  a  vigor  of  denunciation  unusual  even 

among  polemical  divines.  The  principal  defenders  of 
Toplady,         Calviuism  were  Dissenters.     We  have  to  notice  in  this 

period  the  change  of  theory,  by  which  the  idea  of  federal 
representation  on  the  part  of  Adam,  who  as  an  individual  under- 
goes a  probation  for  his  posterity,  is  substituted  for  the  Augustin- 
ian  realistic  conception  of  the  solidarity  of  the  race,  and  the  hteral 
participation  of  all  in  the  first  progenitor's  transgression.  A 
philosophy  more  in  accord  with  Nominalism  supplants  the  Pla- 


164S-1SS7.]  THE  HISTORY  OP  DOCTRINE.  611 

tonic  Realism  of  former  times.  Our  consanguinity  with  Adam,  or 
Lis  natural  headship,  is  one  main  reason  assigned  for  the  covenant 
by  which  he  is  constituted  our  representative,  but  his  act,  properly 
speaking,  is  that  of  an  individual.  The  effect  of  this  modification 
of  theory  was  to  lead  to  the  attributing  to  the  i^osterity  of  Adam  of 
a  diminished  degree  of  responsibility  for  his  offence,  and  to  a  certain 
embarrassment  and  vacillation  which  belong  to  the  whole  discus- 
sion of  the  doctrine  of  human  depravity.  Solutions  are  bi-oached 
only  to  be  abandoned,  or  are  confessed  to  bo  inadequate.  This 
peculiar  state  of  mind  is  manifest  in  Ridgiey,  and  still  more  in 
Doddridge  and  in  Watts,  and  in  the  Scottish  theologian,  George 
Hill.  On  other  points,  we  find  in  Doddridge  and  Watts  an  obvious 
departure  from  the  tenets  of  strict  Calvinism.  Doddridge's  defini- 
tion of  election  would  not  be  seriously  complained  of 

Philip  Dod-        ,  A  •     •  T      ,  -1  ^         , 

dridgej^  by  an  Ai-mmian  or  a  Lutheran.     On  the  subject  of  the 

Trinity,  while  he  does  not  sanction  the  Ai-ian  view,  ho 
enjoins  moderation  and  caution  on  so  difficult  a  theme.  On  this 
Isaac  Watts,  subjcct,  Watts  advauced  a  peculiar  opinion.  He  held  to 
1074-1748.  ^i^Q  pre-existence  of  the  human  natui-e  of  Christ,  which 
was  the  first  of  created  beings,  and  had  existed  in  a  mysterious 
ineffable  union  with  God  the  Father.  This  relation  to  God  ren- 
ders Christ  both  a  man  and  an  object  of  worship.  Whether  the 
Spirit  is  a  person  in  the  Godhead,  he  says  that  we  do  not  know. 

The  transition  from  Calvinism  in  England  to  New  England 
divinity  is  natural.  The  founder  of  New  England  theology,  as  a 
New  England  distiuct  type  of  doctrine,  was  Jonathan  Edwards.  The 
Mwafd^s'  English  Arminian  writers,  in  particular  Whitby,  and  Dr. 
1703-1758.  John  Taylor,  of  Norwich,  were  read  with  approbation  by 
ministers  on  this  side  of  the  water.  There  was  much  of  that  emas- 
culated form  of  Calvinism  which  the  younger  Edwards  refers  to  as 
characteristic  of  Watts  and  Doddridge,  and  which  his  father  and 
his  father's  followers,  through  their  "improvements"  in  theology, 
aimed  to  supersede  by  setting  up  in  its  place  a  stricter  and,  at  the 
same  time,  a  tenable  system.  In  short,  Edwards  undertook  to 
fortify  the  essential  principles  of  Calvinism  against  its  Arminian 
assailants.  This  pm-pose  led  to  modifications  in  forms  of  statement 
and,  to  some  extent,  in  doctrinal  conceptions.  In  his  treatise  on 
the  "  Will,"  Edwards  discloses  the  influence  which  Locke  had  ex- 
erted upon  his  thought.  With  much  acuteness  and  controversial 
skill,  he  maintains  determinism,  or  philosophical  necessity,  and  the 
prior  certainty  of  all  choices,  which  is  secured  by  the  antecedent 
motives.     This  certainty  he  distinguishes  from  necessity,  in  what 


612  FROM  THE  PEACE  OP  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

he  considers  the  proiDer  sense  of  this  term,  which  would  imply 
some  sort  of  constraint  on  the  inclination  ;  but  the  "  inclination  " 
is  identified  with  the  choice.  Thus  he  is  enabled  to  affirm  a 
"  natural  ability  "  in  sinful  men  to  reverse  their  evil  preferences  of 
will,  while  a  "moral  inability,"  or  fixed  unwillingness,  renders  it 
certain  that  this  reversal  will  never  occur,  independently  of  re- 
generating grace  from  above.  In  a  posthumous  treatise  on 
"Original  Sin,"  Edwards  plants  himself  on  the  realistic  idea  of  a 
common  sin  of  the  race  in  Adam,  which  renders  the  individual 
responsible  for  the  bent  of  the  will  which  he  brings  into  the  world 
at  his  birth,  and  thus  a  partaker  in  the  guilt  of  the  primal  trans- 
gression. In  a  dissertation  on  the  nature  of  virtue,  which  he 
makes  to  consist  in  "love  to  being  in  general,"  or  benevolence,  he 
makes  a  distinction  between  the  rectitude  of  this  holy  love,  which 
all  minds  recognize,  and  the  beauty  or  sweetness  which  belongs  to 
the  exercise  of  it,  which  is  revealed  only  to  experience,  and  hence 
belongs  to  the  regenerate  alone.  The  contrast  of  natural  and  holy 
affections  is  more  fully  made  in  his  book  on  the  "  Affections,"  in 
which  the  mystical  turn  that  belonged  to  him  is  apparent — the 
tendency  which  is  manifest,  for  example,  in  his  sermon  on  the 
nature  of  spiritual  light.  The  breadth  of  thought  of  which  Ed- 
wards was  capable  is  evinced  in  his  essay  on  "  God's  Chief  End  in 
Creation,"  which  is  made  to  be  the  communication  of  all  the  good, 
both  natural  and  moral,  that  is  in  him  ;  and  in  his  book  on  the 
"  History  of  Redemption,"  in  which  he  rises  to  the  consideration 
of  the  comprehensive  plan  of  God  in  history. 

The  wi'itings  of  Edwards  had  the  effect  to  create  a  school  of 
divines  called  "Edwardeans,"  or  "New  Divinity  Men,"  or  "New 
The  school  of  Lights."  They  were  cordial  friends  of  the  Eevival  of 
Edwards.  1740.  They  were  regarded  with  some  suspicion,  at  the 
cutset,  by  strict  adherents  of  the  forms  of  statement  in  the  West- 
minster Creeds,  and  they  continued  to  be  opjDOsed  by  the  moderate 
Calvinists  and  by  the  Arminiaus.  The  followers  of  Edwards  gener- 
ally united  in  discarding  the  imputation  of  Adam's  sin  to  his  jDOSr 
terity,  and  in  holding  that  the  native  depravity  of  the  individual  is 
the  ordained  consequence  of  that  sin,  in  virtue  of  a  Divine  constitu- 
tion ;  in  substituting  "moral  inability  "  for  the  unqualified  helpless- 
ness of  sinful  men,  and  in  the  advocacy  of  a  universal  instead  of 
a  limited  atonement.     At  the  same  time,  they  asserted, 

Samuel  .  ...  .  ... 

Hopkins.         with  emphasis,  divine  sovereignty,  and  the   Calvinistic 

tenet  of  election.     Hopkins,  a  pupil  of  Edwards,  and  the 

founder  of  a  party  designated  as  "Hopkinsians,"  taught  the  duty  of 


1648-1887.]  THE  HISTORY  OF  DOCTRINE.  613 

"  unconditional  resignation."  He  presented  in  a  logical  stylo  a  doc- 
trine of  submission  to  the  Divine  will,  not  materially  diverse  from  a 
view  which  mystics  in  different  ages  have  cherished.  The  doctrine 
of  disinterested  benevolence  he  developed  in  a  form  accordant  with 
the  tenet  just  described.  All  sin  he  resolved  into  selfishness.  He 
affirmed  that  all  actions,  even  the  praj'ers,  of  impenitent  men  are 
sinful,  repentance  being  the  duty  first  in  order.  Hence,  it  is  wrong 
to  exhort  men  to  pray  for  their  own  conversion.  In  his  theodicy, 
sin  is  considered  an  evil  in  itself,  to  be  sure,  but  the  necessary 
Joseph  means   of   the   greatest   good.      This  last  opinion  was 

1719-1790.  elaborately  defended  by  Bellamy,  a  powerful  preacher 
in  Connecticut,  of  the  Edwardean  school.  Smalley  set 
^34-1820?""^'  fo^tli  the  Edwardean  view  of  "  natural  ability  "  to  re- 
pent, love  God,  and  believe  in  Chi-ist.  The  younger 
Jonathan  Edwai'ds  expounded  the  governmental  theory  of  the 
1745-1801.  "  atonement,  in  a  view  not  veiy  dissimilar  from  that  of 
Grotius  ;  and  this  theory  took  its  place  as  an  accepted 
EmmoS^  principle  of  New  England  theology.  Emmons  exhib- 
1745-1840.  -^g^-j^  jjj  r^  precise  form,  the  peculiar  opinions  of  Hop- 
kins as  to  "  unconditional  resignation,"  "  disinterested  benevo- 
lence," and  "  Divine  efficiency  "  in  the  production  of  human  choices, 
and  pushed  them  to  consequences  which,  if  they  were  logical,  were 
repugnant  to  many  adherents  of  the  New  England  school.  All 
sin,  and  all  holiness  as  well,  he  resolved  into  exercises,  or  acts  of 
will,  each  distinct  from  every  other,  and  each  perfect  in  its  kind. 
But  theologians  in  his  time,  and  earlier,  did  not  draw  a  sharp  line 
between  the  will  and  the  sensibility  or  affections. 

Burton  taught  that  regeneration  is  a  change  in  the  spiritual 
taste,  by  which  a  relish  for  divine  things  is  imparted,  and  precedes 
Asa  Burton,  "  exerciscs,"  or  holy  volitions.  President  Dwight,  of 
1752-1836.  Yale  College,  rejected  the  doctrine  of  imputation  of 
Adam's  sin,  of  natural  inability,  and  of  limited  atone- 
D wight.  ment.     He  i*ejected,  also,  the  Hopkinsian  view  of  Di- 

vine efficiency,  and  was,  in  general,  a  moderate  Calvinist 
in  his  teaching  in  respect  to  Divine  decrees.  He  held  with  Burton 
and  the  younger  Edwards,  that  regeneration  is  the  gift  of  a  new 
spiritual  taste,  and  he  maintained,  against  Hopkins  and  Emmons, 
that  it  is  lawful  for  impenitent  men  to  pray  for  conversion.  Virtue 
,  ^    . ,       he  founded  on  utility,  makiaig  the  excellence  of  virtue 

Nathaniel  ... 

w.  Taylor,      to  cousist  in  its  tendency  to  promote  the  highest  hap- 
piness.    By  N.  W.  Taylor,  a  pupil  of  Dwight,  further 
variations  in  the  New  England  system  were   introduced,  which 


Ql^  FROM  THE  PEACE  OP  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

produced  a  lasting  effect  and  wide-spread  controversy.  He  ex- 
plicitly included  in  "natvu-al  ability"  a  continued  and  perpetual 
"power  of  contrary  choice,"  existing  in  connection  with  the  prior 
certainty  of  choices,  and  the  permanence  of  the  "governing  prin- 
ciple "  of  character  in  the  unconverted,  apart  from  the  intervention 
of  grace  to  move  them  to  a  change.  He  denied  that  sin  is  "  the 
necessary  means  of  the  greatest  good,"  and  held  that  moral  evil, 
while  it  springs  exclusively  from  the  will  of  the  creature,  is  per- 
mitted because  its  exclusion  by  the  fiat  of  the  Deity  may  be  in- 
consistent necessarily  with  the  best  possible  moi-al  system.  The 
opinions  of  Dr.  Taylor  on  these  and  some  other  points  were  op- 
posed, not  only  by  such  as  rejected  the  peculiarities  of  New  Eng- 
land theology  in  general,  but  also  by  a  large  party  among  its 
advocates,  by  whom  these  opinions  were  regarded  as  Semi-Pelagian. 

In  the  Presbyterian  Church,  in  the  Middle  States,  where 
thePresby-  Ncw  England  influences  prevailed,  the  tenets  of  the 
'  Edwardean  school  had  always  found  favor.  Where 
there  prevailed  influences  derived  from  Scotland,  a  type  of  Calvin- 
ism more  strict  and  more  exactly  conformed  to  the  Federal  system 
and  to  the  Westminster  Creeds  was  in  vogue.  After  the  publica- 
tion and  diffusion  of  Dr.  Taylor's  views,  conflict  broke  out  between 
these  opposing  tendencies.  We  have  before  adverted  to  the  fact 
that,  mingled  with  doctrinal  differences,  there  was  some  discord 
in  ecclesiastical  matters.  It  has  been  already  stated  that  Albert 
Barnes  and  Lyman  Beecher,  eminent  ministers,  were  impeached 
before  the  Presbyterian  ecclesiastical  courts  for  heresy.  The 
American  Presbyterian  Church  was  divided  into  two  bodies,  which 
remained  disunited  until  the  gradual  subsidence  of  theological 
contention  and  agreement  in  Church  affairs  brought  to  pass  a 
reunion.  Of  the  theologians  of  the  "Old  School,"  Dr.  Chai-les 
Hodge  was  an  able  and  learned  representative.  The  New  Eng- 
land theology  had  its  "Old  School"  and  "New  School"  advo- 
cates. Of  the  latter  class,  Edwai-ds  A.  Park  was  one  of  the  most 
acute  and  influential  expounders.  Midway  between  these  and  the 
Hen  B  Presbyterians  of  the  "  Old  School,"  to  whom  reference 
Smith,  ^         has  just  been  made,  were  divines,  among  whom  Henry 

B.  Smith  was  justly  eminent  for  his  penetrating  insight 
and  for  the  variety,  as  well  as  extent,  of  his  learning. 

A  modified  form  of  the  "  New  School "  theology  was  presented 
oberiin  in  the  writings  of  Asa  Mahan  and  Charles  G.  Finney, 

theology.  theologians  connected  with  the  institutions  at  Ober- 
iin, Ohio.     They  taught  that  since  man's  ability  is  commensurate 


164S-1S87.]  THE  HISTORY  OF  DOCTRINE.  615 

with  his  obligation,  and  goodness  consists  wholly  in  the  govern- 
ing purpose,  Christian  perfection  is  practicable  and  a  duty.  Dr. 
Finney  (1792-1875)  was  not  only  an  acute  thinker,  but  a  revival 
preacher  who  exerted  an  extensive  influence  for  a  long  time  by 
his  work  as  an  evangelist.  The  Oberlin  theologians,  while  laying 
emphasis  on  human  ability,  rejected  the  Pelagian  doctrine,  and 
insisted  on  the  need  of  the  Holy  Sj^irit's  agency.  A  critical  po- 
sition in  relation  to  the  New  England  theology  in  its  later  develop- 
Bushneii         ments,  was  taken  by  Horace  Bushnell.     In  his  book  on 

"Christian  Nurture"  (18-17),  he  insisted  on  the  value  of 
religious  education  and  family  training,  and  sharply  censured  au 
undue  reliance  on  revivals  as  means  of  planting  and  fostering  the 
Christian  life.  In  other  writings,  to  be  hereafter  noticed,  he  pre- 
sented new  views  respecting  the  incarnation  and  the  atonement. 

In  the  ecclesiastical  history  of  New  England,  the  rise  of  Uni- 
tariauism  is  an  event  of  capital  importance.     In  England,  in  the 

last  century,  Unitarianism,  which  had  been  adopted  by 
in  New  Eng-    not  a  fcw  Presbytcrians,  was  publicly  defended  by  Joseph 

Priestley  (1733-1804),  who  is  also  distinguished  for  his 
scientific  attainments  and  discoveries,  as  well  as  for  his  advocacy 
of  liberalism  in  politics  in  the  exciting  days  at  the  opening  of  the 
French  Revolution.  Priestley  was  a  necessarian  in  his  philosophy. 
He  had  for  an  antagonist  the  celebrated  Bishop  Horsley.  Anoth- 
er prominent  Unitarian  in  England  was  Thomas  Belsham  (1750- 
1829),  a  preacher  and  a  voluminous  writer.  Unitarianism  in  New 
England  was  an  ofi'shoot  of  the  Arminianism  which  had  taken  the 
place  of  the  older  Puritan  theology.  Thei-e  arose  an  extensive  re- 
pugnance to  the  Calvinistic  tenets  in  any  sharp  form  of  statement, 
and  a  disioosition  to  dwell  on  the  precepts  rather  than  the  doctrines 
of  the  Christian  system.  The  writings  of  the  English  Arminians 
and  Arians  were  read.  As  early  as  1750  there  were  a  number  of 
ministers  and  many  laymen  about  Boston  who  were  Unitarians  in 
their  behef.  The  effect  of  the  Great  Revival  of  1740  was  to  cause 
the  difference  of  theological  and  religious  tendencies  to  be  more 
distinctly  felt.  The  extravagances  of  Hopkinsiauism,  as  they  were 
deemed,  reinforced  the  revolt  against  the  old  creed  of  which  it 
claimed  to  be  a  consistent  explanation.  The  discussions  about 
human  rights,  which  preceded  the  American  Revolution,  helped  to 
draw  away  attention  from  questions  of  theological  doctrine,  and  to 
bring  into  prominence,  not  only  questions  relative  to  natural  and 
political  rights,  but  the  ethical  aspects  of  the  gospel  generally. 
In  1784,  Charles  Chauncy,  a  distinguished   minister   of   Boston, 


QIQ  PROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

defended  the  opinion  that  all  are  finally  saved.  The  younger  Ed- 
wards published  a  book  in  reply  to  him.  An  event  of  importance 
in  leading  to  a  division  among  Congregationalists  was  the  election 
of  Henry  Ware,  a  Unitarian,  as  Hollis  Professor  of  Divinity  at 
Harvai'd  College,  in  1805  ;   and  another  occurrence  in  the  same 

direction  was  a  sermon  of  Channing  at  Baltimore,  in 
chinnuig,"^'^  1819.  Channing  became  the  most  impressive  and  the 
iT60-itJ42.  2nost  famous  of  the  Unitarian  preachers.  The  purity 
and  elevation  of  his  character  were  generally  admired.  In  the  world 
of  letters  his  high  rank  was  everywhere  recognized.  While  studi- 
ously avoiding  language  of  bitter  reproach  or  denunciation,  he 
wrote  earnestly  in  behalf  of  the  anti-slavery  cause.  Not  only  did 
literary  studies  flourish  among  the  Unitarians  ;  they  produced 
scholars,  in  biblical  learning,  of   high  merit.     One  of  them  was 

Andrews  Norton,  the  author  of  a  work  on  "The  Genu- 
Norton!*  iueuess  of  the  Gospels."  Channing  discarded  the  re- 
17SO-1S53.  ceived  doctrine  of  the  depravity  of  human  nature.  He 
brought  into  prominence  the  fatherhood  of  God  and  the  brother- 
hood of  mankind.  He  held  that  Jesus  was  an  angel  or  spirit  incar- 
nate ;  but  the  humanitarian  view  of  the  person  of  Christ  gradually 
became  the  more  common  opinion  among  American  Unitarians'. 
Channing  held  that  the  death  of  Christ,  in  some  way  inscrutable 
to  us,  had  "  a  special  influence  in  removing  punishment ; "  but  he 
did  not  accentuate  this  opinion,  and  this  idea  of  the  Atonement  was 
not  usually  a  part  of  the  Unitarian  creed.  In  the  controversy  that 
took  place  between  "the  orthodox"  and  the  Unitarians,  Stuart,  a 

^,  „,  ,  learned  biblical  scholar  at  Andover,  and  W^oods,  Pro- 
Moses  Stuart,  '  ' 

17S0-1S52.       fessor  of  Doctrinal  Theology  in  the  same  institution, 
were  noted  defenders  of  the  old  creed,  while  Channing 
woods^  himself,  Norton,  and  others,  wrote  on  their  side  of  the 

discussion.  An  ecclesiastical  separation  took  place; 
churches  were  divided ;  the  exchange  of  pulpits  among  ministers 
of  the  contending  parties  ceased.  The  Unitarians  were  zealous  in 
the  promotion  of  education  and  practical  philantrophy.  They  did 
not  enlist  in  the  work  of  domestic  and  foreign  missions,  which 
their  opponents  prosecuted  with  unabated  and  increasing  ardor. 
The  principal  seat  of  Unitarianism  was  eastern  New  England.  It 
has  been  one  of  the  minor  denominations  as  far  as  numbers  are 
concerned,  but  from  its  high  culture,  and  from  the  numerous  per- 
sons of  literary  distinction  connected  with  it,  its  influence  has  been 
strongly  felt. 

The  revolution  of  opinion  did  not  stop  at  the  point  to  which  it 


1648-1887.]  THE  HISTORY  OP  DOCTRINE,  617 

was  carried  by  Clianning  and  his  associates.  The  next  step  was  the 
development  of  an  intuitional  theory  of  religion  by  the  class  called 
"Transcen-  "  Transcendeutalists."  This  new  phase  of  religious 
deutaiism."  ^.hought  was  owing  in  part  to  the  influence  of  Sjiinoza, 
and  of  Schleierinacher  and  the  contemporary  German  philosophers. 
It  counted  historical  facts  as  of  no  essential  value  in  a  religious  sys- 
tem. It  differed  from  the  older  Unitarianism  in  exalting  intuition, 
and  in  the  decided  Pantheistic  trend  which  characterized  it.    Ralph 

Waldo  Emerson,  a  i3oet,  and  a  prose  writer  of  subtle  in- 
son,  '  sight  and  with  a  compact  felicity  of  expression,  was  the 

most  noted  exponent  of  this  mode  of  thought.  "  Every 
man  his  own  prophet,"  seemed  to  be  the  accepted  maxim.  A  peri- 
odical was  founded  by  this  school,  called  "The  Dial."     Theodore 

Parker,  who  sympathized  with  this  new  phase  of  specu- 
parker,  latiou,  opculy  denied  the  historical  reality  of  the  gospel 

mu-acles.  In  his  "Discourse  of  Religion,"  and  else- 
where, he  taught  that  Christianity  is  the  product  of  natural  reason, 
and  a  stage  in  the  progress  of  man's  religious  development.  Yet  he 
did  not  abandon  theism,  and  he  believed  in  prayer.  Channing  de- 
plored the  appearance  of  this  disbelief  in  a  supernatural  gospel. 
It  was  earnestly  combated  by  Noi'ton,  who,  with  the  older  Socini- 
ans,  maintained  that  "  no  proof  of  the  divine  commission  of  Jesus 
could  be  afforded  "  except  by  miracles.  For  a  considerable  period, 
the  more  conservative  Unitarians  declined  all  ecclesiastical  union 
with  the  adherents  of  Parker.  Subsequently  a  loosely  organized 
party  arose,  who  styled  themselves  advocates  of  "  Free  Religion," 
a  term  which  they  variously,  if  not  vaguely,  defined.  Christianity 
was  classified  by  them  in  the  same  category  with  other  religions, 
all  of  which  they  handled  in  an  eclectic  sj)irit. 

The  Universalist  denomination  began  in  America  with  the 
preaching  of  John  MuiTay  (1741-1815),  an  Englishman,  a  convert 
The  univer-  to  Mcthodism,  and,  for  a  time,  a  Methodist  preacher. 
saiiets.  jjq  espoused  the  doctrine  of  the  final  salvation  of  all, 

which  he  preached  along  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  but  principally  in 
New  England,  from  1770  until  his  death  in  1815.  He  was  a  trini- 
tarian  in  his  behef.  Walter  Balfour  (c.  1776-1852),  a  Presby- 
terian minister  from  Scotland,  j^reached  Universalism  in  America, 
and  wrote  in  behalf  of  this  tenet.  But  the  most  effective  agent  in 
promoting  the  cause  of  the  Universalists,  and  in  giving  definite 
form  to  their  creed,  was  Hosea  Ballou  (1771-1852).  They  have 
acknowledged  the  authority  of  the  Scriptures  as  a  divine  revelation. 
They  have  not  accepted  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  of  the  divinity 


618  FROM  THE  PEACE  OP  WESTPHALIA.  [Pebiod  IX. 

of  Christ,  or  of  an  expiatory  atonement.  For  a  considerable  pe- 
riod, after  the  influence  of  Murray  died  out,  the  Universalists,  with 
the  exception  of  a  small  minority  who  were  called  "  Restoration- 
ists,"  disbelieved  in  future  punishment  altogether.  In  more  recent 
times,  they  have  generally  returned  to  a  belief  in  restorationism. 
They  have  established  schools  and  colleges,  and  in  the  spirit  of 
devotion,  as  weU  as  in  the  encouragement  given  to  education,  they 
have  made  a  remarkable  advance.  They  secure  unity  by  means 
of  state  and  national  conventions,  in  which  laymen  as  well  as  the 
ministers  bear  a  part. 

On  the  continent  of  Europe  the  spirit  of  rationalism  found  an 
incarnate  expression  in  Voltaire.  He  "was  the  very  eye  of  the 
Voltaire  eighteenth  century  illumination."      In  his  writings  he 

169-1-1778.  illustrates  that  divorce  of  literature  from  religion  which 
gives  to  the  most  brilliant  literary  work  a  shallow  and  unsatisfying 
quality  and  a  transitory  Hfe.  In  the  world  of  letters,  more  than 
was  true  of  any  man  since  Erasmus,  he  was  an  oracle.  Poet,  dram- 
atist, ci-itic,  historian,  he  sent  forth  from  the  press  fourscore  vol- 
umes. His  vivacity  never  failed.  His  wit  was  as  quick  and  as 
scorching  as  a  flash  of  lightning.  Cruelty,  and  especially  the  cruelty 
that  sprung  from  reHgious  intolerance,  he  regarded  with  intense 
indignation.  He  was  not  without  a  generous  compassion  for  the 
afflicted.  Lacking  the  insight  and  the  disposition  to  distinguish 
the  true  religion  of  the  gospel  from  its  counterfeits,  and  from  super- 
stitions and  odious  practices  which  had  linked  themselves  to  it,  he 
waged  war  against  the  whole  creed  of  the  Church.  He  believed, 
however,  in  a  i^ersonal  God.  His  vanity  was  insatiable.  For  the 
indecency  that  is  specially  revolting  in  one  of  his  dramas,  apologists 
have  nothing  more  to  say  in  the  way  of  excuse  than  that  he  was  not 
worse  than  his  contemporaries.  A  recent  biographer,  whose  own 
opinions  dispose  him  to  sympathy  with  Voltaire,  remarks  that  "  he 
missed  the  peculiar  emotion  of  holiness,"  "  had  no  ear  for  the  finer 
vibrations  of  the  spiritual  voice,"  was  moved  by  "  a  vehement  and 
bhnding  antipathy"  to  the  Christian  faith,  and,  in  his  crusade 
against  the  Bible,  delighted  "  in  the  minute  cavils  of  literary  pyr- 
rhonism."  How  could  an  appreciation  of  the  true  spirit  of  the  Bible 
be  expected  from  one  who  gives  small  praise  to  Homer,  and  speaks 
of  Shakespeare  with  contempt  ?  Yet  the  measure  of  truth  in  his 
arraignment  of  Christianity,  as  it  existed  in  its  organized  form  at 
that  time  in  France,  made  a  powerful  impression.  There  was  a 
multitude,  moreover,  with  whom  a  clever  gibe  was  more  potent 
than  a  sound  ai-gument.     Condillac  (1715-1780)  professed  to  de- 


1(348-1887.]  THE  HISTORY  OF  DOCTRINK  619 

duce  from  Locke  a  bold  materialism,  wliicli  he  explained  in  a  book 
that  Voltaire  himself  said  was  full  of  commonplaces.  Helvetius 
(1715-1771),  iu  the  work  entitled  "  De  I'Esprit,"  traced  virtue  to 
self-interest,  made  physical  enjoyment  the  object  of  self-love,  and 
identified  morality  with  selfishness. 

The  Deism  of  Voltaire  was  followed  by  the  materialism  and 
atheism  of  the  Encyclopa3dists,  a  class  of  writers  so  named  from 
TheEncycio-  ^^^  copious  work  of  Diderot  and  D'Alembert— the 
PffidistB.  (i  Encyclopedic,"  which  was  allied  in  spirit  to  these  ex- 

Diderot,  tremes  of  infidelity.  Diderot  was  himself  a  man  of 
1713-1784.  versatile  talents,  of  extensive  learning,  and  of  prodigious 
industry  in  the  prosecution  of  study.  The  opinions  just  referred 
to  were  explicitly  taught  in  "  The  System  of  Nature,"  of  which 
Baron  Holbach  (1723-1789),  a  German  by  birth,  was  the  author. 
God,  freedom,  and  the  future  life  were  treated  as  chimeras,  and 
duty  was  resolved  into  a  form  of  self-gratification. 

Of  a  dififerent  spirit  was  Kousseau,  in  whom  irregularities  of 
thought  and  immoralities  in  conduct  were  connected  with  traits 
Rousseau,  of  gcnius  and  moods  of  feeling,  and  with  an  eloquence  of 
1712-1778.  style,  which  had  for  his  contemporaries  a  peculiar  fasci- 
nation. He  had  an  equal  skill  iu  describing  human  emotions  and 
scenes  in  nature.  His  "  Emile  "  is  a  treatise  on  education,  in  the 
form  of  a  novel,  in  which  the  author's  creed  is  a  sentimental  deism. 
His  own  children  he  sent  to  a  foundling  hospital.  Late  in  life  he 
went  through  a  form  of  marriage  with  their  mother,  who  was  an 
illiterate  bar-maid.  She  was,  however,  faithful  in  her  relations  to 
him.  The  "  Confessions,"  with  their  disgusting  acknowledgments 
of  early  vice,  were  written  in  his  later  years,  when  his  excessively 
morbid  temperament  had  passed  the  Hmit  of  sanity.  His  merit  as 
a  writer  has  been  well  condensed  in  the  statement  that  "  in  ex- 
pressing the  effect  of  nature  on  the  feelings,  and  of  the  feelings  on 
the  aspect  of  nature,  he  was  absolutely  without  a  forerunner  or  a 
model." 

Before  we  proceed  to  review  the  course  of  modern  German 
theology,  a  place  must  be  found  for  a  great  writer,  whose  career 
falls  mainly  within  the  bounds  of  the  seventeenth  century.  He 
was  a  philosopher  whose  profound  and  various  talents  made  him 
Gottfried  almost  the  peer  of  Aristotle.  This  Avas  Leibnitz,  emi- 
wiiheim         neut  alike  as  a  mathematician  and  naturahst,  a  meta- 

Leibmtz, 

I64(j-i7i6.  physician  and  theologian,  besides  being  versed  in  politi- 
cal affairs.     He  aimed  to  remedy  the  defects  of  Dcs  Cartes  and 


Q2Q  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

the  errors  of  Spinoza.  In  place  of  the  substance,  "  one  and  sim- 
ple "  wLich  Spinoza  had  assumed  to  exist,  he  held  to  a  multiplic- 
ity of  "  monads  " — unextended  centres  of  force — indivisible  and 
independent,  yet  working  together  according  to  "  the  pre-estab- 
lished harmony  "  which  the  Creator  has  arranged.  The  exertion 
of  His  agency  is  never  intermitted.  The  motion  of  the  arm  is 
made  to  coincide  in  time  with  the  volition  to  move  it.  Besides 
what  comes  to  us  through  the  senses,  the  mind  originates  ideas 
which  are  innate  in  the  sense  that  they  spring  up  within  us  in  vir- 
tue of  our  mental  constitution.  To  the  maxim,  that  there  is  "  noth- 
ing in  the  intellect  that  was  not  before  in  the  sensory,"  Leibnitz 
added,  "except  the  intellect  itself."  His  efforts  to  unite  the  con- 
tending churches  are  a  monument  of  the  liberality  of  his  mind.  In 
his  "  Theodicy  "  he  took  ujd  the  problem  of  evil.  Natural  evil,  or 
suffering,  may  be  desirable,  if  sin  exists.  As  to  moral  evil,  it 
grows  out  of  free-will,  and  is  permitted,  because  out  of  all  possible 
systems,  the  best  involves  this  permission  of  sin  on  the  part  of  the 
Creator.  As  to  the  occasion  of  sin,  or  of  its  possibility,  it  is  made 
by  Leibnitz  to  be  the  finite  constitution  of  the  creature,  which  opens 
a  door  for  undue  excitement  of  sensibility  in  a  particular  direc- 
tion, and  for  error  and  delusion.  In  his  theory  of  the  will  he 
favors  determinism.  The  philoso^jhy  of  Leibnitz  was  reduced  to  a 
more  systematic  form  by  "Wolf. 

The  history  of  Rationalism  in  Germany  divides  itself  into  sev- 
eral eras,  which,  however,  do  not  follow  each  other  in  a  strict 
chronological  sei'ies,  but  in  some  instances  overlap  one  another. 
In  the  first  era,  the  influence  of  the  Anglo-French  Deism  was  dom- 
inant in  the  higher  classes  of  society.  It  was  the  period 
istio  ration-  of  boasted  " \\\nvcnxii'sm,"  OX  Aufkldrimg.  This  rational- 
istic spirit  was  fostered  by  the  example  of  Frederic  H. 
The  rigorous  training,  including  a  sort  of  drill  in  religious  exei'- 
cises,  to  Avhich  his  righteous  but  stern  father  subjected  him,  pro- 
voked a  reaction  and  revolt,  like  that  which  was  experienced  by 
the  Emperor  Julian  under  the  tuition  ordained  by  his  cousin.  Vol- 
taire, at  the  invitation  of  Frederic,  resided  for  a  while  at  his  court 
as  a  companion,  until  a  quarrel  separated  them.  They  afterwards 
resumed  their  correspondence,  which,  however,  was  well  spiced  with 
mutual  reproaches.  Against  the  reigning  French  infidelity,  "Pie- 
tism, "useful  as  it  was,  was  a  protest  on  the  side  of  religious  feeling 
rather  than  a  scientific  refutation.  The  Moravian  movement,  to 
some  degree  its  offspring,  was  helpful  in  counteracting  the  effect 
of  uubehef  and  of  the  frigid  orthodoxy  which  existed  along  with  it. 


1648-1 8S7.]  THE  HISTORY  OF  DOCTRINE.  621 

In  this  era  falls  the  career  of  the  great  critic  and  poet,  Leasing, 
whose  genius  stimulated  and  guided  the  development  of  German 
Gotthoid  literature  and  art.  Lessing's  religious  position  was 
LeS?  somewhat  unique.  He  published  the  "  Wolf enbiittel  Fra g- 
1729-1781.  inents,"  an  attack  by  Reimarus  on  the  credibihty  of  the 
Gospel  records  of  miracles.  This  he  did,  as  he  explained,  in  the 
interest  of  free  and  fearless  investigation,  of  which  he  was  a  life- 
long champion.  In  the  drama  of  "Nathan  the  Wise,"  he  sought  to 
commend  and  illustrate  the  idea  that  the  creed  is  of  little  moment, 
provided  there  is  a  spirit  of  tolerance  and  charity.  In  his  essay 
on  the  "  Education  of  Humanity,"  he  presented  the  theory  that 
historical  religious,  even  Christianity,  are  provisional  anticipations 
of  truth,  which,  in  process  of  time,  becomes  evident  to  reason.  The 
form  in  which  they  clothe  this  truth  must  be  distinguished  by  a 
critical  examination  from  the  substantial  contents.  The  religious 
ideas  of  Lessing  are  best  expressed  in  this  very  suggestive  book, 
but  it  is  doubtful  whether  he  ever  reached  in  his  thought  conclu- 
sions which  he  regarded  as  final.  The  gospel  of  indifterentism, 
which  was  expounded  in  "Nathan  the  Wise,"  attracted  to  itself 
numerous  discij)les. 

The  era  of  the  Rationalistic  criticism  of  the  Bible  and  of  early 

Christian  history  was  opened  by  Semler  (1725-1791).     The  work 

of  scientific  criticism  in  these  departments  had  been 

Period  of  Ba-  -,■,,■,  ■  ,•         ••  -r-i- 

tionaiistic  commenccd  by  the  eminent  Arminian  scholars,  Episco- 
j)ius,  Wettstein,  Le  Clerc,  and  others.  Semler  was  a 
professor  at  Halle.  He  drew  a  distinct  line  between  religion  and 
theology.  He  challenged,  on  a  multitude  of  points,  the  traditional  ^ 
assumptions  respecting  the  origin  of  the  books  of  the  Bible  and  the 
con-ectness  of  the  text,  and  called  in  question  received  views  con- 
cerning the  early  history  of  the  Church.  His  joropositions  were 
often  rash  and  untenable,  but  a  lively  curiosity  in  all  these  prov- 
inces of  inquiry  was  awakened  in  the  German  universities.  There 
were  scholars  who  were  still  orthodox,  but  with  a  decided  leaven 
of  liberalism,  whose  theology,  however,  had  in  it  little  of  the 
warmth  of  life.  Such  were  John  David  Michaelis  (1717-1791),  a 
learned  Orientalist  at  Gottingen,  and  John  Lawrence  Mosheim  (c. 
1694-1755),  a  faithful  and  erudite  student  of  Church  history,  and 
the  author  of  meritorious  writings  in  this  branch,  as  well  as  a 
preacher  of  note  in  his  day'.  Griesbach  (1745-1812)  gave,  at  Jena, 
an  example  of  boldness  before  unknown  in  the  textual  criticism  of 
the  New  Testament.  Eichhorn  (1752-1827)  lectured  three  hours 
a  day  for  fifty-two  years,  first  at  Jena  and  then  at  Gottiugen,  bring- 


022  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  "WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

ing  forward  fruitful  suggestions  in  biblical  criticism,  mingling 
with  them  numerous  opinions  having  no  adequate  ground,  and  pro- 
fessin"-  doubts  and  jDroblems,  in  the  solution  of  which  many  a  con- 
scientious student  spent  his  lifetime.  In  his  "Introduction  to  the 
Old  Testament,"  he  brought  forward  the  theory  that  Genesis  is 
composed  of  two  documents,  in  one  of  which  the  name  of  God  is 
Elohim,  and  in  the  other,  Jehovah.  By  these  marks  the  parallel 
narratives  are  distinguished  from  one  another.  SjDinoza  had  haz- 
arded the  assertion  that  the  Pentateuch  was  not  written  by  Moses. 
The  documentary  hypothesis  relative  to  Genesis,  of  which  book 
Moses  was  still  conceived  to  be  the  editor,  was  propounded  first  by 
Astruc,  a  learned  French  physician  (1684-1766).  Taken  up  by 
Eichhorn,  it  led  the  way  to  the  subsequent  discussion  respecting 
the  authorship  of  the  Pentateuch  and  of  Joshua,  in  which  De 
Wette,  Bleek,  Ewald,  Hupfeld,  and,  more  recently,  Kuenen,  Graf, 
Keuss,  and  Wellhausen,  are  among  the  eminent  particiiDants.  But 
this  was  only  one  of  the  problems  which  Eichhorn  left  for  his  suc- 
cessors to  solve.  In  this  period  lived  Herder  (1744-1803),  court- 
preacher  at  Weimar,  but  better  known  as  a  man  of  letters  and  a 
stimulating  author  on  historical  and  theological  topics.  Belonging 
to  no  school,  he  was  able,  by  his  insight  and  poetic  feeling,  to 
awaken  a  deep  and  appreciative  interest  in  the  Scriptures  from  a 
point  of  view  to  which  contemporary  writers  were  strangers.  His 
inspiring  suggestions  wei'e  of  much  value,  even  though  the  sesthetic 
impulse  was  predominant  in  his  theological  writings — for  examj)le, 
in  his  "  Spirit  of  Hebrew  Poetry  " — but  he  was  not  very  definite  in 
his  grasp  of  the  essential  doctrines  of  the  gospel. 

We  come  now  to  the  era  of  the  Critical  Philosophy  and  of  the 
systems  of  theology  that  were  built  upon  it.  Immanuel  Kant 
The  Kanti  n  (l''24-1804)  was  "  rouscd  from  his  dogmatic  slumber  "  by 
philosophy  the  skepticism  of  Hume.  He  set  out,  in  his  "Critique  of 
the  Pure  Reason,"  to  analyze  the  knowing  faculty  and  to 
point  out  what  is  contributed,  in  the  stock  of  knowledge,  by  the 
mind  itself  in  distinction  fi*om  the  outward  world.  He  demon- 
strated thai  the  ideas  of  cause,  substance,  etc.,  are  necessary  and 
universal ;  they  spring  up  within  us,  and  are  not  imparted  from 
without.  But  in  this  analysis  he  found  no  ground  for  asserting 
their  reality  as  objects  exterior  to  the  mind.  What  they  make 
known  is  the  mechanism  of  the  understanding.  Moreover,  the 
ideas  of  God,  of  the  freedom  of  the  will,  of  self  as  a  substantial 
reahty,  are,  to  be  sure,  suggested  by  the  reason  as  distinguished 
from  the  understanding,  but  they  cannot  be  grasped  and  reasoned 


1C48-18S7.]  THE  HISTORY   OF  DOCTRINE.  623 

upon  without  our  being  caught  in  a  mesh  of  contradictions.  They 
are  simply  ideas,  having  a  regulative  office  for  our  thoughts,  bind- 
ing them  together  in  unity.  They  serve  to  give  harmony  to  the 
mental  vrorld  within  us.  This  was  a  refutation  of  Hume,  but  it 
was  an  organization  of  skepticism  in  a  new  fox-m.  In  his  "  Critique 
of  the  Practical  Keason,"  Kant  rescued  the  truths  which  had  thus 
been  surrendered.  They  are  verified  by  our  moral  nature.  We 
are  conscious  of  the  moral  law  as  an  impei-ative  mandate  binding 
on  the  will,  in  contravention  of  the  desires  which  have  respect  to 
happiness.  Thus  we  are  assured  of  the  freedom  of  the  will.  Of 
the  being  of  God,  the  moral  Ruler,  we  are  justly  convinced  by  the 
need  that  duty  and  personal  happiness  should  be  made  to  coincide. 
For  a  like  reason  we  infer  the  immortality  of  the  soul.  God,  free- 
dom, and  immortality  were  thus  the  thi-ee  articles  in  the  Kantian 
theological  creed.  Religion  was  defined  to  be  the  recognition  of 
our  duties  as  Divine  commands.  The  ethical  law  is  that  we  shall 
act  in  such  a  way  that  the  act  may  be  generalized  into  a  maxim, 
and  thus  bring  no  contradiction  into  the  will.  Virtue  has  worth 
only  so  far  as  the  motive  is  obedience  to  the  law  of  conscience. 
Christianity  was  said  to  have  no  other  function  or  value  than  as  an 
aid  to  morality.  Hence  the  ethical  element  of  the  gospel  was  mag- 
nified. The  supernatural  features  of  the  gospel  record  were  to  be 
explained  away  by  a  flexible  method  of  interpretation.  Historical 
or  "  statutory  "  religion  was  a  crutch  for  the  feeble,  which  the  strong 
might  discard. 

The  moral  earnestness  of  Kant,  which  gave  a  tone  of  dignity  and 
elevation  to  his  philosophical  system,  made  a  favorable  impres- 
Naturaiistic  sion  ou  a  class  of  theologians.  They  sought  to  eliminate 
Rationalism,  gupematuralism  from  the  Scriptures  by  devices  of  inter- 
pretation. Much  use  was  made  of  the  idea  of  accommodation.  Jesus 
and  his  apostles,  it  was  held,  indulged  the  Jews  in  numerous  en-ors 
of  belief  which  were  harmless,  yet  too  deeply  planted  for  them  to 
eradicate.  Paulus  (1761-1851),  professor  at  Heidelberg,  carried 
through  the  Bible  the  naturalistic  method  of  explanation,  which 
referred  the  narratives  of  miracles  to  an  unconscious  exaggeration 
on  the  part  of  the  witnesses — a  theory  corresponding  to  that  of 
Euhemerus  in  relation  to  the  heathen  tales  of  the  gods.  To  help 
out  this  hypothesis,  an  extraordinai-y  knowledge  of  remedies  for 
disease,  and  a  remarkable  psychical  influence,  were  ascribed  to 
Christ.  Such  theologians  as  Wegscheider  (1771-1849)  resolved 
the  gospel  into  a  system  of  natural  theism  and  of  exalted  ethical 
precepts.     Preachers  there  were,   like  the   celebrated  Reinhard 


Q24  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

(1753-1812),  who,  while  they  conceded  much  to  the  new  philosoph- 
ical theology,  still  upheld  the  leading  doctrines  of  the  Reformation. 
In  opposition  to  the  Kantian  Rationalism,  Jacobi  (1743-1819) 
propounded  a  philosoj)hy  which  made  God,  freedom,  and  the  future 

life  the  objects  of  an  immediate  belief.  This  instinctive 
phyonS-"  faith,  which  is  founded  in  a  necessity  of  feehng,  he 
ing;  Jacobi.  ^gj.jjjg(j  an  act  of  reason — thus  widening  the  functiT)n  of 
the  faculty  to  which  Kant  had  given  this  name.  The  fervid  and 
eloquent  writings  of  Jacobi  strongly  affected  the  educated  class. 
This  reaction  was  powerfully  reinforced  by  a  teacher  of  masterly 
ability,  by  whom  a  new  era  in  evangelical  theology  was  founded, 

Frederick  Schleiermacher.  In  his  system  of  doctrine,  the 
mfchCTr  sphere  of  dogmatic  theology,  which  is  made  to  be  a  for- 
1708-1834.  Ululated  expression  of  the  consciousness  of  the  Church 
at  any  given  time,  is  limited  to  an  analysis  of  the  Christian's  inward 
religious  experience.  Religion  is  defined  to  be  the  feeling  of  ab- 
solute dependence.  The  correlate  in  God  of  this  feeling  is  original 
causal  agency,  into  which  his  attributes,  as  far  as  they  are  disclosed 
to  us,  are  merged  and  resolved.  Christian  piety  is  that  piety  which 
is  conscious  of  itself  as  an  effect  of  the  Redeemer's  influence.  Sin 
is  the  control  of  the  flesh  over  the  spirit — the  same  in  the  first 
man  as  in  us.  Redemption  is  the  reversal  of  this  relation,  the 
victory  of  the  spirit  over  the  flesh.  This  is  wrought  out  in  Christ 
by  his  conquest  over  temptation  and  the  extremity  of  trial,  and 
is  imparted  to  all  who  attach  themselves  to  him  in  trustful  de- 
pendence. They  become  partakers  of  his  holiness  and  of  his 
peace.  Sin  is  in  them  a  vanishing  element,  and  physical  evil,  its 
penalty,  vanishes  with  it.  In  his  idea  of  the  Saviour's  person, 
Schleiermacher  falls  below  the  orthodox  conception.  Christ  is  said 
to  realize  in  himself  the  ideal  of  humanity ;  in  his  consciousness, 
the  perfection  of  fellowship  with  God.  This  life  of  spiritual  union 
to  God  goes  forth  from  him  to  the  society  of  believers.  Schleier- 
macher's  theory  of  the  Trinity  is  Sabellian.  Expiation,  in  the 
ordinary  sense,  is  not  admitted.  Restorationism  is  maintained. 
The  entire  system  is  tinged  with  a  pantheistic  mode  of  thought, 
which  is  partly  caught  from  Spinoza.  Notwithstanding  these  feat- 
ures, Schleiermacher's  theology,  besides  the  marvellous  symmetry 
and  logical  coherence  that  belong  to  it,  contains  many  thoughts  so 
profound  and  so  truly  Christian,  and  awards  so  high — even  if  it  be 
too  exclusive — a  place  to  feeling,  which  the  Kantians  had  almost  ex- 
pelled from  religion,  that  it  was  welcomed  as  a  well  of  water  in  a 
desert.    With  Schleiermacher  there  began  a  new  direction  of 


1648-1887.]  THE  HISTORY  OF  DOCTRINE.  626 

theological  thought,  a  new  constiniction  of  Christian  doctrine.  His 
labors  as  a  preacher,  as  a  philosopher — he  translated  all  the  writ- 
ings of  Plato — and  as  a  teacher,  mark  a  new  epoch  in  the  history 
of  theology. 

Before  tracing  the  effects  of  Schleiermacher's  influence,  it  is 
requisite  to  point  out  the  course  which  philosophy  took,  owing,  in 
r„.  ^  ..  V^^^y  to  certain  elements  in  the  system  of  Kant.  A  suc- 
isticphiios-  ccssiou  of  Pantheistic  philosophers  entered  on  a  field  of 
speculation  which  fascinated  many  minds.  This  move- 
ment began  with  Fichte  and  Schelling,  and  culminated  in  the 
elaborate  system  of  pantheism  of  which  Hegel  (1770-1831)  was  the 
author.  The  personality  of  both  God  and  man  was  lost  in  this 
evolution  of  all  things  from  the  Absolute.  The  universe  was  identi- 
fied with  a  self-developing  series  of  concepts  emanating  one  from 
another  by  an  inward  necessity.  Religion  was  defined  as  the  con- 
sciousness of  the  finite  being  of  its  identity  with  the  infinite. 
Strange  to  say,  Hegel  Claimed  that  his  system  was  in  accord  with  the 
Christian  faith.  Christianity,  it  was  said,  expressed,  in  a  popular 
style,  the  truth,  which  he  had  set  forth  in  the  pure  and  exact  form 
of  science.  By  this  pretension,  in  which  the  founder  of  the  sys- 
tem was  not  insincere,  some  Christian  theologians  were  beguiled 
into  an  approval  of  the  new  philosophy.  The  hope  was  indulged 
that  Christianity  had  now,  at  last,  received  a  full  and  final  vindi- 
cation. This  pleasing  hope  was  soon  dispelled  by  the  fruits  in 
the  domain  of  theology  which  were  borne  upon  this  promising 
tree. 

David  Frederic  Strauss,  in  1835,  published  his  "Life  of  Jesus," 
which  was  built  up  on  Hegelian  principles.  It  created  a  commo- 
stiausB  tion  throughout  Germany,  not  to  speak  of  its  effect  in 

1808-1874.  other  Christian  countries.  Strauss  brought  fon\-ard  the 
mythical  theory  for  explaining  the  origin  of  the  narratives  of  mir- 
acles in  the  New  Testament.  This  theory  had  been  adopted  under 
the  auspices  of  Niebuhr,  in  reference  to  early  Roman  histoiy.  It 
had  been  applied  by  some  to  a  portion  of  the  Old  Testament  rec- 
ords. The  stories  of  miracles  related  by  the  Evangelists  were 
said  by  Strauss  to  be  the  product  of  unconscious  invention  in 
circles  of  early  Galilean  converts,  cut  off  from  the  direct  influence 
of  the  apostles.  Such  disciples  imagined  a  series  of  events  corre- 
sponding to  Old  Testament  prophecies  of  the  Messiah,  and  in  im- 
itation of  like  occurrences  in  the  biblical  accounts  given  of  the 
ancient  prophets.  Strauss  had  to  assume  the  existence  of  bodies  of 
disciples  thus  removed  from  apostolic  guidance,  and  at  leisure  to 
40 


626  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Peeiod  IX. 

brood  over  the  life  of  Jesus  and  the  Old  Testament  predictions. 
He  did  not  attempt  to  show,  what  his  theory  necessarily  implies 

that  the  first  preaching  of  Christianity  and  the  four  Gospels 

emanated,  not  from  the  apostles  and  their  pupils,  but  from  this 
secluded  class,  whose  existence,  moreover,  is  a  pure  fancy.  But  he 
did  make  the  attempt  to  invalidate  the  testimony  of  the  Evangelists, 
by  convicting  them  of  numberless  discrepancies  and  errors.  His 
method,  however  effective  against  a  certain  style  of  artificial  har- 
monizing, was  that  of  a  sophistical  advocate,  and  would,  if  fol- 
lowed in  historical  researches,  destroy  the  trustworthiness  of  the 
testimony  on  which  secular  history — acknowledged  by  everybody 
as  authentic — depends  for  credence. 

Strauss  was  an  adept  in  the  literary  art.  Still,  his  work  failed 
to  give  satisfaction,  even  to  his  master,  Ferdinand  Christian  Baur 
The  Tubingen  (1792-1860),  professor  at  Tubingen,  and  the  founder  of 
school.  the  Tubingen  school  of  historical  criticism.     Baur  was 

affected  to  his  hurt  by  the  Hegelian  bias,  but  he  was  a  man  of 
large  resources  of  learning,  of  indefatigable  indvistry,  and  of  high 
constructive  talent.  To  him  Christianity  was  a  natural  growth, 
but  he  saw  the  necessity  of  definite  and  consistent  views  resj)ecting 
the  documentary  evidence — that  is,  the  New  Testament  writings, 
and  a  clear  notion  of  the  steps  of  progress  through  which,  in  the 
formative  period,  Christianity  j)assed.  All  this  was  missing  in 
Strauss's  book.  Baur  started  with  the  assumption  of  an  absolute 
conflict  between  the  two  Apostles,  Paul  and  Peter,  and  between 
their  respective  adherents.  He  built  much  on  tlie  first  Gospel,  on 
the  Apocalypse,  and  on  the  four  princiijal  epistles  of  Paul,  the  only 
New  Testament  Books  which  he  conceded  to  be  genuine.  Most  of 
the  New  Testament  writings  were  considered  by  him  to  be  written 
for  a  doctrinal  purpose,  either  to  reconcile  the  antagonistic  parties, 
or  as  representing  different  stages  in  the  development  of  Christian 
belief  and  speculation.  Most  of  them  he  pronounced  to  be  post- 
apostolic.  The  primitive  gospel  was  Ebionitic ;  it  went  through  a 
series  of  modifications,  according  to  the  principle  of  the  Hegelian 
logic — where  "thesis"  and  "antithesis"  are  followed  by  "synthesis," 
or  a  higher  unity — until  we  arrive  at  Nicene  orthodoxy.  But  even 
Baur  ventured  not  to  offer  any  explanation  of  the  faith  of  the 
apostles  in  the  resurrection  of  Jesus,  or  of  the  conversion  of  Paul 
on  the  road  to  Damascus,  which  he  does  not  hesitate  to  call  a 
miracle  (Wuuder).  On  the  list  of  the  advocates  of  the  Tubingen 
critical  theories,  who  were  taught  by  Baur,  are  the  names  of  Zel- 
ler — who  is  better  known  in  later  times  as  a  philosopher — Hilgen- 


1648-1SS7.]  THE  HISTORY  OP   DOCTRINE.  627 

ielcl,  and  Volkmar.  In  a,  popular  "  Lifo  of  Jesus,"  Strauss  sub- 
sequently endeavored  to  rescue  himself  by  reversing  Lis  definition 
of  a  myth,  bringing  into  it  an  element  of  conscious  invention.  In 
this  production  he  turned  with  favor  to  a  philosophy  verging  on 
.materialism. 

The  earlier  work  of  Strauss  called  out  numerous  answers.  One 
may  be  named,  as  being  of  extraordinary  merit.  It  was  the  "Life 
Kepiiea  to  ^^  Jesus  "  by  Noaudcr,  a  historian  who  could  distinguish 
Strauss.  Hying  Christianity  from  traditional  accretions,  was  fet- 

tered by  no  bondage  to  the  letter,  but  held  firmly  to  the  car- 
dinal facts,  including  the  miracles,  and  the  essential  doctrines,  of 
the  gospel.  The  same  spirit  which  pervades  this  biography  of  the 
Lord  he  carried  into  the  composition  of  other  works,  of  which 
his  "General  History  of  the  Church"  is  the  most  important. 
These  volumes,  together  with  the  learned  and  accurate  work  of 
Gieseler  on  the  same  subject,  are  the  most  valuable  productions  in 
a  dejDartment  to  which  the  Germans  of  late  have  richly  contrib- 
uted. The  questions  raised  by  Baur  and  his  pupils  have  led  to  a 
long-continued  and  fruitful  discussion. 

Very  active  in  the  combat  with  the  modern  phases  of  unbelief 
were  that  class  of  German  theologians  who  are  ranked  with  the 
^,   ^  .^     ,    Liberal  Evangelical  school.      Most  of   them   received  a 

The  Liberal  .  ^ 

Evangelical  stroug  lufluence  from  Schleiermacher ;  yet  they  have 
deviated  from  his  opinions,  sometimes  very  widely,  and 
generally  in  a  conservative  direction.  To  many  he  served  as  a 
bridge  over  which  to  pass  from  a  region  of  barren  negations  to 
beliefs  more  accordant  with  the  general  faith  of  the  Church  than 
be  himself  cherished.  Rejecting  the  traditional  formulas  of  in- 
spiration, they  have  still  adhered  to  the  Protestant  principle  that 
the  Scriptures  are  the  rule  of  faith.  They  were  friends  of  the 
Union  established  in  1817  by  the  Prussian  Government,  and  by 
some  of  the  other  German  governments,  between  the  Lutherans 
and  Calvinists.  They  generally  took  their  stand  on  the  consensus 
of  the  two  confessions,  the  essentials  of  belief  which  were  common 
to  both  branches  of  the  Protestant  family.  To  this  school,  with 
many  diiferences  among  themselves,  belong  Nitzsch,  Twesten, 
Julius  Miillei',  Kothe,  Dorner — names  eminent  in  connection  with 
the  branches  of  dogmatic  theology  and  ethics  ;  the  historians 
Neander  and  Hagenbach  ;  the  esegetical  scholars  Liicke,  Tholuck, 
Bleek.  The  New  Testament  scholar,  Meyer,  was  less  in  sympathy 
with  Schleiermacher,  and  more  wedded  to  Lutheran  theology, 
but,  in  his  views  of  the  Scriptures  and  his  principles  of  criticism, 


Q2S  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Pekiod  IX. 

was  of  the  same  school.  De  Wette  and  Hupfelcl,  critics  and  exe- 
getical  scholars,  went  further  in  the  direction  of  opinions  considered 
rationalistic  ;  as  did  Ewald,  a  writer  allied  to  no  party,  whose 
"History  of  the  Old  Testament  People"  is  a  monument  of  real 
genius,  of  j^rofound  scholarship,  and  of  sincere  piety,  but  is  seri- 
ously marred  by  intolerant  and  sometimes  eccentric  judgments. 
An  independent  position  was  held  by  Hase,  a  writer  in  Church 
history  of  masterly  ability  and  sound  learning.  Among  the  theo- 
loo'ians  who  were  averse  to  the  union  of  the  two  confessions,  there 
were  those  who  adhered,  with  different  degrees  of  strictness,  to  the 
Lutheran  creed,  and  a  less  number  who  professed  their  continued 
adhesion  to  the  Calvinistic  system. 

The  fertility  of  the  German  mind,  is  illustrated  in  the  recent 
appearance  of  a  new  school  of  theological  opinion,  which  owes  its 
origin  to  Albert  Ritschl.  In  his  youth,  Eitschl  was  at- 
tached to  the  school  of  Baur,  but  this  he  early  aban- 
doned, and  traversed  its  main  points  in  a  meritorious  woi'k  on  the 
origin  of  Christianity,  "The  Old  Catholic  Church."  More  recently, 
in  an  elaborate  work  on  Justification,  he  has  propounded  views  of 
doctrine,  which  have  given  rise  to  much  controversy.  The  term 
"just"  or  "righteous,"  as  he  thinks,  is  used  by  Paul,  not  in  the 
classical  or  judicial  sense,  but  in  the  broader.  Old  Testament  sig- 
nification of  the  words,  in  which  an  element  of  benevolence  is  in- 
cluded. The  "  righteousness  "  of  God  denotes  his  consistent  pur- 
pose and  procedure  in  the  work  of  saving  his  people.  Christ,  who 
is  fully  conscious  of  the  eternal  purpose  of  love,  carries  out  that 
purpose  in  founding,  and  conducting  to  its  goal,  the  kingdom  of 
the  redeemed.  His  death  has  no  penal  character,  but  in  it  is  per- 
fected and  evinced  his  absolute  fidelity  to  his  divine  calling.  The 
forgiven  sinner,  by  entering  into  the  kingdom  of  Christ's  followers, 
becomes  a  partaker  of  his  filial  relation  to  the  Father.  Christ  is 
pronounced  to  be  divine  and  an  object  of  worship,  yet  preexistent 
only  in  the  redeeming  purpose  of  God.  By  the  opponents  of 
Ritschl — Luthardt  and  others — his  doctrine  is  deemed  inconsistent 
with  the  true  and  proper  divinity  of  Jesus,  as  well  as  with  ortho- 
dox ideas  of  the  atonement. 

Among  the  foremost  expositors  of  Calvinism  in  Great  Britain, 
in  the  present  century,  is  the  Baptist  theologian,  Andrew  Fuller 
Fuller  (1754-1815),  who,  in  this  department,  holds  among  the 

Baptists,  a  place  as  high  as  that  of  Robert  Hall  as  a 
preacher,  and  that  of  John  Foster  (1770-1843)  as  an  author  of 
profound  essays — the  essay  on  "  Decision  of  Character  "  being  one 


1648-1887.]  THE  HISTORY  OF  DOCTRINE.  629 

of  the  best.     In  Scotland,  Chalmers,  in  his  lectures  on  theology, 
Chalmers        ^^^®  Fuller,  shows  the  influence  of  Jonathan  Edwards 

on  his  conceptions  of  doctrine.  Since  Chalmers,  WilHam 
Cunningham  (1805-18G1),  and  Robert  S.  Caudhsh  (180G-1873), 
not  to  speak  of  other  teachers  and  authors  among  the  living,  have 
written  important  works  on  systematic  theology.    In  the  Methodist 

denomination,  no  work  has  hitherto  been  produced  more 

thorough  and  elaborate  than  the  "Institutes  of  Theol- 
ogy" by  Eichard  Watson  (1781-1833). 

In  English   theology,   a  distinctive   and  permanent  influence 
emanated  from  Coleridge,  justly  characterized  by  De  Quincey  as  a 

man  of   "most  spacious  intellect."     Unfortunately,  he 

Samuel  Tay-  ^  •" 

lor  Coleridge,  lacked  an  energy  of  will  proportioned  to  his  intellectual 
gifts.  He  was  at  once  a  true  poet  and  a  philosopher  of 
rare  insight.  Versed  in  the  systems  of  Kant,  Jacobi,  and  Schel- 
ling,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  draw  from  these  German  sources  what- 
ever was  congenial  with  his  own  meditations.  Over  barren  places 
in  English  theology  he  poured  a  fertilizing  stream  of  original 
thought.  His  ideas  and  opinions  are  scattered  in  fragmentary 
form  through  his  numerous  writings.  As  regards  theology,  they 
make,  in  the  "Aids  to  Eeflection,"  the  nearest  approach  to  the 
character  of  a  system.  Coleridge  insisted  on  the  distinction  be- 
tween nature  and  spirit.  Nature  is  a  realm  where  the  law  of  cause 
and  effect  reigns.  In  the  domain  of  sj)irit,  there  is  self-determina- 
tion and  self-consciousness.  Another  cardinal  point  is  the  distinc- 
tion between  reason  and  understanding.  Reason  is  the  faculty  of 
intuitions  with  regard  to  things  above  sense.  Reason  is  the 
*'  mind's  eye,"  through  which  realities  above  sense  are  immediately 
discerned.  The  existence  of  God  is  presupposed  in  the  human 
conscience  :  hence,  it  is  our  duty  to  beHeve  in  him.  The  proofs 
of  Christianity  are  internal  and  moral.  Coleridge  has  little  sym- 
pathy with  the  school  of  Paley,  in  which  miracles  are  the  main 
ground  of  Christian  belief.  Faith  in  Christ  precedes  a  doctrine  re- 
specting the  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures,  a  subject  on  which  Cole- 
ridge advanced  new  views,  to  be  noticed  hereafter.  He  opposes 
the  Arminian  theory  of  original  sin,  and  assumes  a  timeless  choice 
of  evil  by  the  individual,  as  the  basis  of  conscious  character  and 
actions.  The  different  theories  of  the  atonement  are  traced  re- 
spectively to  figurative  representations,  in  Scripture,  each  of  these 
theories  choosing  one  of  the  figures — ransom,  satisfaction  of  a 
debt,  etc.— for  its  groundwork.  The  reality  of  the  atonement  is  a 
mysterious  act  or  work  of  Christ,  the  effect  of  which  is  regenera- 


630  FROM  THE  PEACE  OP  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

tiou,  having  for  its  consequence  deliverance  from  sin  and  its  penal 
results. 

No  movement  in  English  theology  in  the  present  century  equals 
in  importance  the  rise  of  the  Tractariau  school  at  Oxford,  or  of  the 

party  commonly  designated  as  Puseyites.  It  drew  sup- 
Traotarian      port  from  that  newly-awatened  sympathy  with  the  life 

of  the  middle  ages,  which  the  romances  of  Scott  ex- 
pressed and  fostered.  Its  founders  were  John  Henry  Newman, 
John  Keble,  and  a  few  other  fellows  of  Oriel  College.  It  acquired 
a  distinct  being  about  the  year  1830.  Keble,  the  poet  of  the 
school,  pubHshed  "  The  Christian  Year  "  in  1827.  In  1833,  New- 
man and  Keble  were  joined  by  Edward  Bouverie  Pusey.  His  high 
academic,  as  well  as  social  position,  caused  his  name  to  be  attached 
to  the  party.  The  life  and  soul  of  the  movement  was  Newman,  a  man 
of  astonishing  subtlety  of  genius,  and  in  style  one  of  the  most  cap- 
tivating authors  of  his  time.  When  Pusey  became  the  leader, 
Newman  and  his  associates  had  begun  the  publication  of  the  "Tracts 
for  the  Times,"  in  which  their  doctrines  and  aims  were  set  forth  in 
a  way  to  attract  in  England  universal  attention.  Puseyism  was  a 
protest  against  the  growing  liberalism  which  appeared,  politically, 
in  the  measures  leading  to  the  Eeform  Bill,  and  theologically,  in 
the  spread  of  latitudinarian  opinions.  It  was  a  protest  against 
the  Erastian  princi^Dle  whereby  the  Church  was  governed  by  the 
State.  It  was  a  revival  of  the  Angio-Catholic  system,  which  involved 
not  only  an  emphatic  assertion  of  apostolic  succession,  but  also 
high  ideas  of  sacramental  grace  in  general,  and  a  view  of  the  Real 
Presence,  which  was  denied  to  be  transubstantiation,  although 
Pusey  said  later  that  it  was  "probably  a  dispute  about  words." 
A  middle  way — a  via  media — was  sought  between  the  Church  of 
Eome  and  the  Pi-otestant  bodies.  Pusey,  who  was  Canon  of  Christ 
Church,  was  suspended  from  preaching,  in  1843,  on  account  of  a 
sermon  delivered  by  him  on  the  Euchai'ist.  This  circumstance  in- 
cx-eased  his  celebrity.  Pusey  vindicated  tradition  as  a  source  of 
doctrine,  and  held  to  the  authoritative  character  of  doctrinal  deci- 
sions made  by  councils  prior  to  the  division  of  the  Eastern  and 
Western  Churches.  To  bring  to  pass  a  union  of  the  prelatical 
bodies — the  Churches  of  Rome,  of  the  East,  and  of  England — was 
a  cherished  aim  of  his  party.  Newman,  not  able  to  satisfy  himself 
with  a  position  midway  between  Luther  and  Rome — even  under 
the  Romanizing  construction  for  which,  in  tract  number  90,  he 
tried  to  find  room  even  in  the  Thirty-nine  Articles — entered  the 
Roman  communion.     His  own  account  of  the  progress  of  bis  men- 


1648-1887.]  THE  HISTORY  OF  DOCTRINE.  631 

tal  history  is  presented  in  the  religious  autobiography,  the  "Apo- 
logia pro  Vita  sua."  There  were  not  a  few  other  converts  from  the 
Traetarian  school  to  the  Papal  Church.  Among  them  was  Faber, 
an  eloquent  preacher  and  gifted  hymn-writer,  and  Manning,  after- 
ward archbishop  and  cardinal.  The  Oxford  school,  whatever 
faults  belonged  to  it,  infused  a  new  Hfe  into  the  services  of  the 
Established  Church,  revived  a  purer  taste  in  church  architecture, 
and  promoted  the  study  of  Church  history. 

The  Puseyites  proved  the  most  active  branch  of  the  High  Church 
party.  Another  and  older  division  clung  to  apostolical  succes- 
sion and  the  transmission  of  grace  in  the  Episcopal 
the  High  Order,  but  set  a  higher  value  on  the  Establishment,  and 
y.  ^^.^  ^^^  sympathize  with  other  peculiarities  of  the  Ox- 
ford school.  The  Eitualists  sought  to  modify  the  ceremonies  of 
worship  in  order  to  set  them  in  accord  with  the  doctrine  of  the 
Real  Presence,  and  cognate  dogmatic  views  of  the  Traetarian 
party.  In  these  approaches  to  the  ritual  of  the  Church  of  Eome 
Pusey  felt  no  interest,  but  he  was  ready  to  defend  the  clergymen 
who,  on  account  of  them,  were  prosecuted  in  the  courts  of  law. 
He  remained  a  steadfast  adversary  of  liberaHsm  and  rationalism 
in  theology.  In  the  "Essays  and  Eeview3"were  published  col- 
lections of  papers  by  Anglican  clergymen,  in  some  of  which  ration- 
alistic opinions  of  an  advanced  type  were  advocated.  Pusey  was 
active  in  the  effort  to  convict  the  authors  of  heresy.  The  verdict 
of  the  legal  tribunal,  which  decided  that  a  clergyman  of  the  Eng- 
lish Church  was  not  required  by  the  Articles  to  believe  and  teach 
the  doctrine  of  endless  punishment,  had  the  effect  to  weaken  still 
more  the  attachment  of  the  Puseyite  party  to  the  union  of  Church 
and  State. 

The  Broad  Church  party  has  naturally  comprised  in  it  many 
varieties  of  temperament  and  opinion.  It  might  be  considered  a 
The  Broad  continuauce  or  revival  of  the  Latitudinarian  school  of 
Church  party,  ^j^g  seventeenth  century.  A  desire  to  make  the  Estab- 
lished Church  as  comprehensive  as  possible,  and  to  make  it  really 
the  Church  of  the  nation,  has  been  accompanied  by  a  greater  or 
less  departure  from  the  dogmatic  views  usually  entertained.  The 
Broad  Church  party,  in  several  of  its  modern  phases,  may  be 
traced  back  to  the  influence  of  Coleridge.  The  idea  of  compre- 
hension and  the  denial  of  the  tenet  of  apostolic  succession  were 
The  Earlier  prominent  in  the  writings  of  a  class  of  divines  who  have 
Oriel  school.  ^^^^  termed  the  Earlier  Oriel  school,  in  distinction 
Irom  the  Tractarians,  several  of  whom  were  attached  to  the  same 


g32  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Pebiod  IS. 

college,  but  rose  to  influence  a  little  later.  Of  this  earlier  school, 
Richard  "Whateley  (1787-1863),  afterwards  Archbishop  of  Dublin, 
and  Thomas  Arnold  (1795-1842),  who  became  the  master  of  Rugby 
School,  were  distinguished  leaders.  The  position  relative  to  the 
Church  and  the  function  of  prelates  in  Whateley 's  book  on  "The 
Kingdom  of  Christ"  is  the  antipode  of  that  taken  by  the  Ox- 
ford School.  Arnold  was  an  advocate  of  Hooker's  theory  of  the 
identity  of  Church  and  State.  As  a  biblical  critic  and  interpreter, 
he  used  a  freedom  not  consistent  with  the  traditional  formulas  of  in- 
spiration, which  he  did  not  accept.  Arnold  and  Whateley  contended 
strenuously  against  all  the  distinctive  Puseyite  doctrines.  Neither  of 
them  would  shut  the  door  against  innovations  in  theology ;  but  they 
were  not  inclined  to  religious  speculation  or  to  mystical  thought. 
In  this  they  differed  widely  from  Frederick  Denison  Maurice  (1805- 
1872),  the  author  of  "The  Kingdom  of  Christ,"  "Theological 
Essays,"  not  to  -speak  of  many  other  works  from  his  pen  on  themes 
of  reUgion  and  philosophy.  Maurice  exerted  a  powerful  influence 
in  diffusuig  a  more  spiritual  type  of  Broad  Church  the- 
Broad  Church  ology.  Milmau,  Dean  of  St.  Paul's,  the  most  eminent 
party.  ^^  reccnt  English  authors  in  ecclesiastical  history ;  Arch- 

deacon Julius  Hare,  who  wrote  the  "Mission  of  the  Comforter;" 
Charles  Kingsley,  preacher,  poet,  and  novehst ;  F.  W.  Robertson, 
whose  sermons  are  among  the  ablest  and  most  original  products  of 
the  modern  pulpit;  Thirlwall,  a  bishop  of  solid  learning  and 
robust  intelligence  ;  Arthur  Stanley,  Dean  of  Westminster,  who  in- 
fused into  his  "  History  of  the  Jewish  Church,"  and  his  other  writ- 
ings, a  literary  charm  not  often  equalled,  were  classified  with  the 
Broad  Church  in  the  Anglican  body.  Beyond  the  pale  of  this 
body,  Thomas  Erskine,  of  Linlathen  (1788-1870),  by  his  books, 
and  still  more  by  his  conversation,  was  effective  in  promoting 
kindi-ed  tendencies  in  theological  belief. 

In  the  closing  years  of  the  last,  and  in  the  first  quarter  of  the 
present  century,  the  Low  Church,  or  "Evangelical  "  portion  of  this 
The  Low  Anglican  body,  rapidly  increased  in  numbers  and  influ- 
church  party,  qj^qq^  They  made  little  account  of  apostolic  succession, 
and  had  little  to  say  of  sacramental  grace.  Their  activity  was 
rather  in  the  sphere  of  practical  religion  than  of  theological  science. 
We  have  already  referred  to  the  most  prominent  leaders  of  the 
school  Among  their  preachers,  besides  Romaine  and  Newton,  were 
Robert  Cecil,  and  Thomas  Scott,  author  of  a  once  famous  Com- 
mentary. Among  the  laymen  connected  with  them,  as  we  have 
seen,  were  William  Wilberforce  an4  the  poet  Cowper.     After  the 


1648-1887.]  THE  HISTORY  OF  DOCTRINE.  633 

rise  of  the  Tractarian  and  Broad  Church  parties,  their  influence, 
although  still  strong,  was  relatively  diminished. 

We  have  now  to  glance  at  more  recent  discussions  in  philoso- 
phy and  theology.  The  most  eminent  teacher  of  the  Scottish 
The  Scottish  philosophy,  and  the  most  learned  of  that  school,  was  Sir 
phuosophy.  William  Hamilton  (1788-1856).  He  maintained  Reid's 
doctrine  of  an  immediate,  face-to-face  perception  of  the  external 
object.  He  held  that  we  cannot  conceive,  in  the  proper  sense,  of 
the  infinite — that  the  range  of  our  power  of  conception  lies  between 
two  extremes,  one  of  which,  however,  must  be  real.  We  cannot 
conceive  of  free-will,  which  would  involve  an  absolute  beginning,  nor 
can  we  conceive  of  the  opposite,  which  would  involve  an  infinite 
series  of  causes.  We  are  bound  to  believe  in  free-will  by  the  dic- 
tates of  om*  moral  nature.  On  the  same  foundation,  the  demand  of 
our  moral  nature,  our  faith  in  God,  reposes.  On  the  basis  of  this 
philosophy,  Mansel  (1820-1871),  in  his  "Limits  of  Religious 
Thought,"  endeavored  to  show  that  neither  dogmatic  theology  nor 
rationalism  has  any  solid  ground  to  rest  upon,  since  all  our  appre- 
hensions of  God  and  of  his  attributes  are  relative,  are  such  only  as 
finite  creatures  are  capable  of,  who  cannot  know  him  as  he  is  in 
himself.  The  philosophy  of  Hume  was  reproduced  by  John  Stuart 
J.  s.  Miu,  Mill,  who  accounts  for  intuitions  by  tracing  them  back 
1806-1873.  ^Q  impressions  which  are  derived  from  an  experience  that 
begins  in  infancy,  and  are  so  frequently  conjoined  as  to  seem  native 
to  the  mind.  Causation  he  made  to  be  another  name  for  the  in- 
variable association  of  phenomena,  by  which  an  expectation  as  to 
their  recurrence  is  created  that  is  delusively  thought  to  be  instinc- 
tive. In  his  later  writings  Mill  was  disposed  to  believe  in  a  form  of 
theism,  and  to  find  considerations  favorable  to  the  doctrine  of  a  fu- 
ture life.  In  connection  with  the  theory  of  evolution,  which,  as  pro- 
systemof  Her-  pouudcd  by  Barwin,  was  spreading  among  Naturalists, 
bert  Spencer,  jjerbert  Spcucer  constructed  a  general  system  of  phi- 
losophy. He  availed  himself  of  the  doctrine  of  Hamilton  and 
Mansel,  that  our  knowledge  is  relative.  Of  things  in  themselves, 
he  afiirmed,  we  know  nothing.  Behind  and  below  all  phenomena 
is  an  inscrutable  something,  of  which  we  have  a  vague  conscious- 
ness, and  which  is  termed  the  Unknowable.  Yet  power  is  ascribed 
to  this  infinite  something.  But  power,  in  itself  considered,  we 
cannot  know.  The  inference  is  that  theology  is  a  fiction.  If  the 
premises  are  accepted,  a  like  inference,  it  is  plain,  should  be  drawn 
in  relation  to  physical  and  natural  science.  Spencer's  system  in- 
volves a  large  profession  of  humility  as  to  the  capacity  of  the  human 


634  FROM  THE  PEACE  OP  WESTPHALIA.  [Pebiod  IX. 

mind.  It  is  an  unsuccessful  attempt  to  combine  Positivism  and 
Pantheism  in  a  consistent  system.  Spencer's  theory  as  to  the 
orio-in  of  religion  is,  that  it  begins  in  the  worship  of  ancestors. 
But  how  does  this  primitive  worship  arise?  There  must  be  a 
behef  that  the  dead  survive  ;  and  this  belief  is  acquired  by 
dreams  in  which  they  are  pi-esented  as  alive,  and  by  maladies 
like  insanity,  in  which  ghosts  seem  to  come  and  go.  The  relig- 
ions of  the  world  are  referred  to  these  and  like  delusions  of 
savage  progenitors. 

In  France,  the  sensualistic  and  materialistic  school  was  vic- 
toi'iously  assailed  by  a  school  of  philosophy,  spiritual  and  eclectic  in 
Eclecticism  ^^^  character,  of  which  Koyer-Collard  (1763-1845)  was 
in  France.  ^]^q  founder.  He  was  a  disciple  of  Reid.  The  work  that 
he  began  was  carried  forward  by  Victor  Cousin  (1792-1867)  and 
his  followers,  of  whom  Jouffroy  (1796-1842)  was  the  ablest.  Later, 
under  the  auspices  of  Auguste  Comte  (1798-1857)  the  grounds  of 
theism  were  once  more  attacked.  From  him  sprang  the  Positiv- 
ist  school.  He  taught  that  we  know  only  phenomena, 
osi  msm.  ^^  things  as  manifested  to  our  consciousness.  Of  ef- 
ficient or  final  causes  we  have  no  knowledge.  There  is  no  proof 
of  their  existence.  There  are  three  stages  of  thought,  the  mytho- 
logical, which  is  due  to  the  personifying  imagination ;  the  metaphysi- 
cal, which  resolves  divine  persons  into  substances  and  causes ;  and 
the  positivist,  which  lands  in  confessed  ignorance  of  aught  save 
facts,  to  be  arranged  according  to  their  degree  of  likeness  or  un- 
likeness,  and  in  chronological  order.  In  his  old  age,  having  by 
his  theory  abolished  religion,  Comte  sought  to  bring  it  back  in- 
the  form  of  a  sentimental  worship  of  humanity,  of  which  woman, 
and  the  Virgin  Mary  in  particular,  is  the  symbol. 

In  Germany,  among  the  doctrines  propounded  in  the  anarchy 
which  followed  the  disintegration  of  the  Hegelian  school.  Pessimism 
deserves  to  be  mentioned.  This  is  the  philosophy  of 
Schopenhauer  and  Von  Hartmann.  Its  purport  is  that; 
the  world  is  radically  and  essentially  evil,  and  personal  existence 
is  a  curse  from  which  the  only  refuge  is  the  hope  of  annihilation. 
Theistic  Theism  has  found  able  defenders  and  expositors  in  such 
philosophy,  philosophers  as  Ulrici,  Trendelenburg,  and  Lotze.  The 
last-named  author,  in  his  "  Microcosm,"  and  in  other  treatises,  has 
shown  that  the  belief  in  a  God  with  personal  and  moral  attributes 
is  required  by  the  facts  respecting  the  constitution  of  nature  as 
well  as  of  man,  which  modern  science  has  bi-ought  to  light. 

The  religious  doubts  and  difficulties  which  have  sprung  up  in 


16i8-18S7.]  THE  fflSTORY  OF  DOCTRINE.  635 

connection  with  the  discoveries  and  speculations  of  physical  science, 
and  through  the  assaults  of  Pantheism  and  Positivism,  have  given 
Apologetic  great  prominence  to  Apologetic  theology.  This  is  seen 
theology.  ^^  ^j^g  uumcrous  dcfeuces  of  theism  which  have  ap- 
peared in  recent  years.  It  is  manifest,  also,  in  the  wide-sj)read  in- 
vestigation of  the  origin  and  authority  of  the  Scriptures,  and  of 
the  view  to  be  taken  of  their  inspiration.  During  the  last  century, 
since  the  rise  of  geology,  inquiries,  which  began  with  the  first  ap- 
pearance of  the  Copernican  theory,  resj)ecting  the  relation  of  bib- 
Heal  teaching  to  natural  science,  have  excited  much  interest.  The 
critical  examination  of  the  Scriptures,  apart  from  this  particular 
question,  and  the  scrutiny  applied  to  the  history  of  the  beginnings 
and  early  days  of  Christianity,  have  led  to  a  gi-eat  deal  of  contro- 
versy and  to  the  publication  of  numberless  treatises  and  essays. 
The  recognition  of  the  gradually  developing  character  of  Divine 
revelation  has  served  to  remove  many  sources  of  perplexity  in  the 
biblical  books,  especially  those  of  the  Old  Testament.  The  books 
of  the  Pentateuch  and  the  documents  which  have  been  supposed  to 
enter  into  their  structure,  and  the  relative  antiquity  of  different 
portions  of  the  Old  Testament  legal  and  ceremonial  system,  have 
long  been,  and  still  are,  themes  of  scholarly  inquiry  and  animated 
debate.  Since  the  rise  of  the  Tubingen  school,  doubts  as  to  the 
genuineness  of  the  fourth  Gospel,  and  arguments  on  the  negative 
side,  have  given  rise  to  numerous  works  in  vindication  of  the  Jo- 
hannine  authorship. 

Modern  biblical  study  has  affected  the  views  taken  of  the  in- 
spiration of  the  sacred  writers.  While  the  former  opinions  on  this 
Inspiration  of  Subject  havc  still  extensively  prevailed,  their  correctness 
the  Bible.  ]^^^  bccu  Called  in  question,  not  only  by  assailants  of. 
revelation,  but  also  by  numerous  scholars  and  writers  within  the 
pale  of  the  evangelical  churches.  These  have  maintained  the  ne- 
cessity of  so  far  modifying  accepted  formulas  as  to  make  room  for 
the  concession  of  historical  discrepancies  in  the  sacred  books,  and 
even  for  occasional  imperfections  in  modes  of  reasoning  and  in 
the  interpretation  of  Old  Testament  passages  by  New  Testament 
authors.  Theologians  have  called  attention  to  the  distinction  be- 
tween revelation  and  inspiration.  One  of  the  writers  who  has  dis- 
cussed the  subject  of  inspiration  from  a  new  point  of  view  is  Cole- 
ridge. He  denies  the  infallibility  of  the  Bible  in  all  its  parts, 
both  in  matters  of  fact  and  of  doctrine.  He  brings  forward  the 
suggestion  that  the  spirit  of  the  Book,  as  a  whole,  is  to  sit  in  judg- 
ment on  each  separate  portion.     On  this  principle,  the  Bible,  as  a 


036  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Peeiod  IX. 

whole,  is  still  the  rule  of  faith.  Kothe,  the  eminent  German  theo- 
logian, in  like  manner  finds  in  the  Scriptures  a  self-rectifying,  as 
well  as  self-explaining  character,  so  that  whatever  criticism  may 
justly  be  made  on  a  particular  item  of  teaching  is  authorized  by 
the  Bible  itself  and  the  collective  impression  which  the  Bible 
makes.  Kothe  also  distinguishes  between  the  doctrines  taught  by 
the  apostles,  and  the  arguments  which  they  use  in  support  of  them. 
He  holds  that  while  the  doctrines  may  be  revealed  to  them,  and 
may  lie  within  the  range  of  the  intuition  of  faith,  the  reasoning  in 
defence  of  them,  including  the  appeals  to  Old  Testament  passages, 
may  not  be  wholly  free  from  imperfections,  due  to  limited  knowledge 
and  peculiarities  of  education.  Dorner  is  one  of  a  school  of  theo- 
logians who  call  in  the  aid  of  "  the  Christian  consciousness  "  as  a 
judge  as  well  as  interpreter  of  the  sacred  volume.  One  form  of 
this  doctrine  is  that  the  experience,  or  the  state  of  mind  and  heart, 
which  the  gospel,  in  its  central  and  essential  elements,  evokes  in 
the  believer,  may  seiwe,  to  some  extent,  as  a  test  of  the  truth  or 
value  of  collateral  or  subordinate  particulars  of  biblical  teaching. 
A  mode  of  thought,  now  prevalent,  has  been  thus  described  lately 
by  a  Scottish  theological  leader,  orthodox  in  his  beliefs,  Dr.  Robert 
Kanny : — 

"  It  has  to  do  with  the  method  or  habit  of  carrying  on  the  interpretation 
of  Scripture.  But  especially  it  is  concerned  with  the  conditions  under  which 
the  process  of  drawing  forth  Scripture  teaching  into  doctrinal  conclusions  such 
as  the  Christian  and  the  Church  may  count  to  be  articles  of  faith.  This  is  not 
to  be  gone  about  quite  so  simply  or  directly  as  it  was  wont  to  be.  It  seems 
that  more  elaborate  pains  are  needed  to  make  sure  of  the  main  intention  of 
the  inspired  writer,  and  to  weigh  the  relation  in  which  his  various  utterances 
stand  to  that  main  intention.  Moreover,  effort  is  needed  to  conceive  precisely 
what  the  writer  was  conscious  of,  as  revealed  truth  infused  into  the  total  of 
his  knowledge  and  impression,  and  what  he  holds  forth  to  us  in  this  character. 
And  then  we  must  estimate  what  this  signifies  or  imports  to  us,  when  it  is  to 
become  part  of  that  total  of  knowledge  or  impression  which,  as  yet,  we  have 
attained  from  nature  or  from  Scripture.  It  is  a  hesitation  lest  we  should  too 
easily  trust  to  surface  impressions,  and  impute  an  effect  to  free  and  fervent 
speech  which  is  more  or  other  than  was  intended,  and  should  too  hastily  ap- 
propriate phrases  which  take  a  different  sense  in  our  minds  from  that  which 
they  had  in  an  apostle's.  It  comes  very  much  to  this,  that  an  old  rule  of  inter- 
pretation is  imagined  to  have  a  wider  range  of  application  than  used  to  be  per- 
ceived. Probably  this  is  a  wholesome  tendency,  or  will  eventually  prove  to 
be  so,  in  so  far  as  it  imposes  the  most  needful  care  that  the  inspired  teaching 
shall  be  apprehended  in  its  designed  proportion  and  emphasis,  and  shall  re- 
veal its  proportion  and  emphasis  to  denizens  of  other  lands  and  other  ages. 
So  far  it  is  wholesome.  Perhaps,  on  the  other  hand,  it  works  in  company 
with  a  somewhat  exaggerated  impression  as  to  the  degree  in  which  any  such 


1648-1887.]  THE  HISTORY  OP  DOCTRINE.  637 

fresh  precautions  can  finally  modify  the  conclusions  which  Scripture  war- 
rants, and  which  the  Church  has  drawn.  But  meanwhile,  at  any  rate,  this 
operation,  like  others  that  are  going  on,  is  in  progress." 


In  Scotland  and  in  the  United  States,  the  doctrine  of  the  federal 
headship  of  Adam  and  of  the  imputation  of  sin  on  the  ground  of 
The  doctrine  ^  covenant,  has  continued  to  prevail  among  large  bodies 
of  sin.  q£  Calvinists.     The  Arminian  conception  of  original  sin 

has  remained,  not  only  among  the  Methodists  but  among  many 
belonging  to  other  Christian  bodies  ;  while  the  New  England  view 
of  an  inherited  proclivity  td  sin,  coupled  with  a  "  natural  ability," 
never  exercised  by  the  unconverted,  to  avoid  it,  has  retained  its 
hold  on  numerous  adherents.  Meantime,  other  solutions  of  the 
perplexing  problem  of  the  origin  and  dissemination  of  moral  evil 
Miiuer,  hsLve  been  broached.     Julius  Miiller,  in  a  work  of  mas- 

1801-1878.  ^gj,iy  ability,  on  the  doctrine  of  sin,  has  advocated  the 
hypothesis  of  a  timeless  pre-existence  and  fall  of  the  individuals  of 
the  race — the  supposition  of  Origen.  This  theory  was  maintained, 
as  was  remarked  above,  by  Coleridge.  The  doctrine  of  a  fall  of  the 
individuals  of  the  race  in  a  pre-existent  state  has  been  defended  in 
"  The  Conflict  of  Ages,"  a  vigorous  treatise  from  the  pen  of  an 
American  writer.  Dr.  Edward  Beecher. 

The  concentration  of  attention  \ipon  the  life,  the  person,  and 
the  work  of  Christ,  is  characteristic  of  the  recent  theology.  The 
Tiie  life  of  issuc,  in  different  countries,  of  so  many  biograj)hies  of 
Jesus.  Jesus,  indicates  the  profound  interest  that  is  felt  in  the 

subject.  This  interest  extends  beyond  the  simple  curiosity  to 
ascertain  what  occurred  in  connection  with  his  earthly  career.  It 
embraces  an  ardent  desire  to  penetrate,  so  to  speak,  within  his 
consciousness,  and  to  obtain  a  practical  and  satisfactory  conception 
of  the  ongoing  of  his  mental  and  spiritual  life.  Where  the  ancient 
creeds  which  assert  his  divinity  and  his  humanity  are  still  ac- 
cepted, there  is  often  manifest  an  earnest  wish  to  arrive  at  some 
The  incarna-  clearer  vicw  of  the  import  and  effect  of  the  Incarnation. 
tion.  Among  the  hypotheses  which  have  been  suggested  and 

supported  to  meet  this  inquiry,  two  in  particular  merit  attention. 
One  is  the  theory  of  "  the  Kenosis  " — that  is,  the  theory  that,  dur- 
ing the  life  of  Jesus,  prior  to  his  ascension  and  glorification,  he  was 
not  in  the  full  exercise  of  Divine  attributes,  as  omnipotence  and 
omniscience.  The  incarnation  involved,  it  is  said,  the  temporaiy 
laying  aside  of  these  infinite  powers,  as  far  as  their  full  activity  is 
concerned,  a  "depotentiation"  of  the  divine  Word,  or  Logos.     The 


638  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

other  theoiy  is  that  of  a  gradual  union  of  the  divine  and  human 
natures,  a  union,  real,  to  be  sm-e,  at  the  beginning,  but  producing 
its  effects  in  the  consciousness  of  Jesus  by  degrees,  through  a  pro- 
cess that  keeps  pace  with  the  unfolding  of  his  human  powers  and 
the  development  of  his  spotless  character  to  a  mature  perfection. 
In  this  way,  it  is  proposed  to  account  for  the  limitations  of  his 
knowledge  and  power  during  his  sojourn  among  men.  The  former 
of  the  two  hypotheses  counts  among  its  advocates  Julius  Miiller ; 
the  latter  is  upheld  by  Corner. 

The  judicial  view  of  the  Atonement,  founded  on  Anselmic  ideas, 
and  the  governmental  view,  as  expounded  by  Grotius  and  the 
The  Atone-  youngcr  Edwards,  have  each  of  them  continued  to  com- 
ment, mand  the  assent  of  large  bodies  of  Christians.  But  a 
deep  interest  has  been  awakened,  during  the  recent  period,  in 
the  moral  and  spiritual  elements  which  give  to  the  atoning  work  of 
Christ  its  efficacy,  and  in  the  effort  to  ascertain  the  inmost  source 
of  the  Saviour's  sufferings,  especially  in  the  garden  and  on  the 
cross.  Another  characteristic  of  the  more  recent  theology  is  the 
tendency  to  regard  the  atonement  as  the  natural  finiit  of  the  incar- 
nation, instead  of  disjoining  the  one  from  the  other,  and  consider- 
ing the  incarnation  as  simply  a  condition  and  means  of  giving  to 
the  atoning  death  an  adequate  value.  The  "  moral  view  "  of  the 
atonement,  which  either  takes  away  its  expiatory  relation  or 
makes  it  more  incidental  and  subordinate,  has  had  of  late,  in  the 
different  Protestant  countries,  a  considerable  number  of  advocates. 
In  the  United  States,  it  was  presented  in  a  treatise  on  "Vicarious 
Bushneii,  Sacrifice,"  by  Horace  Bushnell,  a  preacher  remarkable 
1802-1S76.  fQj,  j^jg  genius  and  for  his  elevated  Christian  feeling,  min- 
gled with  a  bold  speculative  turn  of  mind.  He  had  previously 
presented,  in  his  "  God  in  Christ  "  and  "  Christ  in  Theology,"  a  view 
of  the  person  of  Christ  and  of  the  Trinity  which  was  not  easy  to 
be  distinguished  from  the  Sabellian  or  Patripassianist  conception. 
In  the  treatise  referred  to  above,  the  atonement  was  resolved  into 
the  impression  of  God's  abhorrence  of  sin,  which  is  incidentally 
made  by  the  sufferings  and  death  of  Christ,  endured  while  on  the 
merciful  errand  of  bringing  men  to  repentance  and  to  the  Father's 
house.  In  a  later  publication,  "  Forgiveness  and  Law,"  he  modified 
his  view,  representing  that  the  suffering  to  which  God  in  Christ 
freely  submitted  was  the  indispensable  means  of  realizing  in  him- 
self that  feeling  of  clemency  which  was  obstructed  in  its  outflow 
by  his  sense  of  wrong  and  his  holy  displeasure. 

A  Scottish  theologian,  J.  McLeod  Campbell,  in  a  suggestive 


1648-1887.]  THE  HISTORY  OF  DOCTRINE.  639 

and  devout  volume  on  the  atonement,  makes  its  main  element  to 
Campbell,  ^6  a  repentance  on  the  part  of  Christ — the  element  of 
1800-1872.  self -blame  being,  of  course,  absent — for  the  sins  of  man- 
kind. He  realized  in  consciousness  the  full  depth  of  human  guilt, 
and  the  feeling  of  condemnation  in  the  mind  of  God,  and  out  of  a 
heart  thus  complete  in  its  sympathy  with  the  holiness  as  well  as 
mercy  of  God,  and  with  the  guilty  and  forlorn  condition  of  men, 
he  prayed  for  their  forgiveness.  The  means  by  which  Christ  at- 
tained to  this  consciousness  was  the  experience  of  suffering — the 
experience  of  death,  which  is  "the  wages  of  sin."  He  is  thus  and 
then  enabled  to  respond  with  an  "amen  "to  the  Divine  condemna- 
tion of  sin.  Faith  is  the  "  amen  "  of  the  sinful  human  soul  to 
this  response  of  Jesus.  The  sonship  which  he  has  realized  in  him- 
self he  imparts  to  believers. 

Of  a  kindred  character  is  the  ex^DOsition  of  the  subject  by  Eothe. 

•  God  is  disposed  to  forgive  sin,  but  is  prevented  by  his  holiness 

from  doing  what  would  lend  to  sin  encouragement.     He 

■  Eothe,  can  forgive,  however,  and  his  holiness,  which  hates  sin 

and  desires  it  to  cease,  prompts  him  to  forgive,  provided 
the  act  of  forgiveness  can  be  made  the  beginning,  as  it  plainly  is, 
and  an  indispensable  pre-requisite,  of  a  new  life  of  obedience  and 
love.  Christ  makes  sin  forgivable  by  providing  this  basis  for  par- 
don. He  makes  himself  the  instrument  of  the  world's  regeneration, 
by  himself  attaining  to  spiritual  perfection  through  victory  over 
temptation — victory  at  the  cost  of  life.  On  this  i^ath  he  ascends 
to  the  gloi'ified  state,  in  which,  through  the  Holy  Spirit,  he  can  act 
on  the  hearts  of  sinful  men,  and  create  in  all  who  give  themselves 
up  to  him,  to  be  moulded  in  his  image,  a  participation  in  son- 
ship,  and  in  the  heavenly  purity  and  blessedness  which  follow 
in  its  train. 

On  the  subject  of  eschatology,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  in  the  recent 
period  a  spiritual  conception  of  the  mode  of  the  resurrection  has 
The  resurrec-  rapidly  gained  ground  in  opposition  to  the  idea  of  a  re- 
ond  'coming"'  coustructiou  from  its  ruins  of  the  material  body  which 
of  Christ.  is  deposited  in  the  grave.  The  more  common  belief  in 
later  times  has  been  that  Christianity  will  continue  to  spread  until 
mankind  are  subdued  to  Christ,  and  society  has  become  thoroughly 
leavened  with  his  spirit,  and  that  his  visible  coming  will  then  take 
place.  Not  a  few  Protestant  Christians,  however,  have  held  to  a 
pre-millennial  advent  of  the  Lord,  and  have  looked  for  no  such  tri- 
umph of  the  gospel  prior  to  that  event.    From  time  to  time,  parties 

■  have  aiisen  by  whom  the  speedy  advent  of  Christ  has  been  confi- 


640  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

dently  predicted.    Enthusiasts  have  occasionally  set  particular  days 
when  this  consummation  was  expected  to  occur. 

Within  evangelical  bodies,  modifications  of  belief  on  the  subject 
of  the  future  state  of  the  wicked  have  won  more  or  less  acceptance. 
In  England,  the  doctrine  of  the  eternity  of  future  punishment  was 
rejected  by  the  eminent  Baptist  author,  John  Foster,  and,  on  sim- 
ilar grounds,  by  an  honored  Congregational  minister,  Thomas  Bin- 
ney  (1798-1874).  It  was  called  in  question  by  F.  D.  Maurice  and 
some  other  divines  of  the  Anglican  Church.  In  Germany,  in  Great 
Britain,  and  in  the  United  States,  the  doctrine  of  the 
ultimate  extinction  of  the  very  being  of  such  as  perse- 
vere in  impenitence,  as  the  natural  effect  of  sin  on  the  spiritual 
nature,  has  had  its  adherents.  In  Germany,  one  of  its  advocates 
was  the  celebrated  theologian,  Richard  Kothe.  The  explicit  hope 
of  a  final  restoration  to  holiness  of  all  who  depart  from  this  life 
in  a  state  of  impenitence  has  been  cherished  by  some.  Neander 
q,nd  some  other  leading  German  theologians  of  the  liberal  evan- 
gelical school  have  expressed  themselves  as  doubtful  on  this  point. 
Julius  Miiller  held  that  the  arguments  for  such  a  beHef — which 
was  adopted  by  Schleiermacher — are  insufficient.  He  points  out 
the  frequent  connection  in  which  restorationism  is  made  to  stand 
with  a  pantheistic  theory  of  the  necessary  evolution  of  good 
out  of  evil.  Dorner  denies  that  such  a  consummation  can  be  an 
object  of  confident  expectation.  Especially  among  German  the- 
ologians of  this  school,  the  opinion  has  come  to  prevail  that  in  an 
intermediate  state  the  gospel  will  be  taught  to  the  heathen  who 
have  not  heard  it  within  the  bounds  of  this  life,  and  have,  therefore, 
never  rejected  its  offers  of  mercy.  This  was  the  belief  of  Miiller, 
Tholuck,  a  distinguished  teacher  of  theology  and  commentator, 
and  of  other  German  teachers  and  writers.  By  Miiller  it  is  set 
forth  in  conjunction  with  a  doctrine  respecting  the  nature  and  de- 
velopment of  character  in  general,  and  of  sinful  character  in  par- 
ticular. Character  is  built  up  by  the  exercise  of  free-will,  and 
tends  to  permanence.  As  character,  under  the  influence  of  the 
motives  that  address  the  soul,  moves  onward  to  the  final  stage,  it 
meets  with  turning-points  where  a  radical  change  may  take  place  ; 
but  a  reversal  of  its  bent  becomes  less  and  less  practicable.  At 
last  obduracy  cuts  off  hope.  This  hopeless  bondage  to  evil  follows 
upon  the  wilful  rejection  of  God's  redeeming  love.  The  one  unpar- 
donable sin  is  that  of  resistance  tO  the  Holy  Spirit.  No  other  or  high- 
er agency  exists  for  the  recovery  of  the  will  from  its  slavery,  Dor- 
ner, in  his  "  System  of  Theology,"  has  expounded  this  conception. 


1648-1887.]  CHRISTIAN  PIETY  AND  CHRISTIAN  PHILANTHROPY.    641 

He  holds  distinctly  that  the  final  test,  where  the  alternative  of  right 
choice  is  obduracy,  is  possible  only  when  the  gospel  is  explicitly 
revealed,  and  God  is  manifested  in  the  light  of  a  merciful  Saviour. 
That  there  will  be  a  "  probation  "  in  the  next  world  for  the  heathen 
who  die  without  a  knowledge  of  the  gospel,  has  been  suggested  as 
a  plausible  hypothesis,  or  as  a  probable  truth,  by  a  number  of  the- 
ological writers  in  England  and  America.  This  view  has  been  re- 
cently propounded  in  the  United  States,  by  theologians  of  Andover, 
in  a  series  of  discussions,  collected  in  a  volume  entitled  "  Progressive 
Orthodoxy  "  (1886). 

CHAPTER  IX. 

CHRISTIAN   PIETY    AND   CHRISTIAN   PHILANTHROPY. 

The  preceding  record  of  religious  movements  in  later  times  has 
involved  some  account  of  different  phases  of  piety  and  religious 
life.  A  very  systematic  treatment  of  a  theme  so  complex  is  hardly 
practicable  within  the  limits  of  this  chaptei'. 

The  last  two  centuries  have  been  a  period  of  revolution.  Politi- 
cal revolutions  have  swept  away  mediaeval  institutions  in  Europe, 
Age  of  revo-  ^^^  ^^  America  formed  a  great  federative  democracy  out 
lutions.  q£  ^  group  of  colonial  provinces.    There  has  been  a  revo- 

lution in  the  world  of  letters,  in  education,  science,  and  philosophy. 
Marvellous  inventions  have  brought  all  the  inhabitants  of  the 
globe  near  together.  Christianity  has  been  called  upon  to  adapt 
itself  to  this  new  order  of  things,  to  fulfil  its  heaven-appointed  mis- 
sion under  altered  circumstances. 

Literature  has  ceased  to  be  the  product  of  the  ecclesiastical 
spirit.  It  has  asserted  its  freedom.  It  has  drawn  its  materials 
from  the  soul  within  and  from  nature  without,  from 
ancient  art  and  letters,  from  human  history  in  its  broad- 
est extent.  It  is  not  of  necessity,  for  this  reason,  alien  to  the 
spirit  and  conceptions  of  the  gospel ;  for  even  as  related  to  the 
activities  and  products  of  the  intellect,  the  kingdom  of  God  "is 
like  unto  leaven."  All  depends  on  whether  Christian  views  of  the 
universe  and  of  man,  and  Christian  ideals  of  character,  elicit  sym- 
pathy or  antipathy.  Poetry — to  single  out  one  department  of  lit- 
erature— takes  its  tone  from  the  political  and  social  struggles  of 
the  time,  or  else  from  the  reigning  philosophy.  Shelley,  with  his 
sensitive  nature,  at  a  time  of  popular  uprising  against  tyranny,  was 
prepared  to  imbibe  from  French  writers  denials  of  received  doc- 
41 


642  FROM  THE  PEACE  OP  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  EXT. 

trines  in  religion,  and  to  carry  his  wild  crusade  against  convention- 
alism to  the  extreme  of  discarding  obligations  hallowed  by  divine 
and  human  law.  Yet  Christian  elements  are  to  be  recognized  in 
Shelley's  early  passion  for  the  brotherhood  of  man,  and  in  his  grief 
and  anger  at  brutal  oppression,  first  brought  home  to  his  percep- 
tion through  voices  heard  from  a  school-room — voices  that 

"  Were  but  one  eclio  from  a  world  of  woes — 
The  liarsh  and  grating  strife  of  tyrants  and  of  foes." 

The  sentimentalism  which  found  its  egotistic,  passionate  expression 
in  "Manfred"  and  other  poems  of  Byron,  and  in  Goethe's  "  Sorrows 
of  Werther,"  the  production  of  his  unripe  youth,  was  at  least  a  wit- 
ness to  the  discontent  of  the  soul  with  itself  and  to  its  hunger  for  an 
unattained  good.  In  English  poetry,  the  names  of  Cowper,  Words- 
worth, Coleridge,  Tennyson,  suggest  the  advance  made  above  the 
plane  of  the  classical  school  of  the  last  century,  the  school  of 
Dryden  and  Pope.  In  the  later  poets  we  find  a  sympathy  with 
higher  truth  and  with  aspirations  in  accord  with  the  gospel. 

In  Germany,  Schiller,  in  his  early  career  as  a  poet,  was  strongly 
influenced  by  the  philosophy  of  Kant,  which  imparted  at  least  a 
Schiller  and  ^ouc  of  moral  carnestncss  to  his  productions.  Goethe,  on 
Goethe.  ^-^q  contrary,  found  more  to  appeal  to  him  in  the  panthe- 

istic ideas  of  Schelling.  As  Goethe  took  pains  to  avoid  the  sight  of 
pain  and  wretchedness,  so  he  resolutely  turned  away  from  thoughts 
of  sin  and  of  the  life  to  come,  which  might  disturb  the  repose  of  his 
spirit.  Yet  this  withdi^awal  of  attention  cost  him  at  times  an  effort, 
as  he  himself  distinctly  implies.  In  "Faust,"  his  masterpiece,  it 
is  the  insatiable  quest  of  the  soul  for  a  fulness  of  peace,  the  shud- 
der which  moral  evil  in  its  malignity  excites,  the  willing  yet,  for 
that  reason,  the  more  terrible  surrender  to  the  tempter,  the  pity 
of  heaven — characteristic  elements  of  gospel  teaching — which  move 
the  reader  or  spectator  of  this  wonderful  tragedy.  In  insisting  on 
the  immanence  of  God  in  nature,  as  opposed  to  the  conception  of 
his  touching  it  fi'om  without,  "with  his  finger's  end,"  the  poets,  and 
Goethe  among  them,  are  justified  by  the  New  Testament.  It  is 
Christian,  if  it  be  not  Jewish,  theology.  It  is  a  Christian  poet  who 
speaks  of  the 

"  Sense  sublime 
Of  something  far  more  deeply  interfused, 


A  motion  and  a  spirit  that  impels 

All  thinking  things,  all  objects  of  all  thought, 

And  rolls  through  all  things."' 


1648-1887.]    CHRISTIAN  PIETY  AND  CHRISTIAN  PHILANTHROPY.    643 

It  is  only  when  a  i^ersonal  will,  a  conscious  intelligence,  are  denied 
to  the  Power  whose  energy  pervades  all  things,  that  the  Christian 
revelation  is  impugned.  At  the  same  time,  under  this  blighting 
fatalism,  human  responsibility  and  trial,  and  the  immortal  life 
beyond — truths  which  underlie  what  is  most  lofty  in  works  of  the 
imagination — shrivel  away.  In  poetry,  as  in  science,  it  is  not  the 
idea  of  the  immanence  of  God  in  the  world,  but  the  pantheistic  ig- 
noring or  rejection  of  the  complementary  truth — the  truth  of  the 
personality  of  both  God  and  man — that  clashes  with  the  convictions 
of  a  Christian.  But  Goethe,  influenced  though  he  was,  to  such  a  de- 
gree, by  the  atmosphere  of  thought  in  which  he  grew  up,  was  too 
great  a  man  to  think  lightly  of  the  Christian  faith.  In  one  of  his 
last  conversations  with  Eckermann,  he  said  :  "  Let  mental  culture 
continually  increase,  let  the  natural  sciences  grow,  broadening  and 
deepening  in  their  progress,  and  the  human  mind  expand  as  it 
will, — beyond  the  elevation  and  moral  culture  of  Christianity,  as  it 
gleams  and  shines  forth  in  the  gospels,  men  will  never  advance." 
The  "  worship  of  genius,"  under  the  notion  that  men  of  exalted 
powers  are  exempt  from  the  resti'aints  of  morality,  was  a  form  of 
idolatry  too  baneful  and  debasing  to  gain  a  foothold  where  there 
was  any  life  in  conscience.  And  yet  it  followed  naturally  from  the 
pantheistic  mode  of  thought,  in  which  blind  power  is  deified  and 
all  its  manifestations  are  regarded  as  equally  divine. 

In  another  great  literary  leader  of  the  recent  period,  there  is 
witnessed  a  wavering  between  the  pantheistic  and  theistic  posi- 
Cariyie,  1795-  ^iou.  It  is  Thomas  Carlyle.  The  apostle  of  sincerity, 
1881.  ]jjg  abhorrence  of  all  falsehood  implies  at  its  root  a  the- 

istic belief.  A  hero  of  faith,  such  as  Luther,  he  knows  how  to  ap- 
preciate. The  godliness  of  Oliver  Ci'omwell  is  to  him  something 
real  and  sacred.  A  passage  in  a  letter  of  Carlyle,  written  in  his 
last  days,  to  his  friend,  Erskine  of  Linlathen,  shows  the  faith  that 
was  slumbering  within  him,  and  which  the  experience  of  sorrow 
woke  to  a  new  life.     It  was  written  after  the  death  of  his  wife  : 


' '  '  Our  Father  which  art  in  Heaven,  hallowed  be  Thy  name,  Thy  kingdom 
come,  Thy  will  be  done  ; '  what  else  can  we  say  ?  The  other  night,  in  my 
sleepless  tossings  about,  which  were  growing  more  and  more  miserable,  these 
words,  that  brief  and  grand  prayer,  came  strangely  into  my  mind  with  an  alto- 
gether new  emphasis,  as  if  written  and  shining  for  me  in  mild,  pure  splendor, 
on  the  black  bosom  of  the  night  there  ;  where  I,  as  it  were,  read  them,  word 
by  word,  with  a  sudden  check  to  my  imperfect  wanderings,  with  a  sudden 
softness  of  composure  which  was  much  unexpected.  Not  for  perhaps  thirty 
or  forty  years  had  I  ever  formally  i-epeated  that  prayer — nay,  I  never  felt  be- 


644  FROM  THE  PEACE  OP  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

fore  liow  intensely  the  voice  of  man's  soul  it  is ;  the  inmost  aspiration  of  all 
that  is  high  and  pious  in  poor  human  nature ;  right  worthy  to  be  recom- 
mended with  an  '  after  this  manner,  pray  ye. '  " 

Profound  convictions  in  relation  to  fundamental  religious  truth 
have  been  expressed  by  men  who  have  stood  aloof  from  existing 
Social  dis-  church  organizations,  and  have,  perhaps,  rejected  the  ac- 
content.  ccpted  dogmatic  statements  of  Christianity.    Lacordaire, 

the  renowned  French  preacher,  is  said  to  have  been  awakened  in 
his  youth  from  the  dreams  of  ambition  by  being  struck  with  "  the 
nothingness  of  irreligion."  It  is  not  strange  that  such  a  thought 
should  have  power  even  with  many,  who  from  various  causes  fail 
to  attain  to  an  assured  faith  in  the  doctrines  of  the  Church. 
The  abyss  of  irrehgion  is  felt  to  be  something  dreadful  to  contem- 
plate, whether  the  yearnings  of  the  individual  soul  are  considered, 
or  the  needs  of  society.  The  rise  of  Socialism,  with  the  attendant 
conflict  of  labor  and  capital,  and  concerted  efforts  of  the  working- 
class  to  effect  revolutionary  changes,  have  impressed  thoughtful 
men  with  the  dire  evil  that  is  involved  in  the  loss  of  religious  trust 
and  hope.  In  the  generations  past,  laborers,  even  when  deprived 
of  the  comforts  of  life,  the  victims,  pei'haps,  of  oj^pressive  social 
arrangements,  have  found  consolation  in  looking  up  to  God,  and  in 
looking  forward  to  compensations  in  a  future  state.  In  the  midst  of 
drudgeiy,  thoughts  of  religion  have  lifted  them  up  and  cheered 
them  under  heavy  burdens.  Cut  off  from  these  foimtains  of 
strength,  they  are  left  with  no  alternative  but  to  grasp  what  they 
Words  of  Vic-  cf^ii  ^^  ^^^  fleeting  moments  of  the  present  life.  On  this 
tor  Hugo.  subject,  a  man  of  genius,  Victor  Hugo,  thus  speaks,  in  a 
passage  which  is  translated  in  "The  Contemporary  Review  :" 

' '  Let  us  not  forget,  and  let  us  teach  it  to  all,  that  there  would  be  no  dig- 
nity in  life,  that  it  would  not  be  worth  while  to  live,  if  annihilation  were  to 
be  our  lot.  What  is  it  which  alleviates  and  which  sanctifies  toil,  which  ren- 
ders men  strong,  wise,  patient,  just,  at  once  humble  and  aspiring,  but  the 
perpetual  vision  of  a  better  world,  whose  light  shines  through  the  darkness 
of  the  present  life  ?  For  myself,  I  believe  profoundly  in  that  better  world ; 
and  after  many  struggles,  much  study,  and  numberless  trials,  this  is  the  su- 
preme conviction  of  my  reason  as  it  is  the  supreme  consolation  of  my  soul." 
"  There  is  a  misfortune  of  our  times,"  he  continues,  "I  could  al- 
most say  there  is  but  one  misfortune  of  our  times  ;  it  is  the  tendency  to  stake 
all  on  the  present  life.  By  giving  to  man,  as  a  sole  end  and  object,  the  ma- 
terial life  of  this  world,  you  aggravate  its  every  misery  by  the  negation  which 
awaits  him  at  the  end  ;  you  add  to  the  burdens  of  the  unfortunate  the  insup- 
portable weight  of  future  nothingness  ;  and  that  which  was  only  suffering, 
that  is  to  say,  the  law  ordained  of  God,  becomes  despair,  the  law  imposed  by 


1648-1887.]   CHRISTIAN  PIETY  AND  CHRISTIAN  PHILANTHROPY.    645 

liell.  Hence  our  social  convulsions.  Assuredly  I  am  one  of  those  who  de- 
sire, I  will  not  say,  with  sincerity,  for  the  word  is  too  feeble,  but  who  desire 
with  inexpressible  ardor,  and  by  all  means  possible,  to  ameliorate  the  lot  of 
all  who  suffer  ;  but  tlie  first  of  all  ameliorations  is  to  give  them  hope.  How 
greatly  lessened  are  our  finite  sufferings  when  there  shines  in  the  midst  of 
tliem  an  infinite  hope  !  The  duty  of  us  all,  whoever  we  may  be — legislators 
and  bishops,  priests,  authors,  and  journalists — is  to  spread  abroad,  to  dispense 
and  to  lavish  in  every  form,  the  social  energy  necessary  to  combat  poverty 
and  suffering,  and  at  the  same  time  to  bid  every  face  to  be  lifted  up  to  heav- 
en, to  direct  every  soul  and  mind  to  a  future  life  where  justice  shall  be  exe- 
cuted. We  must  declare  with  a  loud  voice  that  none  shall  have  suffered 
uselessly,  and  that  justice  shall  be  rendered  to  all.  Death  itself  shall  be  resti- 
tution. As  the  law  of  the  material  universe  is  equilibrium,  so  the  law  of  the 
moral  universe  is  equity.      God  will  be  found  at  the  end  of  all." 

That  the  discoveries  of  modern  science  have  had  the  effect  for 
the  time,  in  the  case  of  many,  of  unsettling  their  faith  in  Christian 
Science  and  truth,  is  an  Undoubted  fact.  It  requires  reflection  to 
Bkepticism.  perccive  that  the  scientific  spirit — the  pursuit  of  an  exact, 
methodized,  exhaustive  knowledge  of  the  ■world  in  which  we  live, 
and  of  man,  its  inhabitant — stands  in  no  contradiction  to  the  spirit 
of  religion.  On  the  other  hand,  whatever  exhilaration  may  spring 
from  the  enlargement  of  knowledge,  it  soon  becomes  clear  that 
man  cannot  live  by  science  alone,  but  that  within  him  are  capaci- 
ties and  cravings  of  another  kind,  with  which  the  soul's  true  life 
and  peace  are  inseparably  linked.  It  is  soon  perceived  that  the 
essential  relations  of  man  to  God  are  not  determined  by  the  size 
of  the  globe,  compared  with  other  planets,  by  its  relation  to  the 
stellar  universe,  by  its  age,  or  by  the  time  that  may  have  elapsed 
since  man's  creation.  The  consciousness  of  man  that  there  is  an 
infinite  God  above  him,  and  a  moral  law  within  him,  is  not  affected 
by  facts  of  this  nature.  Evolution  is  perceived  to  be  a  term  de- 
scriptive simply  of  the  supposed  method  of  nature  :  of  the  creative 
and  directive  energy,  by  which  the  process  begins  and  is  carried 
forward  it  contains  no  explanation.  New  discoveries  in  natural 
science,  however,  as  far  as  they  require  new  interpretations  of  the 
Bible,  or  a  modification  of  traditional  ideas  respecting  the  character 
and  limits  of  inspiration,  may  give  rise  to  doubts  and  perplexity. 
It  may  be  here  remarked  that  not  professed  Christian  teachers 
alone,  but  the  most  authoritative  expounders  of  the  new  doctrines 
in  natural  science,  have  pronounced  them  nowise  at  variance  with 
the  great  argument  of  design.  Among  these  authorities  in  science 
are  found  most  earnest  and  sincere  believers.  One  of  them  was 
Faraday,  who  belonged  to  the  small  sect  of  Saudemanians,  who,  in 


546  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

the  last  century,  separated  from  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Scot- 
land, but  who  hold  to  the  fundamental  truths  of  the  gospel.  An- 
other was  Clerk  Maxwell,  a  physicist  of  the  highest  ability,  who 
found  nothing  in  the  doctrine  of  the  "  conservation  of  force  "  to 
clash  with  the  evidences  of  either  natural  or  revealed  i-eligion. 

In  a  period  of  transition,  when  old  formulas  are  losing  their 
hold  and  new  statements  of  religious  truth  are  not  yet  matured ; 
Faith  and  whcu,  also,  the  fouudatious  of  Christian  belief  are  as- 
doubt.  sailed  by  historical  criticism  or  by  philosophical  specu- 

lation, it  is  inevitable  that  in  many  ingenuous  minds  faith  should 
be  mixed,  more  or  less,  with  doubt.  The  bishop,  in  Browning's 
poem,  exchanged 

"A  life  of  doubt  diversified  by  faitb, 
For  one  of  faith  diversified  by  doubt." 

Yet,  under  such  circumstances,  there  are  victories  of  faith,  legiti- 
mately won,  which  illustrate  forcibly  the  indestructible  basis  on 
which  the  claims  of  Christianity  to  the  allegiance  of  the  soul  rest. 
Such  examples  in  modern  times  have  been  not  vmfrequent  in  Ger- 
many. Some  there  are,  with  so  deep  a  sense  of  religion,  and  to 
whom  the  gospel  shines  with  so  clear  a  light,  that  they  are  never 
harassed  by  skepticism.  Rothe,  with  a  genius  for  speculation,  with 
a  mind  open  to  new  tnith,  and  familiar  with  the  theories  and  argu- 
ments of  the  skeptical  schools,  nevertheless  declares  that  he  had 
felt  no  doubt  of  the  being  of  God,  and  had  never  experienced  any 
difficulty  in  giving  credence  to  miracles.  An  interesting  record  of 
triumph  over  doubt,  of  a  faith  in  Christian  verities  that  grew 
in  strength  from  year  to  year,  is  furnished  in  the  biography  of 

Frederick  Perthes,  the  publisher  of  Gotha,  who  stood 
Perthes,  _        in  go  intimate  relations  with  Niebuhr,  Schleiermacher, 

Nitzsch,  Neandei',  and  many  other  distinguished  men  of 
the  time.  By  him  the  "  Studien  und  Kritiken,"  the  most  influential 
theological  review  in  Germany,  was  founded.  His  motive  was  to 
do  good.  "I  do  not  expect,"  he  said,  "any  return."  His  point  of 
view,  in  contrast  with  that  of  rationalism,  is  thus  described  :  "  Some 
believe  that  they  can  find  sufficient  support  in  their  own  souls,  in 
those  faculties  which  God,  from  the  beginning,  gave  once  for  all 
to  the  human  race.  According  to  them,  God  completed  the  whole 
at  the  creation  of  the  world,  and  each  individual  has  now  but  to 
employ  the  faculties  already  given  without  further  assistance  from 
on  high,  being  fully  qualified  to  discover  truth.  Now,  to  seekers 
of  this  kind,  that  is  to  say,  rationalists,  we  do  not  belong.     Others, 


1648-1S87.]  CHRISTIAN  PIETY  AND  CHRISTIAN  PHILANTHROPY.    647 

on  the  contrary,  believe  that,  in  spite  of  the  one  great  creative  act, 
they  still  walk  in  darkness,  and  are  lost  so  long  as  they  are  left  to 
themselves  ;  their  first  and  greatest  desire  is  that  God  should  re- 
new them  day  by  day,  but,  apart  from  revelation  and  redemption, 
they  see  no  escape  from  sin,  no  light  in  the  night's  darkness." 
Perthes,  speaking  in  relation  to  the  "  Life  of  Jesus,"  by  Strauss, 
discriminates  between  what  can,  and  what  cannot,  be  accomplished 
by  historical  proofs.  "Historical  science  and  criticism,"  he  re- 
marks, "  can  show  only  the  groundlessness  of  objections  against 
the  sacred  narrative." 


"  Whoever  would  make  the  saving  truths  of  revelation  his  own,  or  lead 
others  to  tliem,  must  start  from  facts  coming  under  his  own  immediate  knowl- 
edge. The  depravity  of  all  mankind,  sin,  our  double  nature,  wrestling, 
weakness,  and  death  in  every  individual,  and  the  ardent  longing  of  the  whole 
man  for  deliverance  from  such  evils — these  are  facts,  and  they  form  a  basis 
for  faith  in  the  salvation  revealed  by  Scripture.  To  every  one  in  whose  soul 
God  has  established  such  a  basis  of  faith,  the  life  of  Jesus  and  the  apostles 
becomes  the  key  and  key-stone  of  the  world's  history,  even  scientifically 
regarded. " 


Yet  Perthes  believed  in  the  most  full  and  thorough  discussion. 
"  To  stop  half  way,"  he  says,  "  in  scientific  investigation  would  be 
fatal  to  theology  and  the  theologian.  It  will  not  do  to  recede,  or, 
declining  inquiry,  to  hush  all  up  in  pious  phrases  ;  theology  and 
the  theologian  must  onward,  at  whatever  cost."  He  said  of  him- 
self, "I  have  striven  and  wrestled,  but  the  world  and  the  flesh 
have  hindered  me.  Only  for  moments  have  I,  in  and  through 
prayer,  tasted  of  the  peace  of  God."  He  Avas  in  the  habit  of  turn- 
ing for  comfort  to  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  and,  at  a  later  time, 
especially  to  the  Gospel  of  John.  ''  Pain  and  sorrow,"  he  wrote, 
"  have  done  more  for  me  than  joy  and  happiness  ever  did."  When 
near  his  end,  he  wrote  to  Neander  :  "In  hope  and  faith  I  am  joy- 
fully passing  over  into  the  land  where  truth  will  be  made  clear  and 
love  pure."  To  his  family  he  said,  "  I  die  willingly  and  calmly, 
and  I  am  prepared  to  die,  having  committed  myself  to  my  God  and 
Father." 

In  the  biography  of  Niebuhr,  we  have  the  portrait  of  a  scholar 

and  a  statesman,  a  man  at  home  in  the  past,  yet  engaging  actively  in 

the  political  transactions  of  his  own  time.     Such  was  the 

Niebuhr,         moral  carnestncss  of  his  character,  that  his  deep  inter- 

'""      *       est  in  historical  investigation  did  not  dampen  in  the 

least  the  ardor  of  his  patriotism.     Brandis  says  of  him  that  it  was 


648  FROM  THE  PEACE  OP  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

not  his  nature  "  to  observe  and  judge  the  occurrences  of  social  life 
•with  the  same  coolness"  as  the  necessary  sequences  of  natural 
events.  Like  Dr.  Thomas  Arnold,  noble  deeds,  whether  in  the 
remote  past  or  in  the  present,  kindled  in  him  admiration,  while  base 
deeds,  however  long  ago  they  were  done,  excited  in  him  an  intense 
indigDation.  His  lot  was  cast  in  the  midst  of  the  stirring  scenes 
when  Germany  was  enslaved  under  Napoleon,  and  awoke  to  shake 
off  the  bondage.  Of  his  inward  religious  histoiy  he  says,  in  a 
letter  written  in  1812  :  "  My  intellect  early  took  a  skeptical  direc- 
tion." This  disposition  was  increased  by  the  lack  of  any  strong 
spiritual  need,  and  by  poor  instruction.  "Thus,"  he  adds,  "it 
was  in  riper  years,  and  through  the  study  of  history,  that  I  came 
back  for  the  first  time  to  the  sacred  books,  which  I  read  in  a  purely 
critical  spirit,  and  with  the  purpose  of  studying  their  contents  as 
the  groundwork  of  one  of  the  most  remarkable  phenomena  in  the 
history  of  the  world.  This  was  not  the  mood  in  which  real  faith 
could  sjDring  up."  Nevertheless,  defects  in  the  biblical  narratives 
did  not  disturb  him.  His  sound  historical  judgment  was  not  so 
easily  misled. 

"  Here,  as  in  every  liistorical  subject,  when  I  contemplated  the  immeas- 
urable gulf  between  the  narrative  and  the  facts  narrated,  this  disturbed  me 
no  further.  He,  whose  earthly  life  and  sorrows  were  depicted,  had  for  me  a 
perfectly  real  existence,  and  his  whole  history  had  the  same  reality,  even  if  it 
were  not  related  with  literal  exactness  in  a  single  point." 

"The  fundamental  fact  of  miracles"  seemed  to  Niebuhr  lifted 
above  reasonable  doubt.  He  saw  the  distinction  between  the 
character  of  the  gospel  miracles  and  all  false  legends.  Metaphysi- 
cal systems  which  clung  to  the  Christian  name,  while  they  evis- 
cerated the  gospel  of  its  supernatural  contents,  he  repelled  as  a  jug- 
gle— as  a  stone  offered  in  the  room  of  bread.  "  A  Christianity," 
he  said,  "  after  the  fashion  of  the  modern  philosophers  and  pan- 
theists, without  a  personal  God,  without  immortality,  without  hu- 
man individuality,  without  historical  faith,  is  no  Christianity  at  all 
to  me."  He  wanted  no  religion  but  that  of  the  Apostles'  Creed. 
His  religion  must  be  one  whose  doctrines  and  precepts  were  a 
divine  revelation.  He  did  not  grieve  over  the  want  of  "  a  system  of 
religion."  "  The  orthodox  divines  of  the  seventeenth  century,"  he 
remarks,  "  subscribed  to  the  symbolical  books  with  a  fulness  of 
conviction  which  we  cannot  possess  now,  because  they  are  a  sys- 
tematic body  of  doctrine,  and  the  systems  of  one  century  are  un- 
congenial with  the  mental  habits   of  another."     In  the  case   of 


1648-1887.]   CHRISTIAN  PIETY  AND  CHRISTIAN  PHILANTHROPY.    649 

Luther,  "the  faith  that  was  in  him"  was  "the  material  ou  which 
he  labored."  After  him  arose  system-makers  to  whom  "  all  pro- 
found feehng,  all  glowing  devotion,  was  an  abomination."  Thus, 
in  the  midst  of  a  generation  infected  with  skepticism  and  torn 
with  theological  conflict,  this  great  historical  scholar  and  patriot 
discerned  the  immovable  foundations  of  the  Christian  faith. 

It  will  often  happen  that  in  times  of  spiritual  declension,  when 
a  worship  of  system,  a  barren  orthodoxy  has  been  substituted  for 
Mystics  ^^^^^  faith,  mystics  will  arise  to  show  practically  that  re- 

ligion is  something  more  than  a  dry  dogma,  an  exercise 
of  the  understanding.  It  may  be  that  in  such  a  protest  of  the 
heart,  vagaries  will  be  mingled,  having  no  solid  basis.  Yet  with 
much  that  is  visionary  there  will  be  connected  a  real  insight  into 
things  divine,  and  suggestions  of  high  value  to  those  who  know 
how  to  sift  out  the  chaff  from  the  wheat.  We  have  already  had 
occasion  to  refer  to  the  development  of  mysticism  in  the  Koman 
Catholic  Chm-ch,  as  it  apj)eai'ed  in  the  writings  of  Molinos,  Fene- 
lon,  and  Madame  Guyon.  In  Germany,  in  the  writings  of  Arndt 
(1555-1621),  and  in  the  later  pietism,  the  mystical  spirit  was  seen, 
in  strong  contrast  with  the  fi'igid  schools  of  thought  then  preva- 
Bjiij^e,  le^t-     B^^t  among  modern  German  mystics,  Jacob  Buhme 

1575-1624.  jg  one  of  the  most  interesting.  His  death  occurred 
shortly  before  the  hmit  set  for  the  beginning  of  the  modern  period, 
but  his  influence  extended  into  later  times.  A  shoemaker  at  Gur- 
litz,  with  a  very  limited  sujDply  of  learning,  at  a  time  when  an  in- 
tolerant Lutheran  dogmatism  furnished  little  nutriment  for  a  deejily 
religious  nature  like  his  own,  he  was  cheered  by  the  assurance  of 
God's  Word  that  he  is  willing  to  give  his  Holy  Spirit  to  them  that 
ask  Him.  In  the  illumination  granted  by  the  Spirit,  he  believed 
himself  to  discern  directly  the  realities  of  faith,  disclosed  to  the 
mind's  eye.  Vilified  as  an  heretical  dreamer  by  the  Lutheran 
clergy  about  him,  his  sincere  piety,  as  well  as  philosophic  depth,  have 
been  recognized  since  by  men  as  widely  different  from  one  another 
in  their  mental  qualities  as  Law,  Coleridge,  and  Hegel.  Of  his 
unaffected  devotion  he  gave  abundant  proof.  The  circumstances 
of  his  death  were  characteristic.  A  few  hours  before  it  occun-ed 
— it  was  on  a  Sunday — he  seemed  to  hear  sweet  music,  and  shortly 
before  he  expired,  he  bade  good-by  to  his  wife  and  children,  say- 
ing :  "Now  I  am  going  to  Paradise." 

If  exalted  religious  emotion,  blissful  experiences  of  the  reality 
of  the  heavenly  world  and  of  the  objects  of  faith,  are  to  be  called 
mystical,  then  this  term  may  be  applied  to  many  whose  vigor  and 


650  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

clearness  of  intellect  have  never  been  questioned.  The  tone  of 
Puritan  piety  was,  in  a  certain  sense,  severe.  The  religious  life 
of  the  Pui'itan  was  pervaded  by  conscientiousness.  He  demanded 
a  reason  for  what  he  was  to  believe.  He  shunned  extravagances 
Jonathan  ^^  fcchug  and  exprcssiou.  Yet,  in  Jonathan  Edwards, 
Edwards.  ^  typical  Puritau  of  New  England,  we  find  an  enthusiasm 
of  devotion  to  which  we  must  resort  for  a  parallel  to  the  lives  of 
the  holiest  of  mediaeval  saints.  On  a  certain  day,  in  his  early 
youth,  he  "  walked  abroad  "  in  his  father's  pasture.  These  are  his 
own  words  : 

"As  I  was  walking  there,  and  looking  up  in  the  sky  and  clouds,  there  came 
into  my  mind  so  sweet  a  sense  of  the  glorious  majesty  and  grace  of  God,  that 
I  knew  not  how  to  express.  I  seemed  to  see  them  both  in  a  sweet  conjunc- 
tion ;  majesty  and  meekness  joined  together  ;  it  was  a  sweet  and  gentle  and 
holy  majesty,  and  also  a  majestic  sweetness,  an  awful  sweetness  ;  a  high  and 
great  and  holy  gentleness. 

"  God's  excellency,  his  wisdom,  his  purity  and  love  seemed  to  appear  in 
everything  ;  in  the  sun  and  moon  and  stars  ;  in  the  clouds  and  blue  sky ; 
in  the  grass,  flowers,  trees  ;  in  the  water  and  all  nature,  which  used  greatly  to 
fix  my  mind.  I  often  used  to  sit  and  view  the  moon  for  a  long  time,  and  in 
the  day  spent  much  time  in  viewing  the  clouds  and  sky  to  behold  the  sweet 
glory  of  God  in  these  things,  in  the  meantime  singing  forth  with  a  low  voice 
my  contemplations  of  the  Creator  and  Redeemer." 

"I  spent  most  of  my  time,"  he  says,  "in  thinking  of  divine 
things,  year  after  year  ;  often  walking  alone  in  the  woods,  and  soli- 
tary places,  for  meditation,  sohloquy,  and  prayer,  and  converse 
with  God  ;  and  it  was  always  my  manner,  at  such  times,  to  sing 
forth  my  contemplations."  An  incident,  which  occurred  at  a  some- 
what later  time,  is  thus  related  by  him  : 

"Once,  as  I  rode  out  into  the  woods  for  my  health,  in  1737,  having 
alighted  from  my  horse  in  a  retired  place,  as  my  manner  commonly  has  been, 
to  walk  for  divine  contemplation  and  prayer,  I  had  a  view,  that  for  me  was 
extraordinary,  of  the  glory  of  the  Son  of  God,  as  Mediator  between  God  and 
man,  and  his  wonderful,  great,  full,  pure,  and  sweet  grace  and  love,  and 
meek  and  gentle  condescension.  This  grace  that  appeared  so  calm  and  sweet, 
appeared  also  great  above  the  heavens.  The  person  of  Christ  appeared  ineffa- 
bly excellent,  with  an  excellency  great  enough  to  swallow  up  all  thought  and 
conception — which  continued,  as  near  as  I  can  judge,  about  an  hour  ;  which 
kept  me  the  greater  part  of  the  time  in  tears,  and  weeping  aloud.  I  felt  an 
ardency  of  soul  to  be,  what  I  know  not  otherwise  how  to  express,  emptied  and 
annihilated ;  to  lie  in  the  dust,  and  to  be  full  of  Christ  alone ;  to  love  him 
with  a  holy  and  pure  love  ;  to  trust  in  him  ;  to  live  upon  him ;  to  serve  and 
follow  him  ;  and  to  be  perfectly  sanctified  and  made  pure,  with  a  div-ine  and 
heavenly  purity.  I  have,  several  other  times,  had  experiences  of  very  much 
of  the  same  nature,  and  which  have  had  the  same  effects." 


164S-18S7.]   CHRISTIAN  PIETY  AND  CHRISTIAN  PHILANTHROPY.    651 

Edwards  is  by  no  means  the  only  Puritan  in  whom  Calvinistic 
doctrine  was  united  with  ecstatic  experiences.  Samuel  Hopkins, 
Samuel  Hop-  another  saintly  divine  of  New  England,  records  intuitions 
^°^-  and  emotions  which  he  experienced  in  his  youth  : 

"As  I  was  in  my  closet  one  evening,  while  I  was  meditating  and  in  my 
devotions,  a  new  and  wonderful  scene  opened  to  my  view.  I  had  a  sense  of 
the  being  and  presence  of  God  as  I  never  had  before  ;  it  being  more  of  a  re- 
ality, and  more  affecting  and  glorious  than  I  had  ever  before  perceived.  And 
the  character  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  mediator,  came  into  view,  and  appeared 
such  a  reality  and  so  glorious,  and  the  way  of  salvation  by  him  so  wise,  im-. 
portant  and  desirable,  that  I  was  astonished  at  myself  that  I  had  never  seen 
these  things  before,  which  were  so  plain,  pleasing,  and  wonderful.  I  longed 
to  have  all  see  and  know  these  things  as  they  now  appeared  to  me." 

Hopkins,  when  a  student  in  Yale  College,  was  led  to  begin  a 
Christian  life,  partly  by  the  influence  of  David  Brainerd  (1718- 
1747),  who  became  a  celebrated  missionary  to  the  Indians.  The 
convert  thus  made  became  a  leading  theologian  in  New  England, 
and  was  one  of  the  earliest  opponents  of  slavery  and  the  slave-trade. 

From  the  recent  history  of  the  Church  may  be  drawn  many 
illustrations  of  the  power  of  an  earnest  inculcation  of  the  truths 
Power  of  °^  ^^^'  ^^"-^  °^  reconciliation  through  Christ,  to  penetrate 
evangelical      the  heart,  and  to  alter  the  bent  of  men's  lives.     Commu- 

preacning. 

nities,  either  indifferent  or  hostile  to  preaching  of  this 
character,  have  been  moved  by  it  in  a  degree  to  occasion  surprise. 
This  is  not  true  of  the  uncultivated  class  only.  The  like  effect  has 
been  seen  in  academic  societies.  Where  the  teaching  may  be  open 
to  criticism,  either  as  lacking  a  just  insight  into  the  relations  of 
Christian  truth  to  philosophy,  or  in  that  genial  tone  which  is  not 
inconsistent  with  plain  and  pointed  speech,  these  defects  have  been 
neutralized  by  the  force  that  inheres  in  the  message  of  the  gospel, 
if  uttered  with  the  accents  of  conviction.  At  the  University  of 
Cambridge,  in  England,  Simeon,  one  of  the  chief  found- 
ers of  the  Evangelical  School  in  the  English  Church,  had 
a  career  which  strikingly  confirms  the  foregoing  statements.  He 
lived  to  overcome  the  general  aversion  and  contempt  with  which 
he  was  at  first  met.  Bishop  Wilson,  of  Calcutta,  thus  spoke  of  him, 
shortly  after  his  death  : 

"Contrast  the  commencement  and  the  close  of  his  course.  He  stood  for 
many  years  alone  ;  he  was  long  opposed,  ridiculed,  shunned  ;  his  doctrines 
were  misrepresented  ;  his  little  peculiarities  of  voice  and  manner  were  satir- 
ized ;  disturbances  were  frequently  raised  in  his  church  ;  he  was  a  person  not 


652  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

taken  into  account,  nor  considered  in  the  light  of  a  regular  clergyman  of  the 
Church.  Such  was  the  beginning  of  things.  But  mark  the  close.  For  the 
last  portion  of  his  ministry  all  was  rapidly  changing.  He  was  invited  repeat- 
edly to  take  courses  of  sermons  before  the  university.  The  same  great  prin- 
ciples that  he  preached  were  avowed  from  almost  every  pulpit  in  Cambridge. 
His  church  was  crowded  with  young  students.  .  .  .  The  writer  of  these 
lines  can  never  forget  the  imjiression  made  on  his  mind  by  the  appearance  of 
the  church  when  Mr.  Simeon  delivered  one  of  his  sermons  on  the  Holy  Spirit 
before  that  learned  university,  about  six  years  since.  The  vast  edifice  was 
literally  crowded  in  every  part.  The  heads  of  houses,  the  doctors,  the  mas- 
ters of  arts,  the  bachelors,  the  undergraduates,  the  congregation  from  the  town, 
seemed  to  vie  with  each  other  in  eagerness  to  hear  the  aged  and  venerable 
man.  His  figure  is  now  before  me.  His  fixed  countenance,  his  bold  and  yet 
respectful  manner  of  address,  his  admirable  delivery  of  a  well-prepared  dis- 
course, his  pointed  appeal  to  the  different  classes  of  his  auditory,  the  mute  at- 
tention with  which  they  hung  upon  his  lips,  all  composed  the  most  solemn 
scene  I  had  ever  witnessed.  And  at  his  death,  when  did  either  of  our  uni- 
versities pay  such  a  marked  honor  to  a  private  individual  ?  " 

An  analogous  effect  was  produced  in  a  German  academic  com- 
munity by  Tboluck,  a  preacher  of  quite  different  personal  traits, 
and  with  a  theology  in  important  respects  unlike  that 
luck,'  1799- "'  of  Simeon.  He  was  called  to  be  professor  at  Halle  in 
1877.  1826,  when  the  university  there  was  under  the  control 

of  Rationalism.  Stigmatized  as  a  "pietist,"  he  was  met  at  the 
threshold  by  demonstrations  of  dislike  and  contempt.  His  preach- 
ing and  teaching  aroused  a  virulent  opposition.  But  this  by  degrees 
gave  way  ;  and,  long  before  he  died,  he  saw  the  university,  owing 
to  a  great  extent  to  his  exertions  and  influence,  in  sympathy  with 
the  Evangelical  cause.  From  his  side  a  multitude  of  students 
went  forth  to  disseminate  the  truth  which  he  had  so  fervently  taught 
them  in  personal  converse,  from  the  pulpit,  and  from  his  academic 
chair. 

For  illustrations  of  the  power  of  the  gospel,  in  these  later  times, 
to  work  out  great  results  in  individual  experience,  and,  through  the 
influence  upon  society,  of  believers,  animated  by  the  Christian  spirit, 
the  reader  must  resort  to  the  volumes  of  Christian  biography.  It 
is  only  through  the  details  of  personal  history  that  a  vivid  imjDres- 
sion  is  gained  of  the  jDOwer  that  is  stored  up  in  the  gospel,  now  as 
in  the  past,  to  inspire  the  human  soul  with  affections  and  hopes  that 
reach  into  the  world  unseen,  and  to  furnish  the  motives  and  means 
of  social  reform.  A  single  example  may  here  be  referred  to — that 
ThDiiias  of  Chalmers,  the  renowned  preacher  of  Scotland.  He 
Chalmers.  ^^^  ^  ^^^^  robust  in  his  mental  as  well  as  physical  con- 
stitution, a  man  of  a  clear  head  as  well  as  a  warm  heart,  against 


1648-18S7.]    CHRISTIAN  PIETY  AND  CHRISTIAN  PHILANTHROPY.    653 

whom  the  accusation  of  morbid  natural  tendencies,  "which  is  often 
made  against  devout  men,  could  never  be  brought.  It  will  be  re- 
membered that  he  was,  moreover,  a  mathematician  of  uncommon 
ability,  versed,  also,  in  natural  science  and  in  political  economy. 
In  1803,  he  became  the  pastor  of  Kilmany,  a  parish  nine  miles 
from  St.  Andrew's.  He  inculcated  in  his  sermons  the  maxims  of 
morality,  but  the  practical  results  of  his  preaching  were  small. 
At  length  the  death  of  several  relatives,  and  a  severe  attacli  of 
illness,  from  which  he  fully  recovered,  induced  him  to  reflect  on 
the  foundations  of  his  own  religious  character,  and  on  the  need 
of  a  spirit  of  faith  and  hope  which  he  was  conscious  of  not  pos- 
sessing. A  radical  change  now  took  place  in  his  views  and  feel- 
ings respecting  Christ  and  the  way  of  salvation.  The  character 
and  effect  of  it  are  thus  described  by  himself  in  an  address  to  the 
parish  of  Kilmany,  in  1815  : 

"And  here  I  can  but  record  the  effect  of  an  actual,  though  undesigned, 
experiment  which  I  prosecuted  for  upwards  of  twelve  years  among  you.  For 
the  greater  part  of  that  time  I  could  expatiate  on  the  meanness  of  dishonesty, 
on  the  villainy  of  falsehood,  on  the  despicable  evils  of  calumny  ;  in  a  word, 
upon  all  those  deformities  of  character  which  awaken  the  natural  indignation 
of  the  human  heart  against  the  pests  and  disturbers  of  human  society.  Now, 
could  I,  upon  the  strength  of  these  warm  expostulations,  have  got  a  thief  to 
give  up  his  stealing,  and  the  evil-speaker  his  censoriousness,  and  the  liar  liis 
deviations  from  the  truth,  I  should  have  felt  the  repose  of  one  who  has 
gotten  his  ultimate  object.  It  never  occurred  to  me  that  all  this  might  have 
been  done,  and  yet  the  soul  of  every  hearer  have  remained  in  full  .alienation 
from  God  ;  and  that  even  could  I  have  established  in  the  bosom  of  one  who 
stole,  such  a  principle  of  abhorrence  at  the  meanness  of  dishonesty,  that  he 
was  prevailed  upon  to  steal  no  more,  he  might  still  have  retained  a  heart  as  com- 
pletely unturned  to  God,  and  as  totally  unpossessed  by  a  principle  of  love  to  him 
as  before.  In  a  word,  though  I  might  have  made  him  a  more  upright  and 
honorable  man,  I  might  have  left  him  as  destitute  of  the  essence  of  religious 
principle  as  ever.  But  the  interesting  fact  is,  that  during  the  whole  of  that 
period,  in  which  I  made  no  attempt  against  the  natural  enmity  of  the  mind  to 
God  ;  while  I  was  inattentive  to  the  way  in  which  that  enmity  is  dissolved,  even 
by  the  free  ofEer  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  believing  acceptance  on  the  other 
of  the  gospel  salvation  ;  while  Christ,  through  whose  blood  the  sinner,  who 
by  nature  stands  afar  off,  is  brought  near  to  the  heavenly  law  giver  whom  he 
has  offended,  was  scarcely  ever  spoken  of,  or  spoken  of  in  such  a  way  as 
stripped  him  of  all  the  importance  of  his  character  and  offices — even  at  this 
time,  I  certainly  did  press  the  reformations  of  honor  and  truth  and  integrity 
among  my  people,  but  I  never  once  heard  of  any  such  reformations  having 
been  effected  among  them.  If  there  was  anything  brought  about  in  this  way, 
it  was  more  than  I  ever  got  any  account  of.  I  am  not  sensible  that  all  the 
vehemence  with  which  I  urged  the  virtues  and  the  proprieties  of  social  life 
had  the  weight  of  a  feather  on  the  moral  habits  of  my  parishioners.     And  it 


654  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

was  not  till  I  got  impressed  by  the  utter  alienation  of  the  heart,  in  all  its  de- 
sires and  affections,  from  God ;  it  was  not  till  reconciliation  to  him  became 
the  distinct  and  pre-eminent  object  of  my  ministerial  exertions  ;  it  was  not 
till  I  took  the  scriptural  way  of  laying  the  method  of  reconciliation  before 
them  ;  it  was  not  till  the  free  offer  of  forgiveness  through  the  blood  of  Christ 
was  urged  upon  their  acceptance  ;  the  Holy  Spirit,  given  through  the  chan- 
nel of  Christ's  mediatorship  to  all  who  ask  him,  was  set  before  them  as  the 
unceasing  object  of  their  dependence  and  their  prayers  ;  in  one  word,  it  was 
not  till  the  contemplations  of  my  people  were  turned  to  these  great  and  es- 
sential elements  in  the  business  of  a  soul  providing  for  its  interests  with  God 
and  the  concerns  of  its  eternity,  that  I  ever  heard  of  these  subordinate  ref- 
ormations, which  aforetime  made  the  earnest  and  the  zealous,  but,  I  am 
afraid,  at  the  same  time,  the  ultimate  object  of  my  earlier  ministrations.  Ye 
servants,  whose  scrupulous  fidelity  has  now  attracted  the  notice,  and  drawn 
forth  in  my  hearing  a  delightful  testimony  from  your  masters,  what  mischief 
ye  would  have  done  had  your  zeal  for  doctrines  and  sacraments  been  accom- 
panied by  the  sloth  and  remissness,  and  what,  in  the  prevailing  tone  of  moral 
relaxation,  is  accounted  the  allowable  purloining  of  your  earlier  days  !  But  a 
sense  of  your  heavenly  master's  eye  has  brought  another  influence  to  bear 
upon  you  ;  and  while  you  are  thus  striving  to  adorn  the  doctrine  of  your 
God  and  Saviour  in  all  things,  you  may,  poor  as  j-ou  are,  reclaim  the  great 
ones  of  the  land  to  the  acknowledgment  of  the  faith.  You  have,  at  least, 
taught  me,  that  to  preach  Christ  is  the  only  effective  way  of  preaching 
morality  in  all  its  branches  ;  and  out  of  your  humble  cottages  have  I  gath- 
ered a  lesson  which  I  pray  God  I  may  be  enabled  to  carry  with  all  its  sim- 
plicity into  a  wider  theatre,  and  to  bring  with  all  the  power  of  its  subduing 
efficacy  upon  the  vices  of  a  more  crowded  population." 

Ti-ausferred  to  the  Tron  Church  in  Glasgow,  Chalmers  became 
known  as  one  of  the  most  eloquent  preachers  in  Great  Britain. 
Chalmers  at  ^^^  ^^  1®^^  ^^is  crowcled  Congregation  to  take  charge  of 
Glasgow.  g^_  John's  Church,  in  the  same  city,  a  new  organization, 
where  the  attendants  were  mostly  working  people,  and  where  he 
had  the  opportunity  to  carry  out  cherished  plans  for  pastoral  visi- 
tation, for  systematic  instruction  by  the  establishment  of  schools, 
and  of  other  agencies  by  which  the  gospel  could  be  carried  to 
the  mass  of  the  people  and  into  every  household.  His  untiring 
labors  were  crowned  with  wonderful  success.  All  his  schemes,  it 
should  be  observed,  for  the  aid  of  the  poor  were  as  judicious  as 
they  were  kind.  The  needy  were  trained  to  depend  as  far  as  pos- 
sible on  themselves.  The  great  things  that  were  done  in  Glasgow, 
Chalmers  tried  to  have  done  everywhere  in  Scotland.  The  leader  in 
the  organization  of  the  Free  Church,  an  orator  in  the  pulpit  who 
preached  the  truths  of  the  gospel  with  a  fervor  which  thrilled  the 
multitudes  that  thronged  to  hear  him  wherever  he  went,  and  a 
teacher,  both  of  doctrinal  theology,  and  of  religion  in  its  relations 


1648-1887.]    CHRISTIAN  PIETY  AND  CHRISTIAN  PHILANTHROPY.    655 

to  science  and  to  economical  problems,  lie  exerted  an  influence,  too 
great  to  be  measured,  upon  his  country  and  the  generation  to 
which  he  belonged.  Yet  it  is  plain  from  the  record  of  his  life  that 
the  secret  of  his  power,  the  force  that  kindled  into  life  all  his  talents 
and  acquisitions,  was  in  that  experience  which  moulded  his  spirit 
anew,  in  the  parish  at  Kilmany. 

The  more  consistent  and  complete  casting  away  of  the  ascetic 
ideal  is  a  characteristic  of  Protestant  piety  in  recent  times.  Occa- 
sionally, the  strong  influence  of  that  ideal  continued  to  be  mani- 
fest. This  is  a  peculiarity  and  a  defect  of  a  religious  work,  which 
has  before  been  mentioned,  Law's  "Serious  Call," — respecting  which 
a  late  writer  remai-ks  :  "  No  room  is  left  for  any  of  the  great  inter- 
ests, political,  social,  artistic,  scientific,  which  exercise  and  train 
the  faculties  of  mankind,  and  are  the  cement  and  adornment  of 
civilized  life  ;  they  belong  to  the  world,  and  with  the  world  they 
must  be  renounced."  But  the  ascetic  ideal  has  more  and  more 
ceased  to  tinge  the  conceptions  formed  of  the  Christian  character. 
While  this  change  has  been  taking  place,  there  has  been  a  growing 
disposition  to  carry  the  work  of  reform  into  every  department  of 
human  life. 

During  the  century  past,  Chi'istian  activity  has  been  exerted, 
more,  perhaps,  than  ever,  in  various  forms  of  philanthropy,  which 
relate  not  only  to  the  spiritual  well-being  of  men,  but 
also  to  their  temporal  welfare  and  comfort.  In  the  eigh- 
teenth century,  there  was  a  strong  humanitarian  impulse  at  the  root 
of  the  revolutionary  uprisings  and  of  the  struggle  for  human  rights. 
The  evangelical  revivals,  contemporaneous,  or  subsequent  to  these 
political  movements,  had  the  effect  of  stimulating  the  development 
of  the  forms  of  benevolence  to  which  reference  has  been  made.  An 
"  enthusiasm  of  humanity  "  gi'adually  arose,  truly  Christian  in  its 
sources,  which  has  sought  to  lighten  the  burdens  of  all  classes 
whose  earthly  lot  is  adapted  to  excite  compassion.  One  side  of  this 
philanthropy  has  been  manifest  in  the  growing  aversion  to  cruelty 
of  every  kind,  even  to  that  negative  cruelty  which  consists  in  the 
neglect  of  the  unfortunate  whom  it  is  possible  to  relieve.  In  a 
thousand  ways,  endeavors  have  been  put  forth  to  alleviate  human 
suffering,  including  even  that  suffering  of  criminals  which  is  not 
requisite  for  their  restraint  and  reformation,  oi*,  in  the  case  of 
capital  offences,  to  put  an  end  to  their  lives.  A  peculiarity  of 
philanthropic  activity  is  the  tendency  to  associated  effort.  Socie- 
ties are  formed  for  a  great  variety  of  specific  benevolent  woi'ks.  The 
existence  of  associations  for  the  prevention  of  cruelty  to  animals 


656  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA,  [Pekiod  IX. 

is  a  sign  of  tlie  prevalent  recoil  from  the  infliction  of  pain,  even 
upon  the  lowest  of  sentient  beings,  and  of  the  habit  of  prosecuting 
labors  of  benevolence  by  organized  effort. 

Among  the  fruits  of  Christian  benevolence  which  are  worthy  of 
special  remark,  is  the  institution  of  Sunday-schools.  In  the  town 
Sunday-  ^^  Glouccster,  in  England,  there  was  a  pin-factory  where 
schools.  numerous  children  were  employed,  either  living  there, 

or  from  neighboring  places.  They  gathered  in  the  streets  on  Sun- 
days, and  their  filthy  attire,  their  coarse,  rough  ways,  and  their 
Kaikes  profanity,  drew  to  them  the  attention  and  the  j^ity  of 

1T35-1811.  Eobert  Kaikes,  an  intelligent  printer,  and  publisher  of  a 
newspaper.  In  1781,  he  hired  several  women  to  open  schools  for 
them  on  Sundays,  and  he  persuaded  the  children  to  attend.  So 
marked  with  good  sense  were  his  arrangements  that  the  schools 
were  highly  successful  in  securing  the  reform  and  good  conduct 
of  the  pupils.  The  fame  of  the  experiment  spread  abroad.  Sim- 
ilar schools  were  established  in  many  other  towns  and  cities.  A 
very  im^Dortant  improvement  was  the  secui'ing  of  volunteer  teach- 
ers, who  did  their  work  from  love,  without  compensation.  Under 
Wesley's  influence,  the  Methodists  had  begun  to  give  Sunday-school 
instruction  in  this  way.  The  school  founded  by  Eaikes  was  for  the 
230or  alone  ;  but  as  the  institution  spread  over  Great  Britain  and 
the  United  States,  children  of  all  classes  became  the  recij)ients  of 
instruction  in  connection  with  it.  Since  1864,  Sunday-schools  have 
been  introduced  into  Germany. 

In  i^romoting  improvement  in  the  condition  of  prisons  and  in 
the  treatment  of  prisoners,  an  important  branch  of  Cliristian  be- 
john  Howard  nevolcucc,  great  sei-vices  were  rendered  by  John  How- 
1726-1 7'JO.  g^j.^1^  jjg  fully  deserves  the  title  of  "the  Philanthropist," 
which  is  commonly  affixed  to  his  name.  On  a  voyage  to  Spain,  he 
was  captured  by  a  French  privateer  and  taken  into  Brest.  There 
the  way  in  which  prisoners  of  war  were  treated  made  a  strong  im- 
pression on  his  mind.  Appointed,  in  1773,  high  sheriff  of  Bedford, 
he  investigated  the  condition  of  the  jail  there,  and  then  visited 
many  other  prisons  in  England  and  Wales.  He  was  shocked  by 
the  filthy,  unhealthy  condition  in  which  he  found  them,  and  by  the 
evils  that  grew  out  of  the  dependence  of  the  jailors  for  their  sup- 
port on  the  fees  which  they  could  extort  from  their  inmates.  Pris- 
oners who  had  served  out  their  time  were  often  compelled  to  stay 
in  prison  for  a  long  period,  merely  from  want  of  means  to  dis- 
charge these  dues.  By  laborious  exertions,  Howard  procured  the 
enactment  of  laws  giving  a  fixed  stipend  to  the  keej^ers  of  prisons. 


1648-18S7.]   CHRISTIAN  PIETY  AND  CHRISTIAN  PHILANTHROPY.    C57 

He  undertook,  at  his  own  cost,  extensive  journeys  through  France, 
Germany,  and  other  countries  on  the  Continent,  that  he  might 
ascertain,  by  personal  inspection,  the  methods  used  in  the  construc- 
tion of  prisons  and  their  management.  In  these  inquiries  he 
avoided  no  danger  to  health  or  life,  in  order  to  possess  himself  of 
exact  and  complete  information.  The  effect  of  his  reports  was  the 
enactment  of  laws  in  England  for  the  better  regulation  of  prisons, 
with  a  view  to  the  reformation  of  prisoners  and  their  training  in 
habits  of  industry.  In  the  closing  part  of  his  life,  Howard  under- 
took other  long  and  toilsome  journeys  for  the  purpose  of  inquiring 
into  the  spread  of  the  plague,  and  other  contagious  diseases,  and 
of  devising  means  of  preventing  it.  He  visited  numerous  laza- 
rettos, and  even  sailed  in  a  foul  ship  from  Smyrna  to  Venice — which 
was  attacked  by  pirates  on  the  voyage — in  order  to  have  a  personal 
experience  of  quarantine  discipline.  Finally,  on  his  way  to  Con- 
stantinople, he  died  in  Cherson,  on  the  Black  Sea,  from  attending 
a  girl  who  was  sick  of  a  camp  fever.  His  courage  was  equal  to  his 
benevolence.  Utterly  free  from  ambition,  he  desired  no  praise  and 
no  memorial  of  his  kind  deeds.  "  Give  me  no  monument ;  "  "  let 
me  be  forgotten,"  were  his  words — the  words  of  one  who  deHghted 
to  do  good  for  its  own  sake. 

About  twenty  years  after  the  death  of  Howard  the  work  of 
prison  reform  was  taken  up  anew  by  a  group  of  men  and  women, 
Elizabeth  Fry.  Several  of  whom  were  of  the  Society  of  Friends.  Of 
1780-1845.  ^ijgse  it  was  Ehzabeth  Gurney  Fry  by  whom  the  most 
striking  work  of  benevolence  was  achieved.  The  Acts  of  Parlia- 
ment had  become,  to  a  great  extent,  a  dead  letter.  The  prisons 
in  which  offenders  of  both  sexes  were  immured  were  damp  and 
loathsome.  "  Dirt  and  disease  abounded ;  and  even  where  the 
building  contained  wards  and  yards,  the  women  were  imperfectly 
separated  from  the  men,  whilst  idleness,  gambling,  drinking,  and 
swearing  were  habitual  amongst  them."  The  prisons  were  crowded, 
"for  crime  had  enormously  increased,  and  convictions  had  more 
than  doubled  within  the  ten  preceding  years  " — 1806  to  1816. 
Mrs.  Fry's  work  began  in  the  women's  department  of  the  Newgate 
prison.  In  this  place,  there  were  huddled  together  hundreds  of 
offenders  of  very  different  grades  of  guilt,  with  their  children,  who 
were  almost  naked  and  perishing  for  want  of  food,  air,  and  exer- 
cise. The  inmates  of  this  place  were  "in  an  unchecked  condition 
of  idleness,  riot,  and  vice  of  every  description."  They  exhibited  a 
scene  of  discord  and  violence  which  it  was  terrible  to  witness.  On 
her  second  visit,  Mrs.  Fry,  at  her  own  requestj  was  left  alone 


^58  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

amongst  the  women  for  some  hours.  She  read  to  them  the  parable 
of  the  lord  of  the  vineyard,  in  the  twentieth  chapter  of  Matthew. 
'  She  added  remarks  on  the  eleventh  hour,  and  on  the  willingness  of 
Christ  to  save  sinners,  even  the  most  depraved.  "  Some  asked 
who  Christ  was  ;  others  feared  that  their  day  of  salvation  was 
past."  To  Mrs.  Fry's  proposal  that  there  should  be  a  school  set 
up  for  the  children,  their  mothers  thankfully  consented,  and 
selected  a  governess,  a  young  woman  who  had  been  sentenced  for 
stealing  a  watch.  She  was  one  of  the  first  converts  to  Christ. 
Mrs.  Fry,  from  time  to  time,  visited  those  who  were  sentenced  to 
be  hanged — some  of  them  for  forgery,  committed  under  circum- 
stances of  aggravated  temptation.  To  these  she  carried  the  mes- 
sages of  the  gospel  with  consoling  effect.  The  idea  that  industry 
and  order  could  be  brought  into  Newgate  was  regarded  by  the 
officers  of  the  prison  as  visionary  ;  but  by  her  personal  influence, 
with  the  assistance  of  others  whose  aid  she  secured,  she  wrought 
such  a  transformation  of  character  and  behavior  among  the 
female  convicts  as  seemed  little  short  of  miraculous.  The  prison 
was  visited  by  large  numbers,  including  persons  of  the  highest 
rank,  to  see  with  their  own  eyes  the  wonders  which  had  been 
accomplished.  The  reforms  which  Mrs.  Fry  effected  spread  to 
other  places.  By  her  efforts  a  most  beneficent  change  was  made 
in  the  arrangements  of  the  ships  for  transporting  convicts,  and  in 
the  way  in  which  they  were  received  and  treated  on  landing  in  the 
penal  colonies.  Her  labors  were  not  confined  to  Great  Britain. 
She  visited  France,  Belgium,  Holland,  and  other  countries.  Her 
correspondence  in  the  interest  of  the  cause  which  she  served,  ex- 
tended to  Russia  and  Italy.  Her  recommendations  bore  good  fruit 
in  almost  all  parts  of  Europe. 

Signal  improvements  in  the  construction  of  prisons,  and  in 
their  interior  life,  have  been  effected  under  the  auspices  of  Prison 
Prison  Discipline  Societies  in  the  United  States  and  England, 

discipline.  Separate  establishments  for  the  detention,  reform,  and 
training  of  juvenile  offenders  have  been  created.  The  opposition 
to  transporting  criminals  to  the  English  colonial  communities  fi- 
nally succeeded  in  putting  an  end  to  this  practice. 

We  can  go  no  further  here  than  to  touch  briefly  on  some  of  the 
most  prominent  forms  of  philanthropy  which,  in  later  times,  have 
Reform  ot  been  the  offspring  of  Christian  feeling.  The  reform  of 
^riminai  criminal  law  kept  pace  with  the  improvement  of  jots- 
ons  and  prison-discipline.  An  impulse  to  such  a  re- 
form was  given  in  17G4  by  the  publication  of  the  little  treatise 


1648-1887.]    CHRISTIAN  PIETY  AND  CHRISTIAN  PHILANTHROPY.    059 

"  On  Crimes  and  Punishments,"  by  the  Italian  writer,  Beccaria. 
He  discussed  in  a  hicid  manner  the  design  of  legal  penalties,  and 
presented  rational  and  humane  views  respecting  them.  In  Great 
Britain,  one  of  the  leaders  in  this  species  of  law  reform  was  Sir  Sam- 
uel Eomilly  (1757-1818) ;  and  the  good  work  which  he  commenced 
was  successfully  carried  forward  by  Sir  James  Mackintosh.  The 
diminution  of  the  number  of  capital  offences  was  attended  by  a 
striking  diminution  of  crime.  Eighteous  and  humane  laws  have 
been  enacted  for  the  protection  of  women  and  children  employed 
in  mines  and  factories.  The  esjDosure  by  a  royal  commission  in 
England,  in  1842,  of  the  wretched  condition  of  women  and  chil- 
dren who  worked  in  the  mines,  resulted  in  immediate  action  by 
Parliament,  forbidding  the  employment  of  children  under  ten  and 
women  in  such  work.  The  measures  known  ■  as  Factory  Acts,  cul- 
minating in  the  Consolidating  Act  of  1878,  contained  sanitary  pro- 
Factory  visions,  regulations  for  the  safety  of  laborers,  for  the  re- 
Acts,  striction  of  the  hours  of  labor,  for  insuring  to  the 
workmen  holidays,  and  for  their  comfort  and  pecuniary  help  in 
case  of  accidents.  Other  Acts  of  Parliament  have  entered  into  the 
details  of  industrial  occupations.  Some  of  them  have  reference  to 
the  health  of  the  laborers,  others  to  the  time  and  place  of  paying 
to  them  their  wages.  We  cannot  pass  over  the  evidences  of  prog- 
ress which  appear  in  the  more  kind  and  reasonable  methods  of 
caring  for  lunatics,  and  in  the  erection  of  hospitals  and  other  in- 
stitutions in  most  Christian  countries  for  the  relief  of  different 
classes  of  sufferers  who  were  formerly  neglected.  The  measures 
which  have  been  adopted  in  modern  times,  by  public  authority  and 
by  voluntary  exertions,  for  mitigating  the  sufferings  occasioned  by 

war,  must  be  traced  to  the  influence  of  Christian  sentiment, 
^/suffer"''  The  right  of  an  invading  force  to  ravage  the  territory  of 
wS  ^^  ^^  enemy  has  seldom  been  practically  asserted  in  this 

century.  According  to  the  modern  rules  of  war,  non- 
combatants  are  not  to  be  molested.  Their  property,  if  it  is  taken, 
is  to  be  paid  for  at  its  fair  value.  It  is  no  longer  held  to  be  a  crime 
for  an  officer  to  hold  a  fortress  as  long  as  he  can.  Li  the  case  of  the 
sick  and  the  wounded,  there  has  been  a  great  change  for  the  bet- 
ter. The  ambulance  system  was  established  by  the  French,  in 
1795.  A  French  surgeon  first  devised  the  plan  of  a  corps  of 
stretcher-bearers.  By  the  European  convention  adopted  at  Ge- 
neva, in  1864,  the  wounded,  and  the  official  staff  connected  with  am- 
bulances, were  exempted  from  capture  as  prisoners  of  war.  Flor- 
ence Nightingale,  an  English  lady  who,  during  the  Crimean  "War, 


660  FRO.\[  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Pebiod  IX. 

went  out  at  the  head  of  a  company  of  volunteer  nurses  to  take 
care  of  the  sick  and  wounded,  has  been  followed  by  others  in  like 
benevolent  undertakings.  The  efforts  of  Christian  men  to  devise 
ways  for  preventing  the  occurrence  of  wars  have  not  been  without  a 
measure  of  success.  The  method  of  settling  international  disputes 
by  arbitration  is  regarded  with  increasing  favor.  It  was  adopted 
with  happy  results  at  the  close  of  the  American  Civil  "War,  for  the 
settlement  of  controversies  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United 
States.  But  the  existence  of  vast  militai-y  establishments  in  the 
Continental  countries,  draining  the  resources  of  the  inhabitants, 
and  acting  as  a  constant  provocation  to  hostilities,  still  remains  as 
a  reproach  to  Christian  civilization. 

Laws  have  been  enacted  in  most  European  countries  and  in  the 

United  States  for  the'  suppression  of  illiteracy  and  for  the  educa- 

Ertucation       ^^^^  ^^  ^^^  wholc  people  in  the  elementary  branches  of 

knowledge.     The  abolition  of  slavery  and  of  the  slave- 

Slaveryand  ,.^,.  ,,.,1  ,  ,  -r-ii- 

the  slave-  trade  IS  an  achievement  of  the  present  century.  Jiiarly  in 
the  last  century,  and  even  before,  as  soon  as  the  barbari- 
ties connected  with  the  slave-trade  were  understood,  it  began  to 
be  denounced  by  good  men  in  Great  Britain.  The  first  concert- 
ed effort  for  its  abolition  was  made  by  the  Quakers,  who,  in  1761, 
excluded  from  their  society  all  who  should  take  part  in  it.  By  the 
efforts  of  Granville  Sharp,  a  decision  was  obtained,  in  1772,  from 
Lord  Mansfield,  that  a  slave  could  not  be  held  in  England  or  car- 
ried out  of  it.  During  the  period  of  the  American  Revolution, 
anti-slavery  societies  were  formed  in  Pennsylvania  and  also  in 
France,  Lafayette  being  one  of  the  promoters  of  the  cause.  The 
slave-trade  was  prohibited  by  Denmark  through  a  law  that  took 
effect  in  1802,  by  Great  Britain  in  1807,  and  by  the  United  States 
through  an  act  which  was  passed  in  1807,  and  came  into  force  on 
January  1, 1808.  The  agitation  which  led,  in  1833,  to  the  abolition 
of  slavery  in  the  British  colonies,  was  carried  forward  by  Wilber- 
force,  Clarkson,  Buxton,  and  other  active  coadjutors.  The  found- 
ers of  the  American  Eepublic  were  in  principle  opposed  to  slaveiy. 
This  was  the  conviction  of  Washington,  who  emancipated  his  slaves 
in  his  will,  of  Jefferson,  and  Patrick  Henry,  as  well  as  of  the  states- 
men in  the  North.  For  a  long  time,  the  hope  was  entertained 
that  slavery  would  be  gradually  abolished  by  the  colonization 
of  the  freed  blacks  in  Africa.  As  was  true  of  the  English  aboli- 
tionists, in  the  earlier  stages  of  their  agitation,  some  scheme  of 
gradual  emancipation  was  alone  held  to  be  feasible.  One  of  the 
earliest   advocates   of  immediate   emancipation   in   America   was 


1648-1887.]   CHRISTIAN  PIETY  AND  CHRISTIAN  PHILANTHROPY.    661 

William  Lloyd  Garrison.  This  proposal  was  resisted  by  a  large 
number  of  those  who  professed  to  desire  the  extinction  of 
slavery  by  a  slower  process.  Following  upon  the  great  increase 
of  the  slave -population,  and  the  immense  increase  in  the  cotton 
crop,  the  feeling  spread  in  the  South  that  it  was  impracticable 
to  get  rid  of  slavery,  and  Southern  Christians  sought  to  de- 
fend the  institution  on  scriptural  grounds  and  as  expedient  for 
both  races.  About  the  year  1839,  the  abolitionists  in  the  North 
divided  into  two  parties.  The  obligations  respecting  slavery, 
imposed  by  the  Federal  Constitution  on  the  Northern  States, 
were  such  as  moved  Garrison,  and  those  who  symj)athized  with 
him,  to  come  out  in  vehement  advocacy  of  disunion.  He  con- 
tended for  ojDinions  respecting  the  rights  of  women  and  non-re- 
sistance which  were  obnoxious  to  many  who  had  acted  with  him. 
His  denunciation  of  slave-holders  was  felt  by  many  to  be  unjust 
and  extravagant.  In  1840,  a  new  National  Anti-Slavery  party  was 
formed  ;  and  the  warfare  on  slavery  by  a  distinct  political  organiza- 
tion began.  The  dread  of  disunion  and  a  sense  of  the  duties 
laid  upon  the  free  States  by  the  Constitution,  were  prominent 
among  the  motives  which  led  not  a  few  Northern  ministers  and 
churches  to  stand  aloof  from  the  abolitionists,  especially  from 
those  who  followed  the  banner  of  Garrison.  Political  aboli- 
tionism, which  aimed  to  exclude  slaveiy  fi'om  the  Territories,  and 
to  shut  up  the  institution  within  the  States  where  it  was  under 
the  shield  of  local  law,  grew  in  strength,  and  finally  triumphed  in 
the  election  of  Lincoln  to  the  Presidency.  The  secession  of 
the  Southern  States  and  the  overthrow  of  the  Confederacy  which 
they  formed,  were  followed  by  the  Constitutional  Amendments 
which  prohibit  slavery  everywhere  in  the  United  States.  Thus — 
not,  however,  without  a  bloody  civil  war — liberty  for  all  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  land,  and  union,  were  both  secured.  Since  the  war, 
praiseworthy  efforts  have  been  made,  involving  large  outlays  of 
money,  for  the  Christian  education  of  the  emancipated  blacks. 

One  of  the  most  notable  efforts  of  modern  philanthropy  is  the 
moral  crusade  against  the  vice  of  drunkenness.  The  temperance 
The  temper-  rcform  has  achieved  the  largest  results  in  Great  Britain 
ance  reform,  ^^^j  ^^  ^j^g  United  Statcs.  The  exertions  of  a  host  of 
lecturers  and  of  countless  societies  have  been  seconded  by  various 
legislative  measures  for  preventing  or  checking  the  traffic  in  in- 
toxicating liquor.  As  an  additional  security  for  the  tempted,  the 
pledge  of  total  abstinence  has  been  taken  probably  by  millions  of 
persons.     A  famous  leader  in  this  crusade  was  "Father  Matthew" 


QQ2  FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA.  [Period  IX. 

Theobald  Matthew — a  priest  iu  Cork,  Ireland,  who  began  hia 

labors  iu  1838.  His  work  was  first  among  the  lower  classes  in  his 
own  country,  every  district  of  which  he  visited.  He  traversed 
Great  Britain,  and  spent  two  years  in  the  United  States.  Wher- 
ever he  went,  his  exertions  were  crowned  with  success.  It  is  said 
that,  in  Glasgow,  in  one  day,  he  administered  the  pledge  to  ten 
thousand  persons. 

A  growing  sense  of  the  evils  arising  from  the  divided  condition 
of  the  Church  is  one  of  the  signs  of  the  times.  It  is  remarkable 
Christian  *^^^  ^^  Connection  with  an  increased  activity  in  building 
union.  -^p  i]^q  separate  denominations,  there  has  been  developed 

in  them,  severally,  a  disposition  to  enter  into  closer  relations  of 
fraternal  sympathy  and  iutercom-se  with  other  Christian  bodies. 
Great  doctrinal  conflicts  which  raged  at  a  former  day,  like  those  of 
Arminianism  and  Calvinism,  have  subsided.  Even  the  standing 
controversy  of  Protestantism  and  the  Church  of  Kome  is  waged 
with  a  better  appreciation  on  either  side  of  that  which  is  deserv- 
ing of  respect  in  the  adverse  party,  and  a  juster  estimate  of  the 
weight  to  be  attached  to  the  points  held  in  common.  As  one  fact 
betokening  the  disposition  of  Protestants  to  join  against  common 
foes,  instead  of  wasting  their  energies  in  mutual  contests,  mention 
TheEvangeii-  ^'-^J  ^^  made  of  the  Evangelical  Alliance.  This  was 
cat  Alliance,  formed  iu  1846  in  London  by  eight  hundred  ministers 
and  laymen,  representing  the  princii^al  Protestant  denominations 
in  Europe  and  America.  As  indicating  the  class  of  persons  whom 
it  was  thought  desirable  to  include  in  the  Alliance,  a  statement  of 
doctrine  under  nine  heads  was  sanctioned.  Co-ordinate  branches 
of  the  Alliance  were  formed  in  different  countries.  By  the  Ameri- 
can branch  "  the  Divine-human  person  and  atoning  work "  of 
Christ  was  declared  to  be  "the  heart  and  soul  of  Christianity." 
Prolonged  sessions  of  the  Alliance  have  been  held  at  intervals  in 
Europe.  It  met  in  New  York  in  1873.  At  these  meetings  there 
have  been  convened  persons  eminent  for  learning  and  piety,  speak- 
ing different  languages,  and  worshipping  under  varying  creeds  and 
forms.  It  is  not  chiefly,  however,  in  public  movements  of  this  sort 
that  the  yearning  of  Christian  people  for  closer  relations  and  direct 
co-operation  has  expressed  itself.  In  America  and  Great  Bi-itain, 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  in  numerous  places  has 
drawn  into  its  membership  a  multitude  of  persons  from  different 
denominations.  Branches  of  it  have  been  established  on  the  Con- 
tinent of  Europe,  and  even  in  the  East,  as  far  as  India  and  China. 
Affiliated  together,  and  holding  representative  conventions  at  regu- 


1648-1887.]   CHRISTIAN  PIETY  AND  CHRISTIAN  PHILANTHROPY.    663 

lar  intervals,  are  not  less  than  thirty-five  hundred  societies,  although 
the  first  organizations  grew  up  at  Montreal  and  Boston  as  recently 
as  1851.  The  active  members  are  required  to  be  members  of 
Evangelical  churches.  The  qualification  of  associate  members  is 
good  moral  character.  The  first  object  of  the  Association  is  de- 
fined to  be  "  the  salvation  of  young  men  through  faith  in  Christ." 
With  this  is  connected  the  promotion  of  "their  intellectual,  social, 
and  spiritual  welfare,"  through  agencies  which  are  stamped  with  a 
religious  character.  The  work  done  by  these  societies  is,  to  a  large 
extent,  distinctively  Christian  work — work  that  pertains  to  the 
Church  of  Christ.  It  is  by  such  undercurrents  that  the  drift  of 
the  times  is  indicated,  quite  as  truly  as  by  noisy  movements  on  the 
surface.  The  existence  of  this  great  international  Association  is 
only  one  of  the  signs  of  the  times  which  point  in  the  same  direc- 
tion. The  barriers  of  sect  are  surmounted  by  the  coming  together 
of  Christians  from  different  folds  in  a  thousand  chai'itable  under- 
takings. 

In  still  other  ways,  the  spiritual  unity  of  Christian  disciples,  the 
consciousness  of  which  must  precede  any  hopeful  experiments  to 
Christian  secure  Organic  union,  is  evinced.  More  and  more,  the 
literature.  game  rcHgious  literature  finds  its  way  into  the  house- 
holds of  the  diverse  Christian  organizations.  There  are  devotional 
books  to  which  all  extend  a  welcome.  The  ''Imitation  of  Christ," 
which  is  dear  to  the  Eoman  Catholic  devotee,  deeply  impresses 
Wesley  and  Whitefield,  and  is  sent  forth  among  Scottish  Presby- 
terians with  a  commendatory  preface  by  Chalmers.  The  same 
hymns  are  sung  in  the  sanctuaries  and  at  the  firesides  of  disciples 
of  every  name. 

In  this  place,  it  is  convenient  to  speak  of  the  treasury  of  Eng- 
lish hymns,  which  may  be  said  to  be  the  creation  of  the  modern 
period.  Prior  to  Watts,  there  were  some  excellent  hymns 
Hymns.  -^vritteu  by  English  authors.  Such  are  the  Morning 
Hymn  and  the  Evening  Hymn  of  Bishop  Ken,  and  the  doxology 
which  he  composed — "Praise  God,  from  whom  all  blessings  flow." 
Such  are  the  hymns  of  Addison,  "  The  spacious  firmament  on 
high,"  and,  "  When  all  thy  mercies,  O  my  God."  But  it  was 
Watts  who  made  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  sacred  song.  Dod- 
dridge wrote,  "  Thine  earthly  Sabbaths,  Lord,  we  love,"  and  other 
hymns  of  merit.  The  most  fertile  of  all  hymn-writers  was  Chai'les 
Wesley.  "  Jesus,  lover  of  my  soul,"  is  only  one  of  a  considerable 
number  of  his  lyrics  which  are  prized  by  all  English-speaking 
Christians,     "  How  sweet  the  name  of  Jesus  sounds  "  was  one  of 


664  FROM  THE  PEACE  OP  WESTPHALIA.  [Pebiod  IX. 

the  productions  of  John  Newton,  included  in  the  "  Ohiey  Hymns  " — 
■where  appeared,  also,  the  hymns  of  Cowper,  of  which,  "  God 
moves  in  a  mysterious  way,"  is  one  of  the  best.  Anne  Steele, 
James  Montgomery,  Bowring — who  wrote,  "  Watchman,  tell  us  of 
the  night ; "  Trench,  Keble — the  author  of  "  The  Christian  Year" — 
Heber,  Faber,  Bonar,  are  only  a  few  of  the  names  of  hymn-writers 
who  have  become  well  known  to  Christian  worshippers  in  Eng- 
land and  America.  Few  hymns  are  more  prized  than  Cardinal 
Newman's  "  Lead,  kindly  light."  American  writers  have  added  to 
the  hymnals  of  all  the  churches  some  contributions  of  acknowl- 
edged worth.  Such  are  President  Dwight's  hymn,  "  I  love  thy 
kingdom,  Lord,"  and  thehynm  by  Kay  Palmer,  "  My  faith  looks  up 
to  thee." 


APPENDIX. 


L   GENERAL  COUNCILS.* 

A.D. 

I.  325.  Nicea  I.     The  Arian  Controversy. 

II.  381.  Constantinople  I.     The  Apollinarian  Controversy. 

III.  431.  Ephesus.     The  Nestorian  Controversy. 

IV.  451.  Chalcedon.     The  Eutychian  Controversy. 

V.     553.  Constantinople  II.     Controversy  respecting  the  Three  Chapters. 
VI.     680-81.  Constantinople  III.    (The  Trullan  Council).     Controversy  re- 
specting two  Wills  in  Christ. 
VII.     787.  Nicea  IL      The  Worship  of  Images.     The  first  VII.  General 

Councils  are  received  in  common  by  the  Greeks  and  the  Latins. 
Vni.     869.  Constantinople  IV.    Controversy  of  Ignatius  and  Photius.    This 
Council  was  rejected  by  the  Greeks.     Their  Vlllth.  General  Coun- 
cil was  held  in  Constantinople  in  879,  and  was  rejected  by  the 
Latins. 
The  Councils  after  the  Vllltli.  are  rejected  by  the  Greeks. 
IX.  1123.  Lateran  I.     Investiture  :  Confirms  the  Worms  Concordat. 
X.  1139.  Lateran  II.     Termination  of  a  Schism.     Condemns  the  Doc- 
trines of  Arnold  of  Brescia. 
XI.  1179.  Lateran  III.     Relating  to  Discipline.     Rules  for  the  Choice  of 
a  Pope. 
XII.  1215.  Lateran  IV.     Assertion  of  Papal  Authority. 
XIIL  1245.  Lyons  I.  (reckoned  by  some  as  Lateran  V. ).     Pope  and  Emperor : 

Deposes  Frederic  II. 
XIV.  1274.  Lyons  II.     Concessions  of  Rudolph  of  Hapsburg.     New  Rules 

for  the  choice  of  a  Pope,  etc. 
XV.  1311.  Vienne  (recognized  by   Lateran,   1512).      Suppression   of  the 

Templars,  etc. 
XVI.  1414-18.  Constance  (the  last  sessions  acknowledged   by  Rome,  the 
whole  by  France).     Condemnation  of  Huss. 
XVII.  1431-49.  Basel.    First  Twenty-five  sessions  received  by  Rome,  until  its 
removal  to  Ferrara.      The  Council   of  Florence,   1438,  regarded 
by  Rome  as  a  continuation  of  the  first  sessions  of  Basel. 
XVm.  1512-18.  Lateran  V. 

XIX.  1545-63.     Trent. 

XX.  Vatican.     Infallibility  of  the  Pope  decreed. 

[Another  order  of  the  Councils  (Basel  being  rejected) :  XV.,  Vienne  ;  XVI., 
Constance;  XVII.,  Florence  ;  XVIII. ,  Trent.  Still  another  order  (Basel  be- 
ing reckoned  as  distinct)  :  XVII. ,  Basel ;  XVIII. ,  Florence  ;  XIX. ,  Lateran  V. ; 
XX.,  Trent.  The  contested  councils  are  Sardica,  344  (considered  cecumeni- 
cal  by  the  Latins) ;  the  Trullan,  Quinisextum,  092  (received  by  Greek  Church); 
Vienne,  Pisa,  Constance,  Basel,  and  Lateran  V.  (which  within  the  Latin 
Church  are  disputed).] 

*  Altered  and  enlarged  from  Smith's  "  Church  History  in  Chronological  Tables." 


666 


APPENDIX. 


II. 

LIST  OF  POPES  FKOM  GREGORY  L  TO  LEO  XIIL=' 


Gregory  I.,  590-604 

Sabinianus,  604-606  (?) 

Boniface  III.,  607  (?) 

Boniface  IV.,  608-615  (?) 

Deusdedit,  615-618  (?) 

Boniface  V.,  619-625  (?) 

Honorius  I.,  625-638 

Severinus,  640 

John  IV.,  640-642 

Theodore  I.,  642-649 

Martin  I.,  649-653,  dep.  ;  d.  655 

Eugenius  I.,  654-657 

Vitalianus,  657-673 

Adeodatus,  672-676 

Donus  I.,  676-678 

Agatho,  678-682  (?) 

Leo  n.,  682-683  (?) 

Benedict  II.,  684-685 

John  v.,  685-686  (?) 

Oono,  686-687 

Theodorus,  687 

Sergius  I.,  687-701 

John  VI.,  701-705 

John  Vn.,  705-707 

Sisinnius,  708 

Oonstantine,  708-715 

Gregory  H.,  715-731 

Gregory  III.,  731-741 

Zacharias,  741-752 

Stephen,    752,   died  hefore   consecra- 
tion 

Stephen  H.,  752-757 

Paul  I.,  757-767 

CoNSTANTiNE,  usurper,  767-768 

Stephen  III.,  768-773 

Hadrian  I.,  773-795 

Leo  IIL,  795-816 

Stephen  IV.,  816-817 

Pascal  L,  817-824 

Eugenius  II.,  824-827 

Valentine,  827  (?) 

Gregory  IV.,  827-844  (?) 


Sergius  U.,  844-847 

Leo  IV.,  847-855 

Benedict  IH.,  855-858 

Nicholas  I.,   858-867 

Hadrian  II.,  867-873  (?) 

John  Vni.,  872-883 

Marinus,  883-884 

Hadrian  III.,  884-885 

Stephen  V.,  885-891 

Formosus,  891-896 

Boniface  VI.,  896 

Stephen  VI.,  896-897 

Romanus,  897  (?) 

Theodore  II.,  898 

John  IX.,  898-900 

Benedict  IV.,  900-903 

Leo  v.,  903,  dep. 

Christopher,  903-904,  dep. 

Sergius  III.,  904-911 

Anastasius  III.,  911-913 

Lando,  913-914 

John  X.,  914-928 

Leo  VI.,  928-929 

Stephen  VII.,  929-931 

John  XI.,  931-936 

Leo  VII.,  936-939 

Stephen  VHI.,  939-943 

Martin  III.,  or  Marinus  II.,  943-946 

Agapetus  II.,  946-955 

John  XII.,  956-963,  dep. 

Leo  VIIL,  963-965 

Benedict  V.,  964-965 
John  Xin.,  965-973 
Benedict  VL,  972-974 

Boniface  VII.,  974,   driven  into 
exile 
Donus  II.,  974 
Benedict  VU.,  975-983  (?) 
John  XrV.,  983-984 

Boniface  VII. ,  again — d.  985 
John  XV.,  never  lawfully  consecrat- 
ed, d.  985 


♦Abbreviated  from  George's  •'Chronological  Tables."     The  interrogation  mark  sijrnlflea 
doubt  or  dispute  as  to  the  date. 


APPENDIX. 


667 


John  XVI.,  985-996 

Gregory  V.,  996-999 

SUvester  U.,  999-1003 

John  XVn.,  1003 

John  XVni.,  1003-1009,  res. 

Sergius  IV.,  1009-1012  (?) 

Benedict  VIU.,  1012-1024 

John  XIX.,  1024-1033 

Benedict  IX.,  1033-1048,  res.  ;  de- 
posed 1044,  and  restored  on  death 
of  Silvester  III.  ;  sold  the  papacy 
to  Gregory  VI.  ;  restored  again  on 
death  of  Clement  II. 

Damasus  II.,  1048 

Leo  IX.,  1048-1054 

Victor  II.,  1055-1057 

Stephen  IX.,  1057-1058 

Nicholas  H.,  1058-1061 

Alexander  II.,  1061-1073 

Gregory  VH.,  1073-1085 

Victor  in.,  1086-1087 

Urban  H.,  1088-1099 

Pascal  II.,  1099-1118 

Gelasius  II.,  1118-1119 

OaUxtus  II.,  1119-1124 

Honorius  H.,  1124-1130 

Innocent  II.,  1130-1143 

Oelestine  H.,  1143-1144 

Lucius  IL,  1144-1145 

Eugenius  IIL,  1145-1153 

Anastasius  IV.,  1153-1154 

Hadrian  IV.,  1154-1159 

Alexander  IH.,  1159-1181 


Lucius  in.,  1181-1185 
Urban  III.,  1185-1187 
Gregory  VUI.,  1187 
Clement  IIL,  1187-1191 
Oelestine  III.,  1191-1198 
Innocent  IH.,  1198-1216 
Honorius  III.,  1216-1227 
Gregory  IX.,  1227-1241 
Celestine  IV.,  1241 ;  died  before  con- 
secration 
Innocent  IV.,  1243-1254 
Alexander  IV.,  1254-1261 


AHTIP0PE3. 

John  XVn.,  997-998 


Silvester  IIL,  1044 
Gregory  VI.,  1045-1046,  dep. 
Clement  H.,  1046-1047 


Clement  II.,  1046-1047 
Benedict  X.,  1058-1059,  dep. 

Clement  III.,  1080-1100 

Albert,  1102 
Silvester  IV.,  1105-1111 
Gregory  VIII.,  1118-1121 


Anacletus  n.,  1130-1138 
Gregorius,  1138 


Victor  IV.,  1159-1164 
Pascal  m.,  1164-1168 
Calixtus  III.,  1168-1178 
Innocent  in.,  1178-1180 


668 


APPENDIX. 


Urban  IV.,  1261-1264 
Clement  IV.,  1265-1268 
Vacancy  till  election  of  Gregory  X., 
1271 
Gregory  X.,  1271-1276 
Innocent  V.,  1276 

Hadrian  v.,  1276;  died  before  conse- 
cration 
John  XXI.,  1276-1277 
Nicholas  IH.,  1277-1280 
Martin  IV.,  1281-1285 
Honorius  IV.,  1285-1287 
Nicholas  IV.,  1288-1293 
Celestine  V.,  1294,  res.  ;  d.  1296 
Boniface  VHL,  1294-1303 
Benedict  XI.,  1303-1304 
Clement  V.,  1305-1314 
John  XXII.,  1316-1334 
Benedict  XH.,  1334-1343 
Clement  VI.,  1342-1352 
Innocent  VI.,  1353-1363 
Urban  V.,  1362-1370 
Gregory  XI.,  1370-1378 


In  Avignon. 


THE  GREAT  SCHISM. 


Urban  VI.,  1378-1389 
Boniface  IX.,  1389-1404 


AVIONOM. 

Clement  VIL,  1378-1394 
Benedict   XIII.,    1394- 
1423 


Innocent    VIL,    1404- 

1406 
Gregory    XII.,     1406-    Alexander    V.,    1409- 
1415,  res.  ;  d.  1419  1410 

John  XXni.,  1410-1415, 
dep.;  d.  1419 
In  1415  the  Council  of  Constance  deposed  John 
XXIII. ,  induced  Gregory  XII.  to  resign,  and  elected 

Martin   V.,  1417-1431  Clement    VIII.,    1424- 

1429,  res. 
Eugenius    IV.,     1431-    Felix  V, ,  elected  1439  by 
1447  Council  of  Basel,  res. 

1449 
Nicholas  v.,  1447-1455 
Calixtua  HI.,  1455-1458 
Pius  n.,  1458-1464 
Paul  n.,  1464-1471 
Sixtus  IV.,  1471-1484 


APPENDIX. 


Innocent  VHI.,  1484-1493 
Alexander  VI.,  1493-1503 
Pius  in.,  1503 
Julius  II.,  1503-1513 
Leo  X.,  1513-1531 
Adrian  VI.,  1533-1533 
Clement  VII.,  1533-1534 
Paul  III.,  1534-1549 
Julius  ni.,  1550-1555 
Marcellus.IL,  1555 
Paul  IV.,  1555-1559 
Pius  IV.,  1559-1565 
Pius  v.,  1566-1573 
Gregory  XIII.,  1573-1585 
Sixtus  v.,  1585-1590 
Urban  VU.,  1590 
Gregory  XIV.,  1590-1591 
Innocent  IX.,  1591 
Clement  VIII.,  1593-1605 
Leo  XI.,  1605 
Paul  v.,  1605-1631 
Gregory  XV.,  1631-1633 


Urban  VHI.,  1623-1644 
Innocent  X.,  1644-1655 
Alexander  VIL,  1655-1667 
Clement  IX.,  1667-1669 
Clement  X.,  1670-1676 
Innocent  XL,  1676-1689 
Alexander  VIIL,  1689-1691 
Innocent  XIL,  1691-1700 
Clement  XI.,  1700-1731 
Innocent  XHI.,  1731-1734 
Benedict  XHI.,  1734-1730 
Clement  XII.,  1730-1740 
Benedict  XIV.,  1740-1758 
Clement  XHI.,  1758-1769 
Clement  XIV.,  1769-1774 
Pius  VL,  1775-1799 
Pius  Vn.,  1800-1833 
Leo  Xn.,  1833-1839 
Pius  Vm.,  1839-1830 
Gregory  XVL,  1831-1846 
Pius  IX.,  1846-1878 
Leo  Xin.,  1878—         -^  'J  3 
^MA.^"j^    ^^03-    I   (^  5  4 


i^/ 


INDEX. 


Abbreviations.— K.=  king;  Q.=  queen;  Emp.  =  emperor ;  Bp.=  bishop;  Abp. 
archbishop  ;  H.  R.  E.  =  Holy  Roman  Empire. 


Abbeys.     See  Monasteries 

Abbot,  Abp.  of  Canterbury,  399 

Abbots,  113;  become  great  lords,  15.5; 
their  cupidity,  175 ;  excluded  from  the 
Upper  House  in  England,  3.55 

Abelard,  Peter,  his  career,  212  seq. ;  exalts 
reason,  213  ;  St.  Bernard  on  his  influ- 
ence, 214  ;  on  original  sin,  221  ;  on  the 
dominion  of  Satan,  ib.;  on  the  atone- 
ment, 222 
-f  Absolution,  conditioned  on  repentance, 
58 ;  the  schoolmen  on,  225 ;  relation  of, 
to  indulgences,  292 

Abubekhr,  152 

Abyssinia,  spread  of  Christianity  to,  98 ; 
the  Church  in,  594 

AcceptQation  theory,  222,  443 

Acts  of  the  Apostles,  2(5,  43 

Adam,  Augustine  and  Pelagius  on,  136 ; 
the  schoolmen  on,  220;  the  Reformers 
on,  441 ;  the  Arminians  and  Socinians 
on,  ib.     See,  also.  Fall,  Sin 

Adam,  of  St.  Victor,  238 

Adams,  John,  566,  567 

Addison,  663 

Adelbert,  151 

Adiaphoristic  controversy,  the,  424 
^  Adoptianist  controversy,  the.  178 

Adrian  VI.,  298,  300.    See,  also,  Hadrian 

Advent,  the  Second,  42,  84,  235 ;  Luther's 
view  of,  451 ;  Swedenborg  on,  509 ;  re- 
cent views  on,  639 

.iEneas  Sylvius,  his  early  career,  263.  See, 
also,  Pius  II. 

^rius,  118 

Africa,  Roman  Catholic  missionaries  in, 
583 ;  Protestant  missions  in,  594,  595 

Agapse,  37,  40,  07 

Agnes  of  Meran,  193 

Agricola,  John,  424 

Agrippa,  Herod,  14 

Ahriman,  98 

Aidan,  148 

Ainsworth,  Henry,  461 

Aistulf,  1.59 
•i  Alans,  the,  94 
-*-  Alaric,  93,  94 

Albert,  Emp.  H.  R.  E.,  241,  245 

Albert  the  Great,  205,  216,  218 

/ 


Albigenses,  the,  194,  204,  272 

Albornoz,  Cardinal,  250 

Alcuin,  151 ;  his  career,  178,  232,  237 

Aldus  Minutius,  279 

Alexander  the  Great,  9 

Alexander  Severus,  49 

Alexander  II.,  Pope,  174.  HI..  166 ;  at 
Besanfon,  189;  contest  with  Fred.  I, 
190, 191 ;  relations  to  Henry  II.  of  Eng- 
land, 190,  191  ;  his  decree  in  regard  to 
taxes,  201.  V.,  255.  VI.,  264,  266  sea., 
277.     VII.,  500 

Alexander  I.,  of  Russia,  557.     II.,  557 

Alexander,  Bp.  of  Antioch,  129 

Alexander  of  Hales,  his  career,  215;  on 
the  treasury  of  merits,  225 

Alexander  of  Parma,  345 

Alexandria,  founded,  9  ;  Jews  in,  14  ;  phil- 
osophy at,  71 ;  theological  school  at,  72, 
122 ;  see  of,  105 

Alfonso  of  Naples,  264 

Alfred  of  England,  176 

Algonquins,  the,  457,  458 

Ali,  152 

Allegorical  method  of  interpretation,  at 
Alexandria,  72,  122  ;  among  the  Protes- 
tants, 439  ;  by  Swedenborg,  508 

Allen,  Father  William,  370 

Alva,  the  Duke  of,  344,  345 

Amadeus  VHI.  (Felix  V.),  263 

AmaLric  of  Bena,  218 

Amboise,  conspiracy  of,  336;  edict  of, 
338 

Ambrose,  91 ;  rebukes  Theodosius,  101 ; 
an  upholder  of  celibacy  of  clergy,  101 ; 
made  bishop  of  Milan,  102 ;  advocates 
monasticism,  114;  against  Jovinian, 
116  ;  an  effective  preacher,  120  ;  a  hymn 
writer,  121  ;  his  career,  125;  his  influ- 
ence on  Augustine,  126 ;  on  original 
sin,  137 ;  sanctions  the  invocation  of 
angels,  141 

American  Baptist  Missionary  Union,  588 

American  Bible  Union,  564 

American  Board,  founded,  562,  588  ;  its 
work,  588  scq. 

Amencan  Episcopal  Church,  the,  567 
scq. 

Amyraut,  428 


672 


INDEX. 


Anabaptists,  the,  at  Miinster,  314  ;  in  the 
Netherlands,  341,  345;  cause  a  reac- 
tion, 415  ;  their  tenets  and  their  his- 
tory, 4~>4  aeq. 

Anacletus  I.,  antipope,  214 

Anathema,  the,  231 
■y^  "  Anchorites,"  the,  111  seq. ;    rapid    in- 
crease, 113;  their  influence,  113;  their 
extravagancies,  114 

Andover  Theological  Seminary,  562,  587 

Andrewes,  Bp.  J.,  378,  404 

Angelo,  Michael,  269,  288 

Angels,  the  Apostolic  Fathers  on,  81 ; 
the  Latin  Fathers  on,  141  ;  in  the  mid- 
dle ages,  229  ;  Swedenborg  on,  509 

Angelus,  Isaac,  194 

Anglican  theologians,  the,  431  - 

"Anglo-Catholic"  theology,  the,  510, 
550,  630 

Anglo-Saxons,  conversion  of  the,  146 

Annam,  583 

Annats,  the,  249 

Anne,  Q.  of  England,  510,  554,  574 

Anne,  of  Brittany,  266 

Anne,  of  Cleves,  355 

Annihilation  of  the  wicked,  85,  448,  640 

Anselm,  his  career,  211,  212;  on  the  be— i 
ing  of  God,  219 ;  on  faith  and  reason, 
ih  ;  on  original  sin,  220  ;  on  the  Atone- 
ment, 221,  222  ;  on  grace,  222 

Ansgar,  146,  163 

Anthony,  St.,  order  of ,  203 

Anthony  of  Thebes,  111,  112 

Anthony  of  Vendome,  K.  of  Navarre,  335, 
336,  337,  33S 

Anthusa,  110,  124 
-h  '•  Antilegomena,"  the,  79,  139 

Antinomian  controversy,  the,  424 

Antioch,  9 ;  see  of,  105 ;  theological 
school  at,  222 

"Anti-Philippists,"  the,  424 

Antisthenes,  11 

Apocalypse,  the,  44,  139,  438,  439 

Apocrypha,  the  Old  Testament,  438 
■*-  Apocryphal  writings,_74 
•^  Apollinaris,  1^ 

Apollonius  ofTyana,  603 

Apollos,  28,  43 

Apologists,  the,  7_0,  138,  635 

Apostles,  the,  18 ;  their  belief  that  the 
Messiah  had  come,  1 9 ;  their  relation 
to  the  Jewish  law,  ib. ;  arraignment  of, 
ih. ;  their  labors,  20 ;  conference  at 
Jerusalem,  22,  24 ;  legends  of,  33  ;  re- 
sults of  their  preaching,  34  ;  influence 
of,  in  the  early  Church,  37  ;  their  rela- 
tion to  rulers,  39 
■*   Apostles'  Creed,  origin  of,  67 

Apostolic  Constitutions,  66 
-f  Apostolic  succession,  54.     See,  also,  Epis- 
copacy 

Aquila,  41 

Aquinas.  Thomas,  205 ;  his  career,  216, 
217  ;  on  miracles,  219  ;  on  reason,  ih.  ; 
on  Anselm's  argument,  220  ;  on  Divine^ 
Providence  and  other  doctrines,  ib.  ; 
on  the  Atonement,  221,  222  ;  on  grace, 
222 ;    on    the   virtues,    223 ;    sanctions 


papal  infallibility,  ib.\  on  the  sacra- 
ments, 224  ;  on  the  treasury  of  merits, 
225  ;  on  ordination,  226 ;  on  war  with 
infidels,  231  ;  on  avarice,  235 ;  a  preach- 
er, 237  ;  his  political  theories  attacked 
by  Dante,  244  ;  his  theory  of  merit 
attacked  by  Luther,  293 

Arabian  schools,  the,  209,  217 ;  philoso- 
phy, 218 

Aranda,  498 

Arcadius,  94 

Archbishop,  the  term,  57 

Archdeacons,  the  power  of,  103 

Archelaus,  14 

Architecture.     See  Church  architecture 

Argyle,  487 

Ariauism,  rise  of,  129,  ISO ;  among  the 
Teutons,  92,  94,  96  ;  overcome  in  (iaul, 
97  ;  overcome  in  Spain,  157  ;  spread  of, 
in  England,  512  ;  in  New  England,  615 

Aristotle,  his  career,  11,  12;  remote 
founder  of  Scholasticism,  208  seq. ;  his 
physics  and  metaphysics  used  by  the 
schoolmen,  215  ;  his  writings  examined 
in  the  original,  280;  attacked  by  the 
anti-scholastics,  436,  4o7 

Ariiis,  129,  130 

Armada,  the  Spanish,  destruction  of,  371 

Armenia,  spread  of  Christianity  to,  98, 
99;  church  of,  rise  of  the,  134;  recent 
history  of,  559  ;  attempts  of  the  Roman 
church  to  win,  583 ;  Protestant  at- 
tempts to  reform,  593 

Armeno-Catholics,  the,  559 

Arminianism,  rise  of,  429,  430 ;  prevails 
in  the  English  Episcopal  Church,  380, 
430 ;  Methodist,  519  ;  in  New  England, 
524,  615 

Arminians,  rise  of  the,  429;  condemned 
by  the  Synod  of  Dort,  407,  429 ;  on  in- 
spiration, 439  ;  their  method  of  inter- 
pretation, ib.,  440;  on  grace  and  on 
predestination,  442 ;  on  justification 
and  on  faith,  444  ;  on  perseverance,  445 

Arminius,  James,  429,  438 

Arndt,  649 

Arnold  of  Brescia,  188,  189 

Arnold,  Abbot  of  Citeaux,  194,  205 

Arnold,  Thomas,  419,  632 

Arnulf,  172 

Art.     See  Christian  art 

Artois,  Count  of,  534.  See,  also,  Charles 
X. 

Asbury,  Francis,  576  seq. 

Ascension,  feast  of,  65 

Asceticism,  origin  of,  61  ;  growth  of,  111 
seq. ;  Protestant  rejection  of,  655 

Ascham,  Roger,  363 

"Associate  Reformed"  Presbj'terians, 
573 

Assumption,  festival  of  the,  IGO 

Assurance,  the  Reformers  on,  444, 445 

Astruc,  622 

Asylum,  right  of,  101 

Athanaric,  93 

"  Athanasian  "  Creed,  the,  133 

Athanasms,  101,l06;  his  career,  123,  130, 
131 


INDEX. 


673 


Athenagoras,  71 

Atonement,  the,  Apostolic  Fathers  on, 
83,  83 ;  Augustine  on,  141  ;  Cyril  on, 
141 ;  Anselm  on,  231 ;  Aquinas  on,  331 ; 
Abelard  on,  233 ;  Duns  Scotus  on,  223  ; 
Amyraut  on,  438;  the  Arminians  on, 
439,  443;  the  Reformers  on,  443;  the 
Socinians  on,  443  ;  Grotius  on,  443,  444 ; 
Tillotson  on,  599 ;  Schleiermacher  on, 
634 ;  Ritschl  on,  628  ;  Coleridge  on,  639 ; 
recent  views  on,  638,  639 

Attila,  95 

Augsburg  Confession,  the,  drawn  up, 
305;  adopted  in  Sweden,  312;  main 
source  of  the  Thirty-nine  Articles,  358 ; 
on  Church  and  State,  415  ;  an  authority 
in  the  Lutheran  Church,  433 ;  on  bap- 
tism, 447 

Augsburg,  Diet  of,  305 ;  Interim,  the, 
316,  317;  Peace  of,  317,  417 

Augustine,  an  upholder  of  celibacy  of 
clergy,  101  ;  promotes  the  education  of 
the  clergy,  103;  against  the  Donatists, 
109;  advocate  of  monasticism,  114; 
against  formalism,  116;  an  effective 
preacher,  120;  imbued  with  the  Pla- 
tonic spirit,  123;  his  career,  126,  127; 
his  writings,  127 ;  his  character  and  in- 
fluence, ib. ;  on  the  Trinity,  133,  441  ; 
compared  with  Pelagius,  136;  against 
Pelagianism,  id.,  137;  his  "City  of 
God,"  138;  use  of  the  Scriptures,  139; 
on  faith  and  reason,  140;  doctrinal 
views,  140-143  ;  introduces  the  doctrine 
of  purgatory,  143;  his  influence  on 
mediEeval  theology,  310 ;  main  authority 
for  Lombard's  "Sentences,"  314;  on 
slavery,  233;  hia  influence  on  Luther, 
127,  378,  291 ;  on  the  consequences  of 
the  fall,  331 

Augustine,  missionary  to  the  Anglo- 
Saxons,  147 

Augustus,  8 

Aurelius,  13 

Austria,  ecclesiastical  reform  in,  504; 
later  religious  history  of,  549 

Authorized  Version,  origin  of,  397 ;  com- 
pleted, 399,  400 

Autos  da  fe',  the,  390 

Avars,  attempt  to  convert  the,  152 

Averroes,  218 

Avignon,  245,  529 

Azucc  worship,  the,  457 

Babington,  conspiracy  of,  371 

"  Babylonian  captivity,"  the,  244,  246 ; 
close  of,  250 

Bacon,  Francis,  347,  370,  383,  383;  his 
career,  436,  437,  498 

Bacon,  Roger,  his  career,  217 

Balfour,  Walter,  617 

Ballon,  Hosea,  617 

Baltimore,  the  Lords,  477,  478 

Bancroft,  Abp.,  378,  379,  397  seq. 

Baptism,  early  customs  regarding,  41,  66, 
67  ;  doctrine  concerning,  of  the  Apos- 
tolic Fathers,  84 ;  later  view,  110,  119, 
141 ;  the  schoolmen  on,  224 ;  the  Ro- 
43 


man  Catholics  on,  444 ;  the  Reformers 
on,  447 ;  the  Irvingites  on,  555 

Baptism  of  infants,  early  practice  of,  41, 
67;  declared  necessary  to  salvation,  142, 
226 ;  its  efficacy,  224  ;  Anabaptists  on, 
424,  426 ;  Milton  on,  435  ;  the  Reform- 
ers on,  446 

Baptist  Missionary  Society,  the,  586 

Baptists,  the,  their  origin  and  rise,  424, 
426 ;  persecuted,  381  ;  in  Virginia,  475 ; 
in  Rhode  Island,  473,  476  ;  the  English, 
in  the  eighteenth  century,  523 ;  the 
General,  533  ;  the  Particular,  523 ;  in 
Denmark,  547 ;  toleration  given  to,  in 
the  United  States,  559,  560  ;  reason  for 
their  rapid  increase,  561 ;  their  history 
in  United  States,  563,  564 ;  their  mis- 
sionaries, .58.5,  590,  591,  595 

Barbarians,  the  inroads  of,  93,  94,  95,  97 

Bar-cochab,  33 

Bardas,  177 

Barnabas,  21,  22,  43 

Barnabas,  Epistle  of,  70,  79 

Barnes,  Albert,  573 

Bameveld,  John  of,  407 

Baronius,  435 

Barrow,  Isaac,  432 

Barrowe,  Henry  460,  461,  470 

Basel,  council  of,  260  seq.  ;  the  Reforma- 
tion at,  308;  confessions  of,  the,  427; 
missionary  society  at,  588 

Basil,  the  emperor,  177 

Basil  of  Ca3sarea,  101,  113;  his  ride,  114; 
his  career,  133  ;  influence  on  Ambrose, 
135  ;  influence  in  establishing  the  Ni- 
cene  theology   131 

Basilica,  the,  63,  117,  235 

Basilius,  164 

Baur,  F.  C,  626 

Baxter,  Richard,  his  theological  career, 
433  ;  on  inspiration,  439  ;  on  the  Trin- 
ity, 441 ;  on  witchcraft,  481 ;  on  Epis- 
copacy, 486  ;  trial  of,  489 

Beaton,  356,  363,  364 

Beccaria,  659 

Beda,  the  Syndic,  330 

Bede,  the  Venerable,  149,  178 

Beecher,  Edward,  637 

Beecher,  Lyman,  563,  572 

Beghards,  the,  307,  273 

Beguines,  the,  207,  272 

Belgic  Confession,  the,  427 

Belgium,  536  ;  religious  conflicts  in,  546 

Bellamy,  Joseph,  613 

Bellarmine,  Robert,  374,  435,  436,  500 

Belsham,  Thomas,  615 

Benedict  IX.,  172.  XL,  244.  XIL,  248. 
XIII. ,  353  ;  his  obstinacy,  253,  254,  855, 
257.     XIV.,  500 

Benedict,  anti-pope,  173 

Bededict  of  Nursia,  115 

Benedictines  of  St.  Maur,  412 

Benefit  of  clergy,  rise  of,  100,  101 

"Benefits  of  Christ,"  the,  385;  sup- 
pressed, 390 

Benevolence,  mediaeval,  234 

Bengel.  507 

Bentley,  Richard,  605 


674 


INDEX. 


Berengar  II.,  171 

Berengarius,  209,  311 

Berkeley,  Bp.,  513,  606,  608,  609 

Berkeley,  Sir  William,  476 

Berlin  Conference,  the,  558 

Bernard  of  Clairvaux,  his  remark  on  Ar- 
nold of  Brescia,  188  ;  starts  the  second 
crusade,  ib.\  his  career,  203,  204,  213, 
214  ;  on  war  with  infidels,  231,  233  ;  a 
hymn  writer,  238 

Bernard  of  Morlais,  238  y 

Bernard,  Bp.  of  Pamiers,  243 

Berne,  the  Reformation  at,  308,  323 

Berquin,  Louis  de,  332 

Bert,  Paul,  541 

Bertha,  146,  147 

Bertrade,  185 

Bertrand  (Clement  V.),  244 

Bessarion,  279 

Beza,  Theodore,  a  friend  of  Calvin,  334 ; 
at  Geneva,  328 ;  at  Poissy,  337  ;  a  hymn 
writer,  421 ;  a  teacher  of  Arminins,  429 

Bible,  use  of  in  Period  III.  ,116;  neglected 
by  the  schoolmen,  215  ;  forbidden,  219  ; 
studied  in  the  original,  279 ;  in  Puritan 
New  England,  468.  See,  also.  Script- 
ures, Inspiration 

Biblical  chronology,  the,  arranged,  431 

Biblical  criticism,  beginning  of,  430 ;  pro- 
moted by  Spinoza,  438 ;  recent,  621, 
623,  625,  626 

Biel,  Gabriel,  273 

Bingham,  Joseph,  433 

Binney,  Thomas,  640 

Bird,  Isaac,  592 

Bishops,  the  term,  its  first  use,  36 ;  identi- 
cal with  presbyters,  52,  53 ;  Jerome  on, 
52;  its  use  in  the  "Teaching  of  the 
Twelve  Apostles,"  53;  appointment  of, 
in  Period  III.,  103  ;  identity  with  pres- 
byters forgotten,  103  ;  ranks,  104  ;  the 
country,  office  discontinued,  ib.  ;  be- 
come great  lords,  155,  174,  202;  quarrel 
about  the  investiture  of,  183  seq. ;  in 
2)artibus  ivfidelium,  303 ;  Marsilius  on, 
247.    See,  also.  Episcopacy 

Bismarck,  539,  540 

Blackstone,  Sir  W.,  483 

Blandina,  48 

Bleek,  623,  627 

Blount,  Charles,  603 

"Blue  Laws,"  the,  468 

Blunt,  J.  H.,  373 

Boccaccio,  378 

Boehler,  Peter,  516 

Boehm,  Martin,  579 

Boehme,  Jacob,  514,  649 

Boethius,  his  career,  138 

Boetius,  a  Calvinistic  theologian,  428 

Bohemia,  the  conversion  of,  164;  church 
in,  subject  to  Roman  see,  165 ;  religious 
movement  in,  356,  374,  275 ;  aroused  by 
the  burning  of  Huss,  200  ;  sympathizes 
with  the  Saxon  reformers,  313,  313 ; 
Catholic  reaction  in,  393,  409 

Bohemian  brethren,  the,  333.  See,  also, 
Brethren  in  Unity 

Boleslaus  II. ,  of  Bohemia,  165 


Boleyn,  Anne,  348,  349 

BoUngbroke,  606 

Bollandists,  the  329 

Bolsec,  324 

Bonaparte,  Joseph,  531.  See,  also,  Na- 
poleon 

Bonar,  664 

Bonaventura,  206,  215 

Boniface  II.,  138.  VIIL,  200,  240  seq. 
IX.,  251  seq. 

Boniface  (Winifred),  150,  151,  155,  156, 
159 

Book  of  Sports,  the,  403 

Borgia,  Csesar,  2(57,  208 ;  Lucretia,  267 

Borromeo,  Carlo,  393 

Bossuet,  494  seg.,  601 

Boston  founded,  464 

Boucher,  Jean,  361 

Boucicaut,  Marshal,  253 

Bowring,  664 

Boyle,  Robert,  604 

Boyle  Lectures,  the,  604 

Bradford,  WiUiam,  463 

Bradwardine,  Thomas,  218;  his  career, 
373 

Brahmanism,  589 

Brainerd,  David,  584,  651 

Brandis,  647 

Bre'beuf ,  458,  459 

Brethren  of  the  Hospital  of  St.  John,  203, 
208 

"Brethren  of  the  Sword,"  165 

Brethren  in  Unity,  the,  313.  See,  further, 
the  Moravians. 

Brewster,  William,  461,  462,  463 

Bri<;onnet,  331 

Britain,  conquered  by  Rome,  8 ;  spread  of 
Christianity  to,  46 ;  conquest  of  by  the 
Saxons  and  Angles,  95  ;  the  Church  in, 
89  ;  languishes,  95 ;  Christians  in,  their 
independence,  147,  149;  their  strife 
with  the  Saxon  Christians,  148 

British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  587, 
593 

Broad  Church  party,  later  history  of,  631, 
633 

Broglie,  541 

Brown  University,  564 

Browne,  George,  383 

Browne,  Robert,  460 

Browne,  Sir  Thomas,  483 

Browning,  Robert,  (546 

Brownists,  the,  405.  See,  also,  Indepen- 
dents. 

Brownson,  Orestes  A.,  580 

Brucioli,  385 

Bruno,  Giordano,  437 

Bucer,  Martin,  310,  320,  334,  358,  359,  427 

Buckingham,  Duke  of,  399,  401 

Buddha,  78,  111,  589,  591,  593 

Buffet,  541 

Bulgarians,  conversion  of  the,  164;  ad- 
vised by  Nicholas  I.,  228 ;  Church  of, 
subjected  to  the  see  of  Conatantinople, 
177 ;  the  modern,  558 

Bull,  George,  431,  601 

Bullinger,  327,  358,  371  seq. 

Bunyan,  John,  488 


67S 


Burgundians,  the,  94,  96 

Burmah,  591 

Burnet,  Bp.,  432,  433,  448,  512,  51)9 

Burton,  Asa,  613 

Bushnell,  Horace,  615,  638 

Butler,  Joseph,  511,  513,  60S,  609 

Buxton,  Sir  T.  F.,  660 

Buxtorf.  439 

Byron,  643 

Byzantine  architecture,  335 

C^DMON,  149 

Ca3sar  Borgia,  267,  268 

C'a'sa?'o-2Japismus,  417 

Caiaphas,  17 

Cainites,  77 

Cajetan,  Cardinal,  293,  435 

Calamy,  E.,  523 

Galas,  Jean,  543 

Calixtines,  the,  260,  261,  313 

Calixtus  II.,  187.    III.,  364 

Calixtus,  George,  497 

Callender,  Elisha,  564 

Calvin,  John,  on  Augustine,  127;  com- 
pared with  Luther,  290  ;  on  the  Lord's 
Supper,  315;  his  early  life,  318;  des- 
tined for  the  priesthood,  ib.  ;  studies 
law  at  Bourges  and  Orleans,  ib.  ;  his 
health  undermined,  319 ;  studies  the 
Scriptures,  ib.  ;  his  "  sudden  conver- 
sion," ib.  ;  flies  from  Paris,  ib. ;  visits 
Be'arn,  ib.  ;  goes  to  Basel,  330 ;  writes 
the  "  Institutes,"  ib.  ;  his  dedication 
to  Francis  1.,  ib.  ;  his  characteristics, 
ib.,  331;  his  doctrinal  teaching,  321; 
his  teaching  compared  with  Augustine 
and  Luther,  ib.  ;  a  commentator,  333 ; 
his  personal  traits,  ib. ,  333 ;  arrives 
at  Geneva,  333 ;  banished  from  the 
city,  324 ;  meets  Melanchthon,  ib.  ; 
his  marriage,  ib.  ;  relations  with  the 
followers  of  Zwingli,  ib.,  3.58;  recalled 
to  Geneva,  325  ;  creates  a  new  civil  and 
ecclesiastical  order  at  Geneva,  ib.  ;  his 
relations  to  Servetus,  336,  327  ;  his  the- 
ological labors,  338;  his  influence  in 
France,  ib. ,  334,  337 ;  his  last  days, 
338 ;  his  death,  339 ;  estimate  of,  ib.  ; 
influence  of  his  system,  ib.,  330;  his 
influence  on  John  Knox,  328,  364,  367  ; 
his  influence  in  England,  371,  373 ;  ad- 
vises the  king  of  Poland  to  retain  bish- 
ops, 373  ;  his  ideas  on  worship,  431  ;  as 
a  theologian,  437 ;  on  the  Scriptures, 
439  ;  on  imputation,  441  ;  on  the  atone- 
ment, 443  ;  on  assurance,  445  ;  on  the 
baptism  of  infants,  446  ;  on  the  Lord's 
Day,  448 

Calvinism,  its  influence  on  civil  liberty, 
339,  330;  its  theory  of  the  powers  of 
Church  and  State,  339;  in  England, 
377,  380 ;  how  distinguished  from  Lu- 
theranism,  433  ;  its  polity,  417,  418 

Calvinists,  the,  in  Poland,  313 ;  in  Hun- 
gary, 314  ;  in  the  Netherlands,  their  in- 
tolerance, 345  ;  their  conflict  with  the 
Arminians,  407,  439  ;  deny  the  Citjus  re- 
gio  doctrine,  369j  toleration  granted  to, 


by  the  Peace  of  Westphalia,  410 ;  their 
ideas  on  worship,  419  ;  doctrinal  teach- 
ing, sources,  437,  438  ;  on  the  person  of 
Christ,  442  ;  on  grace,  ib.  ;  on  justifica- 
tion, 444 ;  on  perseverance,  445 ;  on 
baptism,  447  ;  on  the  civil  magistracy, 
ib.  ;  on  the  Lord's  Supper,  ib. 

Cambrai,  league  of,  208 

Cam.bridge  platform,  the,  466,  407 

Cambridge,  University  of,  the  Latitudi- 
narians  at,  598 

Cameron^  John,  428 

Cameronians,  the,  554,  556 

Campbell,  Alexander,  565 

Campbell,  George,  448 

Campbell,  J.  McL.,  555,  638,  639 

Campbellites,  the,  565 

Campeggio,  300,  348,  349 

Candlish,  R.  S.,  629 

Canisius,  435 

Canon,  origin  of  the  N.  T.,  78,  79,  139; 
the  Reformers  on,  438 

Canonical  life,  the,  156,  175 

Canonization,  170 

Canterbury,  See  of,  147,  157 

Canute,  163 

Capital  Crimes,  number  in  England  in 
1638  and  in  1819,  466 ;  in  New  Haven 
in  1638,  406 

Capuchins,  the,  412,  500,  583 

Caracalla,  48 

CarafFa  (see  Paul  IV.),  a  member  of  the 
Oratory  of  Divine  Love,  384 ;  made  car- 
dinal, 386 ;  organizes  the  Theatins,  ib.  ; 
on  the  spread  of  Lutheran  heresy  in 
Italy,  385 ;  at  the  Council  of  Trent,  388 ; 
organizes  the  Italian  Inquisition,  389 

Carbonari,  the,  534 

Cardmals,  college  of,  founded,  173 

Carey,  William,  585,  586,  590 

Carloman,  151 

Carlos,  Don,  534 

Carlstadt,  293,  394,  299,  301,  310 

Carlyle,  Thomas,  643 

Carmelites,  the,  order  of,  203,  583 

Carnesecchi,  Pietro,  385,  390 

Carranza,  Bartholome'  de,  391 

Carroll,  John,  580 

Carthage,  Church  planted  in,  45  ;  council 
of,  139 

Carthusians,  the,  order  of,  203 

Cartier,  457 

Cartwright,  Thomas,  377,  378,  380 

Casaubon,  Isaac,  436 

Cassander,  George,  497 

Cassian,  John,  his  career,  114,  137,  138 

Cassiodorus,  128 

Catacombs,  the,  64 

Catechumens,  instruction  of,  66,  73,  119 

Catharine  II. ,  of  Russia,  498 

Catharine  of  Arragon,  347,  348 

Catharine  de  Medici,  335  seq. 

Catharine,  St.,  250 

Catharine  von  Bora,  301 

Catharists,  the,  194,  330 

Cathedrals,  the  mediasval,  236 

Catholic  Apostolic  Church,  the,  555 

Catholic  Epistles,  the,  43 


676 


INDEX. 


Catholic  League,  the,  in  France,  340 

Catholic  reaction,  the,  in  France,  338 ;  in 
Ireland,  3S;i ;  the  originators  of,  3S(5 ; 
promoted  bv  the  Jesuits,  387  ;  aim  of, 
389  ;  power  of,  391,  393 ;  effect  of  on  lit- 
erature, etc. ,  393 ;  promoted  by  emper- 
ors, 408 

Cavaignac,  540 

Cavalho.  Marquis  of  Pombal,  501,  503 

Cavour,  544 

Cazalla,  Augustine,  390 

Cecil,  Lord  Burleigh,  363,  370,  377,  399, 
460 

Cecil,  Robert,  633 

Celestine  III,  203.     V.,  200,  243 

Celibacy,  clerical,  rise  of,  63, 101 ;  rejected 
bv  the  British  Church,  148 ;  attempts  of 
Hildebrand  to  enforce,  173,  174,  183; 
after  the  Reformation,  44G 

Celsus,  72,  80 
;  i  Cerinthus,  76 

Cesarini,  Cardinal  Julian,  260,  289 
M  Chalcedon,  council  of,  105,  106,  134,  135 

Chalmers,  Thomas,  555,  587,  629 ;  his  ca- 
reer, 556,  653,  653,  654 

Chalons,  battle  of,  95 

Champlain,  457 

Channing,  William  Ellery,  616,  617 

Charity,  mediasval,  234,  235 

Charlemagne  (Charles  I.,  the  Great,  Ro- 
man emp.),  converts  the  Saxons,  151  ; 
his  ecclesiastical  reforms,  155 ;  patrician 
of  Rome,  159  ;  crowned  emp.  of  Rome, 
ib. ;  efforts  for  educated  clergy,  161 ;  his 
Slave  converts,  164  ;  his  relation  to  the 
church,  168  ;  death  of,  ih.\  intellectual 
revival  under,  178 ;  fosters  education, 
209 

Charles  XL,  the  Bald,  170,  180.  III.,  the 
Fat,  171.  IV.,  Emp.  H.  R.  E.,  248,  374, 
295.  v.,  elected  emperor,  ::96 ;  his 
aims,  ih.;  at  the  Diet  of  Worms,  297, 
298 ;  his  alliance  with  Leo  X.,  298 ;  vic- 
tory over  P'rancisl.,  ib.;  obliged  to  tol- 
erate the  Lutherans,  304,  314 ;  at  the 
Diet  of  Augsburg,  305 ;  his  schemes 
against  the  Protestants,  315  ;  conquers 
the  Smalcaldic  league,  316 ;  quarrels 
■with  Paul  III.,  ib.;  establishes  the 
Augsburg  Interim,  ib. ;  forced  to  fly  by 
Maurice,  317  ;  his  great  disappointment, 
318 ;  attempts  to  check  the  Reforma- 
tion in  the  Low  Countries,  341,  342, 
343  ;  his  relations  with  Henrv  VIII., 
347,  348,  354,  3.56  ;  adviser  of  "  Bloody  " 
Queen  Mary,  3.59 ;  scene  at  his  death- 
bed, 301  ;  hated  by  Paul  IV.,  ib. 

Charles  I. ,  of  England,  proposed  marriage 
alliance  of,  399 ;  Mrs.  Col.  Hutchinson 
on  his  spirit  and  aims,  400,  401 ;  his  ab- 
solutism, 401,  403 ;  beheaded,  407.  II., 
478sf7.;  .554 

Charles  IV.,  of  France,  246.  VIL,  263. 
VIII. ,  266, 267,  277.  IX.,  336,  :339.  X., 
534,  535 

Charles  Albert,  K.  of  Sardinia,  540 

Charles  III.,  of  Spain,  498 

Charles  XII.,  of  Sweden,  507 


Charles  of  Anjou,  199,  300 

Charles  of  Bourbon,  298 

Charles  of  Durazzo,  251 

Charles  the  Lame,  251 

Charles  Martel,  150, 151,  154,  155, 158 

Charles  of  Valois,  345 

Chaucer,  378 

Chauncey,  Charles,  527 

Chemnitz,  424 

Cheverus,  580 

Chiliasm,  84,  85 

Chillingworth,  William,  600 

China,  early  attempts  to  convert,  1G7 ; 
Roman  Catholic  missionaries  in,  455, 
583 ;  Protestant  missionaries  in,  591, 
592 

"  Chinese  customs,"  the,  500,  583 

Chivalry,  207,  329 

Choiseul,  498 

Christ,  the  Gnostics  on  the  divinity  of, 
76  ;  the  Manichseans  on,  77  ;  the  Apos- 
tolic Fathers  on,  80,  81 ;  the  Monarch- 
ians  on,  81  ;  the  Humanitarians  on,  ib  ; 
the  Patripassianists  on,  ib.  ;  the  Sabel- 
lians  on,  ib.  ;  Arius  on,  129 ;  Council 
of  Nicea  on,  1-30  ;  Nicene  Creed  on,  J  32  ; 
Mohammed  on,  154  ;  the  Paulicians  on, 
162;  the  Socinians  against,  431,  -142  ; 
Channing  on,  616;  Schleiermacher  on, 
624  ;  Ritschl  on,  628 

Christ,  life  of,  writers  on,  625,  626,  627 ; 
recent  interest  in,  637.  See,  also, 
Jesus 

Christ,  the  person  of,  the  Gnostics  on, 
76  ;  the  Manichasans  on,  77  ;  the  Apos- 
tolic Fathers  on,  83  ;  the  Monarchians 
on,  81 ;  the  Humanitarians  on,  ib.\  the 
Patripassianists  on,  ib.\  the  Sabellians 
on,  ib.;  ApoUinaris  on,  133;  the  Alex- 
andrian view  of,  ib.;  the  Antiochian 
view  of,  ib.;  Nestorius  on,  ib.;  the 
Monophysites  on,  134  ;  Chalcedon  Creed 
on,  ib.;  the  Monothelites  on,  ib.;  the 
sixth  oecumenical  council  on,  ib.;  the 
Adoptianists  on,  178 ;  Schwenckfeld 
on,  426,  427  ;  the  Socinians  on,  442  ; 
the  Reformers  on,  ib. ;  Swedenborg  on, 
509 

Christ,  the  pre-existence  of,  the  Apostolic 
Fathers  on,  80  ;  Ritschl  on,  638 

Christ,  work  of,  the  Apostolic  Fathers 
on,  82.  83  ;  Augustine  on,  141  ;  Anscim 
on,  221  ;  Abelard  on,  £33;  DunsScotus 
on,  ib.;  the  Socinians  on,  431,  443;  the 
Reformers  on,  443,  444  ;  Law  on,  514 

Christian  art,  64,  117,  430 

Christian  festivals,  64,  118,  119 

Christian  IT.,  cf  Denmark,  311.    III.,  oil 

Christian  of  Anhalt,  409 

Christian  David,  50(5 

Christianity,  the  early  spread  of,  34 ;  in 
relation  to  slavery,  39 :  rapid  progress 
of  in  the  second  and  third  centuries, 
45,  46 ;  made  an  illegal  religion,  47 ; 
charged  with  being  the  cause  of  nation- 
al misfortunes,  ib.;  toleration  of,  49; 
legalized,  50 ;  effect  of,  Justin  Martyr 
on,  59 ;  Origen  on,  ib.;  effect  of,  ou  the 


677 


family,  60;  its  positive  and  negative 
work,  61 ;  becomes  corrupt,  90,  110 ; 
early  arguments  for  the  truth  of,  139 ; 
intiuence  of  at  the  beginning  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  161 ;  extent  of  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  Reformation,  449 

Christians,  the  term,  25 ;  the  Jewish,  37, 
40;  the  Gentile,  38;  the  early,  false 
charges  against,  48  ;  by  Celsus,  etc.,  80 ; 
persecution  of,  see  Persecution  ;  be- 
havior of,  under  persecution,  50,  51; 
fraternal  love  of,  59 ;  faults  of,  00 ;  sep- 
aration of  from  heathenism,  ib. ;  exclu- 
sion of  from  amusements,  61 

Christmas,  G5,  119 

Chrodegang,  156 

Chrysippus,  11 

Chrysoloras,  279 
■r  Chrysostom,  against  formalism,  116 ;  a 
great  preacher,  121;  his  career,  124; 
the  teacher  of  Cassian,  127  ;  on  free 
will  and  grace,  137  ;  rejects  the  Apoca- 
lypse, 139 ;  on  inspiration,  ib.  ;  on  ap- 
paritions of  the  dead,  143 

Chubb,  Thomas,  006 

Church,  the,  the  Apostolic  Fathers  on, 
83 ;  the  Nicene  Creed  on,  132 ;  Augus- 
tine on  the  authority  of,  140:  Augus- 
tine on  notes  of,  141 ;  the  Galileans  on, 
254,  255 ;  Calvin  on,  321 ;  the  Reform- 
ers on,  445 

Church,  the  Apostolic  founding  of,  17 
scq.  ;  growth  of.  34  seq. 

Church,  the,  during  the  Middle  Ages,  its 
relation  to  war,  231  ;  relation  to  slavery 
and  serfdom,  232 

Church,  Anglo-Saxon,  149,  155,  156,  157 

Church  architecture,  63,  117,  235,  236,  392 

Church,  the  Eastern,  type  of  doctrine  in, 
122  ;  relation  to  the  papacy,  158  ;  rupt- 
ure with  the  Western  Church,  176,  177. 
See,  also,  Greek  Church 

Church,  Frankish,  151,  155.  1.56, 157 

Church  History,  scope  and  function  of, 
1 ;  divisions  of,  in  regard  to  subject 
matter,  2,  3,  4  ;  in  regard  to  chronology, 
4,  5,  6 ;  summary  of  periods  of,  6 ;  early 
writers  of,  128 ;  promoted  by  the  Ar- 
miaians,  430 

Church  Missionary  Society,  the,  586,  590, 
591,  .594,  595 

Church  music,  65;  in  Period  III.,  121 

Church  property,  growth  of,  100;  alien- 
ated, 175,  408;  a  corrupting  influence, 
183 ;  extent  of,  183, 184,  234 ;  in  France, 
527,  528 

Church  and  State,  their  connection,  early 
investigations  ia  regard  to,  244 ;  Calvin 
on,  329 ;  in  the  Netherlands,  345,  346 ; 
in  England,  under  Henry  VIII.,  350, 
*-  351 ;  under  Elizabeth,  351 ;  Cartwright 
on,  377;  general  remarks  on,  413;  in 
jMohammedanism,  414;  in  the  ancient 
world.  414  ;  the  Reformers  on,  414  seq. ; 
the  Lutherans  on,  415;  later  Lutheran 
theories  in  regard  to,  416,  417;  in  Zu- 
rich, 417  ;  in  Geneva,  417,  418 ;  in  Eng- 
land, later  theories,  418, 419 ;  Rothe  on, 


419;  the  Mennonitcs  on,  420;  Spinoza 
on,  438 ;  Davenport  on,  465 ;  under 
Cromwell,  485  ;  Vane  on,  ib.;  in  Amer- 
ica, 559  seq. 

Church,  the  Western,  type  of  doctrine  in, 
122 

Church  union,  schemes  of,  497,  662 

Cicero,  2!Sl ;  on  the  value  of  piety,  413 

Circumcellions,  the,  114 

Circumcision,  festival  of,  IID 

Cistercians,  the  order  of,  203 

Claiborne,  478 

Clairvaux,  monastery  of,  204 

Clara,  St. ,  order  of,  206 

Clarendon,  486,  487,  488 

Clarke,  John,  563 

Clarke,  Samuel,  601,  604,  609 

Clarkson,  Thomas,  660 

Claudius  of  Turin,  178 

Cle'mangis,  Nicholas  de.  237,  253 

Clement  of  Rome,  58,  65,  69,  74,  SO 

Clement  II.,  172.  IV.,  217,  233.  V., 
167,  243,  245,  246.  VI.,  248.  249,  271. 
VII.,  298,  300,  304,  350.  VIIL,411, 
442.  XI.,  504.  XIL,  500.  XIV.,  502, 
503 

Clement  ni.,  anti-pope,  185.  VH.  (schis- 
matic), 250  seq. 

Clement,  Flavius,  34 

Clement  of  Alexandria,  73 

Clement  an  Irish  monk,  151 

Clement,  the  Second  Epistle  of,  69 

Clementine  Homilies,  the  Pseudo,  74 

Clergy,  the  primitive  parity  of,  52  ;  choice 
of,  54  ;  support  of,  55  ;  qualifications 
of,  ib.;  celibacy  of,  62,  101  ;  receive  new 
legal  rights,  100 ;  jurisdiction  of,  100, 
101 ;  courage  of,  101  ;  exaltation  of, 
101 ;  education  of,  102  ;  appointment 
of,  102,  103  ;  ranks  of,  103  ;  vestments 
of,  121  ;  degeneracy  of  the  mediaeval, 
161,  176  ;  effect  of  the  feudal  system 
upon,  174,  175 ;  the  relation  of,  to  the 
civil  power,  201 ;  exemption  from 
taxation,  ib.;  exemption  from  civil 
jurisdiction,  ib.,  202 ;  Protestant  view 
of,  445 

"  Clericis  laicos,"  the  bull,  241 

Cloisters,  origin  of,  113  ;  mcdiajval,  234. 
See,  also.  Monasteries 

Clotilde,  96 

Clovis,  96,  97 

Clugny,  "congregation"  of,  175 

Cocceius,  428,  439,  441 

Conclave,  the,  200 

Cuelest.ius,  136,  137 

Coenobites,  the,  113,  114 

Coke,  Sfr  Edward,  398 

Coke,  Thomas,  518,  577,  586 

Colani,  543 

Colenso,  550 

Coleridge.  S.  T.,  285,  316,  419,  597,  629 

Colet,  John,  282,  283.  284 

Coligni,  Admiral,  335,  337,  338,  339 

"  Coilegial  system,"  the,  417 

Collier,  Jeremy,  514 

Collins,  Anthony,  605 

Colman,  14S,  149 


678 


Cologne,  University  of,  280 

Colonna,  Otto  (Martin  Y.),  259 

Colonna,  Sciarra,  243 

Colonna,  Vittora,  385 

Colosse,  church  at,  infected  with  Gnostic 
error,  75 

Colossians,  the  Epistle  to  the,  29,  43 

Columba,  146 

Columban,  150 

Columbus,  288,  450,  451 

Comraodus,  48 

Commonwealth,  the,  478,  484 

Communists,  the,  in  Paris,  541 

"  Compactata, "  the,  261 

Comte,  634 

Conant,  T.  J.,564 

Concomitance,  doctrine  of,  234 

Concordat,  of  Vienna,  263;  of  Worms, 
187 

Condillac,  618 

Confession,  auricular,  function  of,  100; 
relation  of,  to  penance,  225;  necessity 
of,  denied  by  Wyclif,  274  j 

Confirmation,  the  schoolmen  on,  224; 
Wyclif  on,  274  ;  Lutherans  on,  420  I 

Congregation  of  the  Propaganda,  founded,  ! 
412  ;  its  work,  582 

"Congregation,"  the,  in  New  England, 
476 

Congregational  system,  the,  466 

Congregationalists,  the,  rise  of,  460  seq.; 
in  England,  553  ;  in  the  U.  S.,  559,  561, 
563,  563 ;  their  missionaries,  587,  588 

Connecticut  colony,  the,  political  system 
of,  465 ;  united  with  the  New  Haven 
colony,  466 ;  tolerant  policy  of,  559 

Conrad  the  Hohenstaufen,  188 

Conrad,  son  of  Henry  IV.,  185 

Conrad,  son  of  Frederick  II.,  199 

Conrad  of  Waldhausen,  274 

Conradin,  199 

Consalvi,  533,  534 

Consistories  in  the  Lutheran  churches, 
416 

Consociations  in  Connecticut,  466,  467 

Constance,  council  of,  256  seq. 

Constans,  Roman  emp.,  89,  131 

Coustantia,  193 

Coustantine,  his  birth,  87 ;  his  edict  of 
toleration,  50 ;  conversion  of,  87,  88 ; 
a  builder  of  churches,  63 ;  relation  of, 
to  the  Church,  88,  89;  exhorted  by 
Athanasius,  101 ;  ecclesiastical  power 
of,  99,  100;  legislates  for  the  observ- 
ance of  Sunday,  118;  calls  the  council 
of  Nicea,  129  ;  his  attitude  towards  the 
decision,  130;  his  pretended  "dona- 
tion," 170;  death  of,  89.     VI.,  159 

Constantine  the  Paulician,  162 

Constantine  Ponce  de  la  Fuente,  390 

Constantinople,  see  of,  made  equal  to  the 
see  of  Rome,  105 ;  council  of,  105,  131, 
132 ;  Latin  empire  at,  194,  201 ;  threat- 
ened V)V  the  Turks,  261 ;  taken  by  the 
Turks,  264,  279 

Constantinus  Pogonatus,  134 

Constantius,  Roman  emp.,  89,  90 

Constantius  Chlorus,  50,  87,  89 


Constitution  of  the  U.  S.,  the,  560,  561 

Constitutions  of  Clarendon,  190 

Contarini,  a  member  of  the  Oratory  of 
Divine  Love,  384  ;  at  Venice,  334,  385  ; 
cardinal,  386  ;  at  Ratisbon,  314 

Conventicle  Act,  the,  487 

Convocation,  the,  of  the  English  clergy, 
349,  350,  351,  551 

Conybeare,  John,  605 

Cop,  Nicholas,  319 

Copernicus,  437 

Copping,  460 

Coptic  Church,  the,  rise  of,  134 ;  attempts 
of  the  Roman  Church  to  win,  583 ; 
Protestant  attempts  to  reform,  594 

Coquerels,  the,  543,  544 

Corinth,  church  at,  28 ;  admonished  by 
Paul,  39 

Corinthians,  the  Epistles  to  the,  28 ; 
Epistle  to,  by  Clement  of  Rome,  69,  79 

Cornelius,  Bp.  of  Rome,  49 

Corporation  Act,  551 

Cortez,  456 

Corvino,  John  de  Monte,  167 

Cosimo  de'  Medici,  264,  280 

Cosmas  Indicopleustes,  98 

Cosmological  argument,  the,  220 

Cotton,  John,  464,  465,  467,  472,  473 

Councils,  general,  convoked  by  the  early 
Christian  emperors,  99,  129;  functions 
of,  129,  130 ;  character  of,  135  ;  au- 
thority of,  140  ;  theory  of,  Occam  on, 
247;  Marsilius  on,  247;  Galileans  on, 
254  ;  papal  view,  255 ;  may  err,  257 ; 
the  Protestants  on,  423.  See,  also,  the 
Appendix. 

Court,  Antoine,  543 

Cousin,  634 

Covenanters,  the,  488,  489 

Covenants,  the,  doctrine  of,  Westminster 
creeds  on,  406  ;  becomes  wide-spread, 
438 

Coverdale,  Miles,  354 

Cowper,  522,  633,  664 

Cranach,  804 

Cranmer,  Thomas,  313;  made  abp.,  349; 
on  the  ecclesiastical  power  of  the  king, 
351 ;  his  early  career,  352, 353  ;  becomes 
a  Lutheran,  353 ;  his  character,  ib.  ; 
"the  Great  Bible,"  854;  accepts  the 
Six  Articles,  355 ;  his  labors  under 
Henry  VIII.,  356  ;  becomes  an  avowed 
Protestant,  357.  358  ;  on  the  Eucharist, 
359 ;  receives  Knox,  364 ;  on  predesti- 
nation, 372 ;  on  Episcopacy,  374 ;  his 
relations  vsdth  foreign  divines,  375 ; 
Lambeth  chapel  under,  381  ;  a  leading 
theologian,  431 ;  sent  to  the  Tower,  359  ; 
recants,  360 ;  recalls  his  denials,  and  is 
burned,  361  ;  effect  of  his  death,  ib. 

Crell,  Nicholas,  408 

Crellius,  431 

Criminal  law,  reform  of,  659 

Cromwell,  Oliver,  405,  406,  407,  434,  484, 
485 

Cromwell,  Thomas,  353,  354,  355,  256 

Crotus  RubianuSj  382 

Crusades,  the,  origin  of,  186 ;  the  effect  of, 


INDEX. 


679 


on  the  papacy,  ib.  ;  the  first  of  the,  ib. ; 
second,  188;  third,  191;  fourth,  193, 
194;  fifth,  196;  sixth,  201;  seventh, 
ib.  ;  plenary  indulgence  given  to  those 
who  go  on,  235;  stimulate  the  desire 
for  relics,  280;  a  religious  duty,  231  ; 
end  of,  201  ;  against  heretics,  194,  200  ; 
against  the  Hohenstaufens,  19(5,  199 ; 
against  the  Turks,  inefifectual  attempts 
to  start,  2(i4,  2(i5 

Crypto-Calvinism,  408 

Cudworth,  Ralph,  482,  598 

Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church,  the, 
572 

Cummins,  George  D.,  570 

Cunningham,  William,  029 

Cutler,  Timothy,  565 

Cynics,  the,  11 
-J  Cyprian,  teaches  apostolic  succession,  55 ; 
on  the  unity  of  the  Episcopate,  57 ;  op- 
position to,  58  ;  against  actors,  61 ;  as 
a  theologian,  73  ;  on  the  Church,  83  ;  on 
the  eucharist,  84  ;  martyrdom  of,  49 

Cyril,  Patriarch  of  Alexandria,  122,  133, 
135,  138 

Cyril  Lucar,  412 

Cyrill,  the  missionary,  164,  165 

D'AiLLT,  Peter,  253  scq, 

D'Albret,  Henry,  332 

D'Albret,  Jeanne,  335 

D'Alembert,  619 

D'Allemand,  262 

Damiani,  Peter,  173,  174,  176 

Daniel,  Father,  458 

Danish-Halle  mission,  the,  584,  589 
V    Dante,  228,  243,  244,  ^78,  383 
'^  Darboy,  541 

Darby,  J.  N.,  558 

Darnley,  306,  367 

Darwin,  C.  R,  633 

D'Aubigne;  Merle,  549 

Davenport,  John,  465,  473 

David  of  Dinanto,  218 

D'Azeglio,  544 

Deaconess,  40,  62 ;  oflfice  of,  discontinued, 
103 

Deacons,  first  appointed,  20,  35 ;  func- 
tions of,  40 ;  rank  of,  53 ;  power  of,  103 

Decius,  48,  49 

Deism,  601  seq.  ;  defects  of,  607  _ 

De  Maistre,  535 

Demetrius,  556 

Demons,  the  Apostolic  Fathers  on,  81 ; 
Augustine  on,  140 ;  in  the  middle  ages, 
229 ;  during  the  witchcraft  delusion, 
479.     See,  also,  Satan 

Denmark,  conversion  of,  163  ;  the  Refor- 
mation in,  311,  312 ;  later  religious  his- 
tory of,  547 

Depravity,  doctrine  of,  the  Apostolic 
Fathers  on,  82;  Augustine  and  Pela- 
gius  on,  136  ;  the  schoolmen  on,  220 ; 
the  Socinians  deny,  431 ;  total,  441 

De  Quincev,  629 

Des  Cartes",  436,  437 

De  Tournon,  500 

De  Wette,  622,  628 


Diderot,  619 

Didymus,  122 

Dies  stationum,  C2 

Diocletian,  50,  78,  87,  89 

Diogenes,  11 

Diognetus,  Epistle  to,  70,  80 

Dionysius,  the  Areopagite,  33 

Dionysius  Exiguus,  109,  169 

Dioscuros,  134 

Disestablishment,  in  Ireland,  551 ;  ques- 
tion of,  m  England,  ib.,  552 

Dissenter.s,  in  England,  oppressed,  510, 
511 ;  rights  conceded  to,  551 

Doddridge,  513,  523,  524,  611,  663 

Dodwell,  Henry,  605 

Dollinger,  316,  .539 

Dominic,  St.,  205 

Dominicans,  the  order  of,  constituted, 
195 ;  control  the  inquisition,  194 ;  be- 
come schoolmen,  210  ;  on  the  eucharist, 
225  ;  reject  the  immaculate  conception, 
226;  and  Reuchlin,  282;  attack  the 
Molinists,  442  ;  in  North  America,  450, 
457  ;  their  enmity  against  the  Jesuits, 
499,  500 ;  as  missionaries,  583 

Dominus  ac  redemptor  nastcr,  the  bull, 
503 

Domitella,  Flavia,  34 

Domitian,  33 

Donation  of  Constantine,  170 

Donatists,  109,  141,  143 

Don  Carlos,  366 

Don  John,  345 

Donne,  422 

Dorner,  424,  627,  636,  638,  640,  641 

Dort,  Synod  of,  407,  427,  429,  443,  448, 
477 

Douay,  Catholic  college  at,  370 

Douglas,  Bp..  606 

J)ragon7iade,  the,  493 

Drake,  Sir  Francis,  370 

Drama,  the  religious,  239 ;  the  modem, 
origin  of,  239 

Druses,  558 

Druthmar,  Christian,  179 

Dryden,  .514 

Duche,  Rev.  J.,  566 

DuflF,  Alexander,  587,  590 

Dufifield,  George,  573 

Dunkers,  the,  565 

Dunster,  Henry,  563 

Duothelites,  the,  134 

Dupanloup,  537,  540,  541 

Duprat,  331,  332 

Durandus,  218 

Diirer,  Albert,  298 

Dutch,  missionary  efforts,  4.52,  .584 

Dutch  Reformed  Church,  the,  in  Amer- 
ica, 477.    See,  also,  Reformed  Church 

Dutch  Republic,  the,  rise  of,  344,  345 

Dwight,  Timothy,  562,  613,  664 

Easter,  observance  of,  in  the  early 
Church,  64,  65  ;  manner  of  celebration, 
119 ;  difference  in  reckoning  time  of, 
119  ;  derivation  of  the  name,  145  ;  cus- 
tom of  the  British  Church  in  regard  to, 
148 


680 


Eastern  Empire,  injured  by  Moslem  con- 
quests, 17(5 

Eastern  sects  submit  to  the  Roman  see, 
263 

Eber,  Paul,  432 

Eberhard,  198 

Ebionites,  74  ;  the  Essenian,  75 

Ecclesiastical  courts,  100,  156 

Ecclesiastical  law,  rise  of,  109,  155 

Ecclesiastical  Reservation,  the,  317,  SIS, 
393,  408 

Ecclesiastical  Titles  BUI,  the,  553 

Eck,  John,  293,  394 

Edessa,  the  planting  of  the  Church  in,  45  ; 
fall  of,  188 

Edmund,  Prince  of  England,  199 

Edward  I.,  of  England,  340,  241.  Ill, 
statutes  of,  349.  VI.,  his  reign,  357 
seq. 

"  Edwardeans,"  the,  613 

Edwards,  Jonathan,  520,  535,  536,  611, 
612,  650 

Edwards,  Jonathan,  Jr.,  613,  616 

Edwards,  Mrs.,  on  White  field,  525 

Edwin,  K.  of  Northumberland,  147 

Egede,  Hans,  585 

Egidius  de  Colonna,  344 

Egidius,  Dr.  John,  390 

Egmont,  Count,  342,  348,  344 

Egypt,  progress  of  Christianity  in,  45 

Eichhorn,  621,  622 

Elagabalus,  49 

Eldership,  the,  in  the  early  Church,  35, 
36 

Eliot,  John,  467,  584 

EUpandus,  178,  179 

Elizabeth  of  England,  338 ;  her  charac- 
ter, 363,  363,  393  ;  her  relations  with  the 
papacy,  362  ;  obliged  to  help  the  Scot- 
tish dalvinists,  S6'>,  366  ;  relations  with 
Mary  Stuart,  365  xeq.  ;  her  religious 
policy,  368  seq.  ;  excommunicated  by 
Pius  v.,  370;  her  warfare  with  Spain, 
370,  371,  399 ;  her  attitude  towards  Epis- 
copacy, 374  ;  compels  the  clergy  to  use 
vestments,  377,  3S0 

Elkesaites,  75 

Ellis,  William,  .596 

Emancipation  of  slaves,  332,  660,  661 

Embury,  Philip,  576 

Emerson,  R.  W.,  617 

Emmons,  Nathaniel,  613 

Encyclopaedists,  the,  619 

Endicott,  John,  464,  470 

England,  early  connection  of,  with  the 
see  of  Rome,  149 ;  resists  the  papacy, 
249,  252 ;  characteristics  of  the  early 
literature  of,  378 ;  the  Renaissance  in, 
283,  383  ;  the  Reformation  in,  its  polit- 
ical character,  346  ;  parties  connected 
with,  353,  353  ;  a  reaction  sets  in,  355, 
357 ;  repressed  under  Mary,  359  seq.  ; 
gradually  restored  by  Elizabeth,  368, 
369;  the  Anabaptists  in,  426;  "enthu- 
siasm "  and  Quakeri.s!n  in,  490 ;  religious 
parties  in,  in  the  eighteenth  century, 
509  seq.  \  dissenters  oppressed  in,  510, 
511 ;  low  condition  of  religion  and  mor- 


als in,  511,  513,  513  ;  Catholic  emanci- 
pation in,  535 ;  later  religious  history 
of,  549  seq.  ;  missionary  zeal  of,  452, 
585  seq. 
England,  the  Church  of,  throws  off  its 
allegiance  to  Rome,  349,  350  :  reorgan- 
ized under  Henry  VIII.,  350,  351 ;  draws 
up  its  formularies,  357,  35S  ;  Episcopacy 
in,  during  the  first  age  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, 373  seq.  ;  rise  of  sacerdotalism  in, 
379,  380;  Hooker's  view  of,  419;  Ar- 
nold's view,  lb. ;  Warburton's  view,  ib. ; 
Coleridge's  view,  ib. ;  Gladstone's  early 
view,  ib.;  Barrowe  on,  461;  Roger  Vv'^ill- 
iams  on,  470  ;  parties  in,  in  the  eigh- 
teenth century,  509,  510;  its  missions, 
58(5;  religious  movements  in,  550,  630 


Enzio,  199 

Ephesians,  the  Epistle  to  the,  29,  43 

Ephesus,  council  of,  133,  135 

Ephraem  Syrus,  121,  124 

Epictetus,  12 

Epicurus,  11 

Epiphanius,  133 

Epiphany,  origin  of,  65 ;  later  observance 
of,  118,  119 

Episcopacy,  the  rise  of,  in  the  early 
Church,  51  seq.  ;  at  the  outset  a  govern- 
mental arrangement,  54  ;  in  the  "  Cath- 
olic "  Church,  57;  in  England  during 
the  first  age  of  the  Reformation,  373 
seq.  ;  Smalcaldic  Articles  on,  373  ;  Me- 
lanchthon  on,  ib.  ;  the  Swiss  divines  on, 
ib.  ;  the  Thirty-nine  Articles  on,  ib. ; 
Jewel's  view  of,  374 ;  Cranmer  on,  374 ; 
Dean  Field  and  Ussher  on,  ib.,  379; 
attitude  of  Elizabeth  towards,  ib.  ;  the 
Act  of  Uniformity  on,  375 ;  Whitgift 
on,  378;  Hooker  on,  ib.,  379;  Wake  on, 
379 ;  Jeremy  Taylor  on,  380-;  feeling  of 
the  Puritans  towards,  394,  397 ;  Laud 
on,  402;  Milton  on,  4:34;  imposed  on 
Scotland,  554  ;  the  Latitudinarian  view 
of,  598.     See,  also.  Bishops 

Episcopalians,  the,  in  Virginia,  475 ;  in 
Maryland,  478  ;  in  Scotland,  489 ;  under 
Cromwell,  484,  485 ;  in  America,  after 
the  Revolution,  559,  565  seq. 

Episcopius,  429,  463,  600,  621 

"Epistolaj  obscurorum  virorum,"  283 

"Epitome,"  74 

Erasmus,  in  England,  282,  283,  284 ;  his 
early  life,  283 ;  his  writings  and  opin- 
ions, 283  seq.  ;  at  Basel,  284 ;  extent  of 
his  influence,  285  ;  ground  of  his  fame, 
286 ;  his  manner  of  writing,  ib.  ;  pur- 
pose of  his  life,  ib.  ;  friendly  to  Luther, 
293,  294,  295 ;  his  controversy  with 
Luther,  303,  304  ;  Holbein's  picture  of, 
304 ;  Gardiner's  remark  on,  353 ;  a  lead- 
ing Catholic  writer,  435  ;  on  missions, 
451 

Erastianism,  417 

Ermenberga,  311 

Erskine,  Ebenezer,  554 

Erskiue,  Thomas,  of  Linlathen,  633 


681 


Eschatology,  recent  views  on,  640.    See, 

also,  Heaven,  etc. 
Eskimos,  the,  595 
"Essays  and  Reviews,"  the,  550 
Essen es,  the,  15,  HI 
Essex,  the  Earl  of,  o95,  406 
EstabUshed  Church  of  Scotland,  587,  590 
Ethelbert,  147 
Ethics,  Butler  on,  G09,  610  ;  Price  on,  610 ; 

Paley,  Hutcheson,  and  Adam  Smith  on, 

lb.  ;  Edwards  on,  612 ;  of  Kant,  G2o 
Ethiopia  Church,  the,  rise  of,  134 
Eucharist,  the  term,  68.    See,  also,  Lord's 

Supper 
Euchites,  the,  114 
Eudoxia,  124 
Eugene  III.,  188,  214.    IV.,  261,  262,  263, 

289 
Eugenie,  .'341 
Eusebians,  131 
Eusebius   of   Cagsarea,    79,  88,   117;    his 

career,   123 ;    his  history,   128 ;   on  the 

proofs  of  Christianity,  139 
'T'  Eusebius  of  Nicomedia,  130 
Eutyches,  134 

Evagrius,  the  liistorian,  128 
Evangelical  Alliance,  the,  662 
Ewald,  Charles,  ()22,  628 
Excommunication,  231 
•^  Exorcists,  55 
Ezra,  14 

Faber,  F.  W.,  631,  664 

Factory  acts,  the,  659 

Faith,  early  corruption  of,  83  ;  Augustine 
on,  140 ;  must  be  supplemented  by 
works,  141 ;  the  schoolmen  on,  223  ;  Re- 
formers on,  423,  444  ;  the  Roman  Catho- 
lics on,  444  ;  Wesley  on,  519 ;  Locke  on, 
603,  604 

Faith  and  Reason,  Scotus  Erigena  on,  180 ; 
Abelard  on,  213  ;  St.  Bernard  on,  214; 
Anselm  on,  219;  Hugo  of  St.  Victor 
on,  ib. 

"  Falk  Laws,"  the,  539 

Fall,  the,  Augustine  and  Pelagius  on,  136 ; 
the  schoolmen  on,  220  ;  Calvin  on,  321 ; 
Flacius  on,  424 ;  the  Reformers  on, 
441 ;  the  Arminians  on,  441 ;  Sweden- 
borg  on,  508.     See,  also,  Sin 

False  decretals,  the,  169 

Familists,  the,  427 

Faraday,  645 

Farel,  William,  at  Geneva,  323,  324,  331, 
421 

Fasting,  62,  64,  118,  119,  468,  487 

Fathers,  the,  68  seq.  ;  the  Apostolic,  69; 
the  Greek,  122  seq.  ;  the  Latin,  125  seq. ; 
neglected  by  the  schoolmen,  215;  re- 
newed study  of,  279 

"Faust,"  643 

Faustus,  Bp.  of  Rhegium,  138 

Febronius,  504 

Federalism  in  theology,  428,  441,  610 

Felicitas,  an  early  martyr,  48 

Felix  v.,  anti-pope,  263 

Felix,  Bp.  of  Urgel,  178 

Fe'nelon,  436,  495.  496 


Ferdinand,  Emp.  H.  R.  E.,  297,  310,  314, 
408 

Ferdinand  the  Catholic,  268,  296,  389 

Ferdinand  VIL,  K.  of  Spain,  534 

Ferdinand  of  Styria,  408,  409 

Ferry,  ^ules,  541,  544 

Feudalism,  174,  175 

Fichte,  625 

Ficino,  280,  281 

Field,  Dean,  374,  379 

Fiji  islands,  597 

"  Filioque  "  clause,  the,  131 

Finney,  Charles  G.,  614,  615 

Fisher,  Bp.,  353 

Fitz  Urse,  Reginald,  351 

Five  Mile  Act,  the,  487 

Flacius,  Matthias,  424 

Flaminio,  385,  391 

Flavianus,  Bp.  of  Antioch,  101 

Flavianus,  Bp.  of  Constantinople,  134 

Fletcher,  John,  519 

Florence.  Council  of,  223,  263 

Florus  Magister,  179 

Flotte,  Peter,  242 

"  Form  of  Concord,"  the,  408,  424 

"Formula  Consensus  Helvetica,"  428, 
439 

Foster,  John,  628,  640 

"  Four  Articles  of  Prague,"  the,  260 

Fox,  George,  490,  491 

France  during  the  great  schism,  251  seq  ; 
adopts  the  reforms  of  Basel,  263  ;  char- 
acteristics of  the  early  literature  of, 
278;  the  lieformation  in,  emanated 
from  Humanism,  330 ;  promoted  by 
Leffevre,  331 ;  two  parties  in  the  court, 
331,  332 ;  attitude  of  Francis  toward, 
332 ;  becomes  Calvinistic,  334  ;  prog- 
ress and  organization  of,  ib. ;  supported 
by  the  great  nobles,  335  ;  attacked  by 
the  Catnolics,  337  ;  ceases  to  progress, 
347 

France,  gains  of,  in  the  Thirty  Years' 
War,  411;  Presbyterianism  in,  418; 
the  Jesuits  expelled  from,  502 ;  revolu- 
tion in,  528 ;  clerical  reaction  in,  534, 
535  ;  Church  of  the  Huguenots  in,  543 
seq. 

Francis  II.,  Emp.  H.  R.  E.,  .505 

Francis  I. ,  of  France,  at  Marignano,  270 ; 
an  aspirant  for  the  imperial  crown, 
296  ;  captured  at  Pavia,  298  ;  and  Char- 
les v.,  304,  30^,  314,  348  ;  addressed  by 
Calvin,  320 ;  fosters  the  Renaissance, 
330  ;  his  attitude  toward  the  Reforma- 
tion, 333  ;  persecutes  the  Protestants, 
333.     II.,  335,  336 

Francis,  St.,  167,  205,  206 

Francis  of  Sales,  436 

Franciscans,  the  order  of,  constituted, 
195,  206  ;  schism  among,  207  ;  become 
schoolmen,  210  ;  on  the  Lord's  Supper, 
325 ;  promoters  of  Mariolatry,  336 ; 
against  John  XXIL,  246  ;  the  Spiritual, 
272  ;  in  India,  449  ;  in  Mexico,  4.56  ;  in 
Paraguay,  457  ;  in  North  America,  J6., 
458 ;  complain  of  the  Jesuit  mission- 
aries, 500 


682 


INDEX. 


Francke,  A.  H.,  506,  584,  585 

Frankfort,  troubles  among  the  Reformers 
at,  376 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  520 

Franklin  College,  574 

Franks,  the,  90,  155,  156,  158,  168 

Fratres  Foloni,  the,  431 

Fratricelli,  the,  207 

Frederic  I.,  of  Denmark,  311.    IV.,  584 

Frederic  II.,  of  Prussia,  498,  503,  620 

Frederic  WilUam  II.,  503.  lU.,  546.  IV., 
539,  547 

Frederick  I.  (Barbarossa),  Emp.  H.R.E., 
his  aspirations,  189  ;  contest  with  the 
papacy,  189  scq.  ;  his  death,  191.  II., 
made  emperor,  19o ;  restores  order  in 
the  empire,  195 ;  starts  on  the  iifth 
crusade,  196  ;  his  contest  with  the  pa- 
pacy, 196  fieq.  ;  his  character,  198  ;  his 
death,  199 

Frederick,  the  Elector,  280,  293  seq.,  394. 
III.,  437 

Frederick  of  Austria,  257 

Free  Church  of  Scotland,  556,  587 

Free-will  Baptists,  the,  504 

"  Friends  of  God,"  the,  277 

Friesland,  West,  spread  of  Christianity 
to.  150 

Frisians,  the,  146,  151 

Frith  John,  347,  353 

Froben,  284,  286 

Fry,  Elizabeth,  657,  658 

Fulda,  monastery  of,  151 

Fuller,  Andrew,  586,  628 

Future  state,  the  Reformers  on,  448 ; 
Tillotson  on,  599.  See,  also,  Eschatol- 
ogy.  Heaven,  etc. 


Genoa,  commercial  fall  of,  288 

George  of  Saxony,  Duke,  294 

George,  David,  427 

Gerbert  (Sylvester  II.),  172,  179 

"  German  Theology,"  the,  277 

Gerhard,  Paul,  423 

Germanic  law,  its  influence  on  Anselm's 
doctrine  of  the  atonement,  221 

Germans,  the  early,  characteristics  of, 
145 ;  religion  of,  ib.  ;  conversion  of,  ib. , 
146,  149 ;  at  Constance,  259 ;  leave  the 
University  of  Prague,  375 ;  religious 
feeling  of,  289,  290 

Germany,  establishment  of  Christianity 
in,  46 ;  supports  Clement  VII.  (schis- 
matic), 251  ;  adopts  the  reforms  of  Bas- 
el, 262 ;  declares  the  German  Church 
neutral,  ib.  ;  restores  its  obedience  to 
Eugenius  IV.,  263;  characteristics  of 
the  early  literature  of,  278 ;  Renais- 
sance in,  281,  282 ;  condition  of,  at  the 
beginning  of  the  Reformation,  295 ; 
Catholic  reaction  in,  393  ;  ecclesiastical 
reforms  in,  in  the  eighteenth  century, 
505 ;  Roman  Catholic  Church  in,  at  the 
beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
531 ;  its  relations  with  the  papacy,  539, 
540  ;  later  religious  condition  of,  546  ; 
missionary  activity  in,  588 

Gerson,  254,  255,  259 

Ghengis  Khan,  166 

Ghent,  paciiication  of,  345 

Ghibellines,  188,  193,  240 

Gibbon,  Edward,  123,  513,  607 

Gibbons,  Abp.,  581 

Gieseler,  627 

Giessen,  University  of,  442 

Gilbert,  Bishop  of  Poictiers,  214 

Gioberti,  544 

Girard  will  case,  the,  561 

Gladstone,  419,  539,  551,  553 

Glanvil,  480,  481 

Glasgow  Missionary  Society,  587 
)(!.Gnosticism,  75  seq.  ;  aim  of,  76,  78 ;  in- 
fluence of,  in  the  growth  of  theology, 


Galatians,  the  Epistle  to  the,  27 

Gale,  John,  523 

Gale,  TheophUus,  599,  603 

Galerius,  50,  87 

GalUeo,  412,  437 

Gall,  St.,  150 

Gallic  creeds,  the,  437 

Gallicanism,   202,  254,  370,  371,  273,  330, 
494,  530,  535,  542 

Gallienua,  50 

Gallus,  49 

Gamaliel,  30 

Gambetta,  541 

Gardiner,  Thomas,  353,  355,  359 

Garfield,  J.  A.,  565 

Garibaldi,  537 

Garnier,  4.59 

Garrison,  W.  L.,  661 

Gasparin,  Count,  543 

Gaul,  founding  of  churches  in,  45 

Gavazzi,  545 

Genesis,  Luther  on  its  Mosaic  authorship, 
439 

Genseric,  95 

Geneva,    the  Reformation  in,   323  seq.  ; 
banishes  Calvin,  324  ;  recalls  him,  325  ; 

ecclesiastical  and  civil  order  at,  under  i  GoldenBull,  the,  295 
Calvin,  325 ;  burns  Servetus,  327 ;   its  i  Gomarus,  429 
influence,   328,  334,   335,   341 ;  Church  i  Goodell,  William,  592,  593 
and  State  in,  417,  418 ;  worship  in,  421  I  Goodwin,  John,  434 


Gobet,  529 

God,  the  being  of,  the  Gnostics  on,  75, 

76 ;    Marcion    on,    77 ;    the    Apostolic 

Fiithers  on,   80  ;  Mohammed  on,  153 ; 

the  Veronese  on,  176  ;  Spinoza  on,  437, 

438  ;  Swedenborg  on,  508 
God,  proof  of  his  being,  Augustine  on, 

140;  Boetius  on,  ib. ;    Anselm  on,  219; 

the  schoolmen  on,  320 ;  Melanchthon  on, 

440 ;  Calvin  on,  ib.  ;  Des  Cartes  on,  ib. ; 

Locke  on,  603  ;   Clarke  on,  604  ;  Kant 

on,  633  ;  Coleridge  on,  639 
God,  relation  of,  to  the  world,  Pelagius 

on,  136  ;  Augustine  on,  ib.  ;  Mohammed 

on,  153 ;  Scotus  Erigena  on,  180 ;  Spi- 


noza  on,  437,  438 ; 
Goethe  on,  642,  643 
Goethe,  642,  643 


Leibnitz  on,  620: 


INDEX. 


683 


Goodwin,  Thomas,  434 

Gordian,  49 

Gordon,  the  missionary,  597 

Gorhara  case,  the,  550 

Gospel,  tlie  power  of,  Justin  Martyr  on, 
59  ;  Origen  on,  ib. 

"Gospel  of  the  Egyptians,"  74 

"Gospel  of  the  Hebrews,"  74 

Goths,  the  East,  92,  93,  97 

Goths,  the  West,  93  seq. 

Gothic  architecture,  235 

Gottschalk,  chief  of  the  Wends,  165 

Goitschalk,  monk  of  Orbais,  179, 180 

Grace,  Pelagius  on,  ISfJ;  Augustine  on, 
ib.  ;  Ambrose  on,  137 ;  Theodore  of 
Mopsuestia  on,  ib.  ;  Chrysostom  on,  ib. ; 
Cassian  on,  138 ;  the  schoolmen  on, 
232 ;  Baxter  on,  433 ;  the  Reformers 
on,  442 ;  the  Greeks  and  Roman  Catho- 
lics on,  442 

Graf,  622 

Granvelle,  343,  343 

Gratian,  91,  93,  106 

Gratian,  John  (Gregory  71.),  173 

Grebel,  425,  426 

Greece,  modern,  558 

Greek  language  and  culture,  influence  of, 
9,  13  ;  renewed  study  of,  379 

Greek  Church,  attempts  to  reunite  it  to 
the  Latin  Church,  361,  263 ;  and  the  Re- 
formers, 412  ;  on  grace  and  predestina- 
tion, 442.     See,  also,  Church,  Eastern 

Green,  John  Richard,  3S0 

Greenland,  the  spread  of  Christianity  to, 
164 

Greenwood,  John,  460,  461 

Gregory  I.,  his  career,  146,  147,  157,  158; 
influence  on  music,  121 ;  his  writings, 
139;  on  slavery,  332;  on  torture,  233. 
II.,  150.  III.,  151,  158.  IV.,  108.  v., 
172.  VI.,  172.  VII.  (Hildebrand),  his 
early  career,  173,  174 ;  made  pope,  182 ; 
his  character  and  aims,  183,  183;  con- 
test with  Henry  IV.,  ISiseq.  ;  relations 
to  William  the  Conqueror,  184;  to 
Philip  of  France,  ib.;  his  bull  excom- 
municating Henry,  182 ;  his  death,  185 ; 
the  friend  of  Matilda,  187.  IX.,  his  at- 
tainments, 195  ;  conflict  with  Fred.  II. , 
196  wo. ;  reorganizes  the  Inquisition, 
205  ;  his  death,  198.  X.,  200.  XI.,  250. 
XII.,  353  seq.  XIII.,  370,  556.  XV., 
412.     XVI.,  535 

Gregory,  "The  Illuminator,"  98 

Gregory  of  Nazianzus,  103,  113;  a  great 
preacher,  120 ;  his  career,  123 ;  influ- 
ence in  establishing  the  Nicene  theol- 
ogy, 131 ;  on  councils,  135  ;  rejects  the 
Apocalypse,  139 ;  a  restoratioaist,  143 

Gregory  of  Nyssa,  a  great  preacher,  120 ; 
his  career,  123 ;  influence  in  establish- 
ing the  Nicene  theology,  131 ;  a  restora- 
tionist,  143 

Gregory  of  Rimini,  226 

Gregory  of  Tours,  129,  160 

Grey,  Lady  Jane,  359 

Griesbach,  621 

Grindal,  376 


Griswold,  Bp.,  569 

Gropper,  314 

Grosteste,  Robert,  203 

Grotius,  Hugo,  imprisoned,  407;  advo- 
cates the  "  territorial  system,"  417  ;  an 
Arminian  leader,  429  ;  on  John  Seklen, 
434 ;  on  tradition,  438 ;  method  of  in- 
terpretation, 439;  on  the  atonement, 
443,  444,  638 

Guelfs,  the,  188,  193 

Guibert  of  Nogent,  337 

Guibert,  Abp.  of  Paris,  541 

Guiscard,  Robert,  174,  185 

Guizot,  543,  544 

Gundobald,  97 

Gunpowder  Plot,  the,  398 

Gustavus  Adolphus,  403,  410,  411,  478 

Guyon,  Madame,  436,  496 

Hacon,  164 

Hades,  the  Apostolic  Fathers  on,  85 ; 
doctrine  of,  in  Period  III.,  142  ;  the 
Reformers  on,  448  ;  in  the  Authorized 
Version,  448.     See,  also.  Hell 

Hadrian,  Roman  emp.,  47 

Hadrian  II.,  Pope,  170.  IV.,  ISS;  lays 
Rome  under  the  interdict,  189  ;  contest 
with  Fred.  I.,  189  ;  his  Irish  bull,  381 ; 
his  death,  190.    VI.,  348 

Hagenbach,  627 

Haldane,  James,  555 

Haldane,  Robert,  555 

Hale,  Sir  Matthew,  483 

Hales,  Alexander  of,  215,  335 

Hales,  John,  600 

"Half-way  covenant,"  the,  524 

Hall,  Gordon,  590 

Hall,  Joseph.  379,  403,  434 

Hall,  Robert,  434,  524,  628 

Halley,  Robert,  553 

Hamilton,  Patrick,  364 

Hamilton,  Su:  William,  633 

Hampden,  Bp.  of  Hereford,  550 

Hampton  Court  Conference,  the,  397 

Hanseatic  League,  311 

Hardwick,  Charles,  373 

Hare,  Julius,  632 

Harms,  Glaus,  547 

Harnack,  A.,  54,  84 

Harold,  Prince  of  Jutland,  163 

Harold  of  England,  330 

Hartmann,  634 

Hase,  628 

Hassun,  559 

Harvard  University,  origin  of,  467 

Hawaiian  Evangelical  Association,  597 

Heaven,  the  Apostolic  Fathers  on,  85 ; 
Mohammed  on,  1 53 

Heber,  Reginald,  500,  664 

Hebrew,  renewed  study  of,  281 

Hebrews,  the  Epistle  to,  43,  79, 139,  438 

Heck,  Barbara.  576 

Hefele,  537,  538 

Hegel,  290,  625 

Hegesippus,  71 

Heidelberg  Catechism,  the,  437 

Heidelberg,  University  of,  280 

Heine,  on  Luther's  hymn,  422 


684 


INDEX. 


Helena,  wife  of  Constantine,  87 

Heli,  the  Apostolic  Fathers  on,  85 ;  Mo- 
hammed on,  15o;  the  schoolmen  on, 
22(3;  in  the  Authorized  Version,  448. 
See,  also,  Eschatology,  etc. 

Hellenists,  the,  14 

Heloise,  213,  213 

Helvetic  Confession,  the,  427 

Helvetius,  G19 

Helwys.  426 

Henry  III.,  Emp.  H.  R.  E.,  172, 173.  IV., 
174;  his  contest  with  Gregory  VII., 
184seo.;  his  death,  18(1  V.,  186,  1«7. 
VI.,  rj2.    VII.,  245,  246 

Henry  I.  of  England,  186,  211.  II.,  190, 
191,  202,  351,  381.  III.,  199,202,231. 
IV.,  274.  v.,  274.  VII.,  266,  283,  347. 
VIII. ,  in  European  politics,  269,  270  ; 
favors  the  new  learning,  283  ;  contro- 
versy with  Luther,  302 ;  receives  the 
title  of  Defender  of  the  Faith,  302; 
Bacon's  description  of,  347  ;  his  politi- 
cal position,  ib. ;  his  foreign  policy,  ib. , 
348  ;  seeks  a  divorce,  348  ;  declared  the 
head  of  the  Church  in  England,  349  ; 
marries  Anne  Boleyn,  ib.\  throws  off 
allegiance  to  the  papacy,  ib.,  350;  his 
ecclesiastical  power,  350,  351 ;  a  perse- 
cuter,  3.53  ;  inclined  towards  the  Prot- 
estants, 354;  suppresses  the  monas- 
teries, ib.,  3.55;  disgraces  Cromwell, 
3.55  ;  his  later  years,  356  ;  his  order  of 
succeFsion,  359 ;  value  of  his  policy, 
369 ;  attempts  to  plant  Protestantism 
in  Ireland,  382 

Henry  II.  of  France,  317,  334.  III.,  339, 
340.     IV.,  338  seq.,  407,  410,  411 

Henry,  Prince  of  Orange,  429 

Henry  of  Clugny,  424 

Henry,  Patrick,  560,  660 

Heraclius,  101 

Herbert,  George,  422 

Herbert,  Lord,  of  Cherbury,  602 

Herder,  622 

Heresies,  effect  of,  on  the  early  Church, 
53 

Hermann,  Abp.  of  Cologne,  358 

Hermas,  69 

Hermias,  71 

Hermits,  the,  111  seg. 

Herod,  13 

Herod  Agrippa  I.,  14,  21 

Hicks,  Elias,  579 

"  Hicksite  Quakers,"  579 

Hide'yoshi,  455 

Hierarchy,  growth  of,  in  the  first  three 
centuries,  56,  104 

Hierocracy,  period  of,  1 4 

Higginson,  Francis,  464 

High  Church  party,  the,  380,  510.  550,  631 

High  Commission,  Court  of,  369,  403, 
460,  461,  470,  489 

Hilary  of  Aries,  107 

Hilary  of  Poictiers,  121,  125 

Hildebrand.     See  Gregory  VII. 

Hilgenfeld,  626 

Hill,  George,  611 

Hincmar,  170,  179,  180 


Hinduism,  589 

Hippolytus,  73 

Hoadley,  Bp.,  512,  514 

Hobart,  J.  H.,  .569 

Hobbes,  Thomas,  .598,  603 

Hodge,  Charles,  614 

Hohenstaufens,  the,  ruin  of,  199 

Holbach,  619 

Holbein,  304,  3.55 

Holland,  independence  of  acknowledged, 
411 ;  late  religious  condition  of,  545, 
546 

Holliman,  472 

Holy  League  (in  Italy),  the,  269 

Holy  League  of  Nuremberg,  314 

Holy  Roman  Empire,  origin  of,  171 ; 
loses  its  power,  200 ;  revives,  246 ; 
weakened  by  the  Peace  of  Westphalia, 
410 

Holy  Spirit,  the  Apostolic  Fathers  on, 
81  ;  the  Council  of  Toledo  on,  131  ;  the 
Council  of  Constantinople  on,  132  ;  the 
Nicene  Creed  on,  ib. 

Holy  Spirit,  work  of,  Augustine  on,  136, 
137 ;  Arminians  on,  429  ;  the  Reform- 
ers on,  440  ;  Ann  Hutchinson  on,  473  ; 
Quakers  on,  491  ;  Swedenborg  on,  509 ; 
Tillotson  on,  599 

Hombm-g  Synod,  the,  415 

Honorius,  Roman  emp.,  94,  107 

Honorius  L,  Pope,  135.    IL,  195,205 

Honorius  II.,  anti-pope,  174 

Hontheim,  Nicholas  von,  504 

Hoogstraten,  282 

Hooker,  Richard,  on  the  eucharist,  371 ; 
on  Calvin's  influence,  372  ;  on  predesti- 
nation. 373  ;  his  ' '  Ecclesiastical  Pol- 
ity," 378;  on  Calvin's  polity,  379;  on 
Church  and  State  in  England,  419  ;  as 
a  theologian,  431 ;  on  baptism,  447 ;  on 
the  Lord's  Day,  448 

Hooker,  Thomas,  464,  467 

Hooper,  360 ;  his  objections  to  vestments, 
376  ;  the  father  of  Puritanism,  377 

Hopkins,  Samuel,  612,  613,  651 

Hopkinsians,  the,  562,  613 

Horn,  Count,  344 

Horsley,  Bp.,  615 

Hosius,  at  Nicea,  130 

Hospitallers,  the,  196,  208 

Howard,  John.  6.56,  657 

Howe,  John,  434,  601 

Hugh  Capet,  172 

Hughes,  John,  .581 

Hugo  of  St.  Victor,  214,  219 

Hugo,  Victor,  644 

Huguenots,  the  French  Protestants 
called,  336 ;  massacred  at  Vassy,  337 ; 
on  St.  Bartholomew's  Day,  339  ;  pro- 
tected by  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  340 ;  as- 
sisted by  Elizabeth,  363,  370 ;  protected 
by  Cromwell,  485 ;  persecution  of,  in 
the  seventeenth  century,  493 ;  their 
later  history,  542,  543  ;  in  America,  570 

Humanists,  the,  280,  seq.;  Italian,  280, 
2«1  ;  German,  281,  282  ;  English,  282, 
283 ;  their  clas.sicism,  386 ;  and  Luther, 
295  ;  in  England,  346 


685 


Humanitarianism,  81 

Humbert  do  Romanis,  237 

Hume,  David,  002,  607  seq. 

Hungary,  the  conversion  of,  164;  church 
in,  subject  to  Roman  see,  105 ;  the 
Reformation  in,  :>13,  314  ;  Catholic  re- 
action in,  393 

Huns,  the,  93,  95 

Hunt,  Robert,  475 

Huntingdon,  Lady,  520,  522 

Hupfeld,  022,  6',>8 

Hurons,  the,  458,  459 

Huss,  John,  his  work  in  Bohemia,  275 ; 
at  Constance,  358,  276  ;  effect  of  his 
death  on  Bohemia,  260 ;  Luther's  re- 
marks upon,  294,  297 

Hussites,  the,  260.    See,  also,  Utraquists 

Hutclieson,  Francis,  610 

Hutchinson,  Ann,  472,  473,  477 

Hutchinson,  Colonel,  memoir  of,  395 

Hutchinson,  Mrs.  Colonel,  on  the  spirit 
and  aims  of  Charles  I.,  400 

Hutton,  Abp.  of  York,  372,  373 

Hyacinthe,  Pere,  5o9 

Hvmnology,  early,  121  ;  medifeval,  238  ; 
among  the  Protestants,  421,  422,  423 ; 
recent,  663,  664 

Hyrcanus  IL,  13 

Iceland,  the  spread  of  Christianity  to, 

164 
Iconoclastic  controversy,  158 
Ignatius  of  Anticch,  47,  80,  84 
Ignatius,   Patriarch    of    Constantinople, 

llluminism,  497 

Images,  use  of,  63 ;  worship  of,  117 ; 
controversy  about,  158 

Immaculate  conception,  doctrine  of,  226, 
537 

Immersion,  41,  426,  435 

Immortality,  the  Socinians  on,  431 

Imputation,  428,  441 

Incarnation,  the,  doctrine  respecting,  of 
the  Gnostics,  76;  of  the  Apostolic 
Fathers,  80;  Schwenckfeld  on,  426; 
recent  views  on,  637 

In  Ccena  Domini^  the  bull,  392,  504 

Independents,  the  rise  of,  460  seq.  ;  per- 
secuted, 381  ;  attitude  of  the  Puritan 
Presbyterians  toward,  406 ;  gain  the 
ascendency  in  England,  406,  407,  484  ; 
the  English,  their  creeds,  427 ;  on  the 
civil  magistracy,  447  ;  in  Virginia,  476  ; 
the  English,  in  the  eighteenth  century, 
523  ;  later  history  of,  in  England,  552, 
553 ;  their  missionaries,  586 

"  Index,"  the,  390 

"  Index  Expurgatorius,"  390 

India,  spread  of  Christianity  to,  45,  98 ; 
Catholic  missions  in,  449,  452,  453,  583  ; 
Protestant  missions  in,  589,  590,  591 

Indians,  the,  how  treated  by  the  colonists, 
463,  478,  584 

Indulgences,  origin  of,  160 ;  the  school- 
men on,  225 ;  plenary,  ib.  ;  Luther  on, 
2t)3 

Infallibility  of  the  pope,   sanctioned  by 


Aquinas,  223  ;  Occam  against,  271 ;  de- 
creed by  the  Vatican  Council,  537 

Infants.     See  Baptism 

Innocent  I.,  claims  judicial  authority  in 
Africa,  100 ;  against  the  Pelagians,  137. 
II.,  214.  III.,  his  idea  of  the  papacy, 
192  ;  builds  up  the  papal  power  in  Italy, 
ih.  ;  his  relations  with  the  empire,  193  ; 
with  Philip  Augustus,  ib.  ;  with  John 
of  England,  ib. ;  starts  the  fourth  cru- 
sade, ib.  ;  proclaims  a  crusade  against 
the  Albigenses,  194;  on  taxation  of 
clergy,  201 ;  countenances  the  plan  of 
St.  Dominic,  205 ;  of  St.  Francis,  200  ; 
sanctions  doctrine  of  transubstantia- 
tion,  225  ;  forbids  miracle  plays  in  the 
churches,  239;  his  death,  195.  IV.,  his 
contest  with  Fred.  II.,  198,  199;  seeks 
the  ruin  of  the  Hohenstaui'ens,  199 ; 
controversy  with  Grosteste,  202 ;  sanc- 
tions use  of  torture,  233.  VII.,  253. 
VIII.,  206.  480.  X.,  412,  494,  500. 
XL,  494.     XIL,  494 

Inquisition,  the,  origin  of,  194 ;  reorgan- 
ized in  Italy,  389,  390 ;  established  in 
Spain,  389,  390,  391 ;  in  the  Netherlands, 
342,  343 ;  and  Galileo,  437 ;  restored  in 
Italy,  533 ;  in  modern  Spain,  531,  534 

Inspiration,  doctrine  of  in  the  early 
Church,  78,  79;  in  Period  IIL,  139; 
Theodore  of  Mopsuestia  on,  ib.  ;  Chry- 
sostom  on,  ib. ;  the  Reformers  on,  439  ; 
recent  views  of,  635,  636 

Interdict,  the,  176,  231 

Intermediate  state,  the,  142;  the  English 
divines  on,  448 ;  recent  views  on,  640 

Interpretation,  method  of,  139,  140,  439, 
508 

Investiture,  the  struggle  about,  183  seq. 

lona,  monastery  of,  114,  146,  148 

Ireland,  receives  Christianity,  96  ;  the  at- 
tempts to  plant  Protestantism  in,  381, 
382 

Irenseus,  41,  45,  46,  67;  his  career  and 
opinions,  73,  82  seq. 

Irene,  the  empress,  159 

Irving,  Edward,  555 

Iroquois,  the,  457  seq. 

Isabella  of  Castile,  389,  451 

Isidore,  primate  of  Russia,  556 

Isidore  of  Seville,  129,  161 

Islam,  1.52.     See,  also,  Mohammedanism 

Italy,  characteristics  of  the  early  litera- 
ture of,  278;  Renaissance  in,  278,  280; 
attitude  of  toward  the  papacy  in  the 
sixteenth  century,  383  ;  advance  of  Pro- 
testantism into,  384;  the  Reformation 
in,  checked,  389  ;  the  Catholic  reaction 
in,  ib.,  390  ;  the  unification  of,  536,  537, 
544,  545 

Ives,  Bp.,  580 

Ivry,  battle  of,  340 

lyeyasQ,  455,  456 

Jablonski,  506 

Jacobi,  624 

Jacobite  Church,  the  rise  of,  134 

Jacobus  de  Benedictis,  238 


INDEX. 


James,  the  brother  of  John,  18,  21,  33 

James,  the  Lord's  brother,  21,  22,  33 

James,  Epistle  of,  43,  79,  438,  439 

James  I.  of  England  (VI.  of  Scotland), 
his  birtii  and  coronation,  367  ;  his  at- 
tempt to  introduce  episcopacy  in  Scot- 
land, 368,  396,  397,  399  ;  his  character, 
896 ;  thwarts  the  Puritans,  397 ;  re- 
ceives the  adulation  of  the  sacerdotal- 
•  ists,  898  ;  his  policy  toward  Roman 
Catholics,  ib.\  his  foreign  policy,  399  ; 
his  "  Declaration,"  403  ;  his  divisive 
policy,  407;  sends  representatives  to 
Dort,  429  ;  burns  Pallavicini's  work  on 
English  heresies,  436.  H.,  433,  488, 
489,  490,  493 

James  V.,  of  Scotland.  356,  363 

James  Stuart,  the  Earl  of  Murray,  365, 
367,  396 

Jansenists,  the  origin  of,  436;  conflict 
with  the  Jesuits,  496 

Jansenius,  413,  436 

Japan,  Xavier  in,  454 ;  other  Jesuits  in, 
455;  Christians  persecuted  in,  ib., 
456;  the  Portuguese  in,  456;  later 
Roman  Catholic  missionaries  in,  583 ; 
Protestant  missions  in,  593 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  469,  560,  660 

Jeffreys,  433,  489 

Jerome,  an  upholder  of  celibacy  of  clergy, 
101  ;  advocates  the  cloister  life,  114  ; 
against  Jovinian,  116  ;  his  career,  135  ; 
on  the  canon,  139 

Jerome  of  Prague,  358,  276  ;  effect  of  his 
death  on  Bohemia,  260 

Jerusalem,  conference  at,  22,  23  ;  fall  of, 
33 ;  church  at,  38 ;  raised  to  the  rank 
of  a  patriarchate,  105  ;  captured  by  the 
Saracens,  154  ;  by  the  crusaders,  186  ; 
by  Saladin,  191 ;  recovered  by  Fred- 
erick II.,  196;  final  loss  of ,  201;  Pro- 
testant missionaries  in,  593,  593 

Jesuits,  the  origin  of,  386,  387 ;  organiza- 
tion of,  387;  their  work,  388;  their 
wide  influence,  393,  408,  409;  in  Sweden, 
312  ;  in  Poland,  313  ;  in  France,  338  ; 
cause  conflicts  in  the  Roman  Church, 
394 ;  their  intrigues  in  the  Greek 
Church,  413;  as  missionaries,  452  seq., 
583  ;  in  Paraguay,  457,  501 ;  in  Canada, 
458  ;  among  the  Iroquois,  459 ;  against 
the  Mystics,  495  ;  the  Jansenists,  496  ; 
downfall  of,  499  seq.  •  their  doctrines  in 
morals,  499,  500 ;  conduct  of  their  mis- 
sionaries, 500  ;  their  interference  in  po- 
litical affairs,  501 ;  restoration  of,  503, 
.533;  activity  of,  534,  535,  537,  544; 
broken  up  in  France,  .541 ;  in  Switzer- 
land, .548  ;  in  Tahiti,  596 

Jesus,  birth,  8  ;  born  at  a  crisis,  13  ;  bap- 
tism, 17 ;  his  ministry,  ib.  ;  his  expec- 
tation of  death,  18 ;  his  resurrection, 
18  ;  the  relation  of  his  teaching  to  the 
Jewish  law,  23,  23  ;  belief  of  the  early 
Church  regarding,  42.  See,  also,  Christ. 
Jewel,  Bp.,  371,  374,  376,  378,  431,  480 
Jews,  the,  their  spiritual  superiority,  13  ; 
their  dispersion,   14;  unyielding  faith 


in  their  religion,  ib.;  their  Messianic 
hope,  16,  17 ;  in  the  middle  ages,  167, 
168;  as  philosophers,  218;  persecuted 
for  apostasy  in  Spain,  389  ;  tolerated  in 
New  York,  477  ;  in  Denmark,  547  ;  in 
Sweden,  ib.  ;  in  England,  551 

Joachim,  the  Abbot,  315 

Joan  of  Kent,  361 

John,  the  Apostle,  18,  33 ;  character  of 
his  teaching,  42 ;  Epistles  and  Gospel  of, 
32,  43 

John  the  Baptist,  17 

John,  "  the  Presbyter,"  83 

John  VIIL,  171.  XII.,  171.  XV.,  172, 
176.  XXII.,  his  contest  with  Louis  of 
Bavaria,  246;  his  errors,  ib. ,  248  ;  death, 
348.  XXIII.,  calls  the  Council  of  Con- 
stance, 256 ;  deposed,  257 

John,  of  England,  193,  249 

John  III.,  of  Sweden,  313 

John  of  Damascus,  161,  163 

John  of  Gaunt,  273 

John  a  Lasco,  313 

John  of  Pans,  244 

John  of  Salisbury,  215 

John  the  Steadfast,  Elector  of  Saxony, 
301,  30.5,  315,  316,  394 

John  of  Zapolya,  314 

Johnson,  Francis,  461 

Johnson,  Dr.  Samuel,  513,  577,  606 

Johnson,  Samuel,  565 

Joliet.  459 

Joris,  427 

Joseph,  the  husband  of  Mary,  17 

Joseph  of  Arimathea,  33,  89 

Joseph  IL,  Emp.  H.  R.  E.,  504,  505 

Joseph  Emanuel  I.,  of  Portgugal,  501 

Jouftroy,  634 

Jovian,  91 

Jovinian,  116 

Jubilees,  papal,  243,  252,  263 

Judaism,  the  Alexandrian,  15 

Judaizing  Christians,  24,  25,  27,  33,  7i 
'  Judas,  the  brother  of  Jesus,  33 
I  Jude,  Epistle  of,  43,  438 
[judea,  14 

Judson,  Adoniram,  587,  588,  590,  591 

Julian,  the  "  Apostate,"  90,  91,  101,  138 

Julian  of  Eclanum,  137 

Julian  de'  Medici,  265 

Julius  I.,  105,  106,  131.  11.,  268,  269,  347. 
IIL,  317 

Justification,  Paul's  view,  26 ;  the  school- 
men on,  222 ;  Schwenckfeld  on,  426 ; 
the  Reformers  on,  444 ;  the  Roman 
Catholics  on,  444  ;  the  Arminians  on, 
444  ;  the  Quakers  on,  493  ;  Swedenborg 
on,  509 

Justin  L,  134 

Justin  Martyr,  46,  48,  70,  71,  78,  82,  84, 
85 

Justinian,  78,  97,  98,  107,  108,  134, 141 

Kabbala,  the  Jewish,  318,  281,  282 
Kadijah,  153 

Kamehameha  I.,  596.     IL,  596 
Kant,  Immanuel,  632,  633 
Karens,  the,  591 


INDEX, 


687 


Keble,  John,  379,  550,  630,  664 

Ken,  Bp.,  663 

Kennet,  484 

Kenosis  controversy,  the,  443,  637 

Kenrick,  Abp.,  537 

Kent,  spread  of  Christianity  to,  147 

Kiernander,  i?80 

Kingsley,  Charles,  515 

Knights'  War,  the,  300 

Knighthood,  186,  207 

Knox,  John,  influenced  by  Calvin,  838 ; 
his  early  career,  364 ;  refuses  an  Eng- 
lish bishopric,  ib.  ;  an  exile,  ib. ;  his  re- 
turn, 3G5 ;  his  conflict  with  Mary  Stuart, 
366 ;  his  work  in  Scotland,  3(57,  368 ;  at 
Frankfort,  376 ;  prepares  a  liturgy,  421 ; 
on  the  Lord's  Day,  4rJ  8 ;  his  last  days, 
396 

Koran,  the,  153,  414 

Koreishites,  the,  152 

Krauth,  Charles  P.,  575 

Kuenen,  546,  623 

Kuyper,  546 

La  Chaise,  493 

Lacordaire,  535,  644 

Ladislas,  of  Naples,  251,  255 

Lafayette,  600 

Lalemant,  459 

Lambert,  Francis,  415 

Lambeth  Articles,  the,  373,  382,  398 

Lamennais,  535 

Lanfranc,  209 ;  his  career,  211 ;  on  tran- 
substantiation,  225 

Langland,  William,  278 

Languages,  the  national,  growth  of,  278 

Laodiceans,  epistle  to  the,  162 

Laplace  (Placeus),  428 

Lardner,  N.,  513,  608 

Las  Casas,  Bartholomew  de,  450,  451 

Lasco,  John  a,  313 

Lateran,  Fourth  Council  of  the,  194 ;  Fifth 
Council  of  the,  268  se.ij. ;  its  decree  on 
immortality,  281 

Latimer,  353,  355,  360,  431 

Latin  language  and  culture,  influence  of, 
9 ;  renewed  study  of,  279 

Latin,  use  of  in  the  church  service,  165, 
237 

Latin  empire  at  Constantinople,  creation 
of,  194 ;  fall  of,  201 

Latitudinarians,  the,  598  seq. 

Laud,  William,  379,  380 ;  his  career  and 
opinions,  403 ;  his  tyrannical  proceed- 
ings, 403,  404, 464  ;  his  prayer  for  Buck- 
ingham, 405 ;  influence  on  ChUling- 
worth,  600  ;  beheaded,  404 

Lauderdale,  487 

Lavalette,  502 

Law.     See  Ecclesiastical  Law 

Law,  William,  513,  514,  605,  655 

Lazarists,  the,  583 

Lazarus,  33 

Lecky,  483 

Le  Clerc,  439,  621 

Lectors,  56 

Lefevre,  Jacques,  319;  his  career,  331 

Legnano,  Battle  of,  191 


Leibnitz,  497;  his  career,  619,  630 

Leicester,  the  Earl  of,  377 

Leighton,  Robert,  432 

Leipsic,  disputation  at,  293,  294;  Univer- 
sity of,  founded,  275 

Leipsic  Interim,  the,  317 

Leo  I.,  the  Great,  Pope,  protects  Rome, 
95  ;  and  the  Council  of  Chalcedon,  100, 
107,  134  ;  and  the  East  Illyrian  bishops, 
107 ;  his  writings,  128.  11.,  13.5.  IIL, 
159,160.  Vin.,173.  IX.,  173.  X.,  his 
character,  369  ;  his  papal  policy,  270  ; 
condemns  the  "Epistles,"  283;  and  Lu- 
ther, 293 ;  alliance  with  Charles  V.,  297, 
298;  his  death,  298.  XII.,  534,  535. 
XIIL,  540,  548 

Leo  III.,  Roman  emperor,  1.58 

Leopold  IL,  Emp.  H.  R.  E.,  505 

Leopold,  of  Tuscany,  505 

Leslie,  Charles,  603 

Lessing,  621 

"Leviathan,"  the,  603 

Leyden,  the  English  Independents  at, 
463 

L'Hospital,  336,  337 

Libanius,  90 

Licinius,  50 

Lightfoot,  Bp.,  51,  .54 

Lightfoot,  John,  432,  433 

Liml)orch,  429 

Limbus  infantum,  226  ;  patrum,  ib. 

Literature  (see  Table  of  Contents,  under 
Doctrine)  modem,  spirit  of,  641 

Liturgies,  growth  of,  120  ;  the  mediaeval, 
337  ;  the  English,  358  ;  Protestant,  419 
seq.  ;  in  the  Catholic  Apostolic  Church, 
55.5.     See,  also.  Prayer  Book 

Livingstone,  David,  594 

Livonians,  the,  conversion  of,  165 ;  the 
Reformation  among,  313 

Locke,  John.  465,  603,  608 

Logos  (see  Christ),  81,  82,  84 

Lollards,  the,  274,  346 

Lombard.  Peter,  214,  21.5,  223.  226 

Lombard  League,  the,  191,  195 

Lombards,  the,  97,  158,  1.59,  188,  189,  197 

London  Missionary  Society,  the,  586,  590, 
594,  595,  596 

Long  Parliament,  the,  403  seq.,  584 

Lord's  Day,  the  early  observance  of,  40, 
64,  118;  Westminster  Creeds  on,  406; 
Milton  on,  435 ;  the  Reformers  on,  448  ; 
in  Puritan  New  England,  468 

Lord's  Supper,  early  celebration  of,  37, 
41,  66,  68 ;  the  Apostolic  Fathers  on, 
84  ;  Hamack's  remark  on  the  early  form 
of,  ib.  ;  later  doctrine  of.  143,  160 ; 
Ratramnus  on,  179 ;  the  schoolmen  on, 
234,  325  ;  Luther  on,  309  ;  Zwingli  on, 
i&. ;  Melanchthon  on,  315  ;  in  the  Thirty- 
nine  Articles,  3.58  ;  English  Reformers 
on,  371,  372  ;  Laud  on,  403  ;  the  Reform- 
ers on,  447;  the  Irvingites  on,  555; 
Tractarians  on,  630,  631 

Lorenzo  de'  Medici,  265,  266,  376 

Lothair,  Roman  emp.,  187 

Lothairll.,  170 

Lotze,  634 


Lonis,  the  Pious,  Eoman  emp.,  163,  168, 
178 

Louis  of  Bavaria,  Emp.  H.  R.  E.,  246, 
248 

Louis  IX.,  of  France,  166  ;  his  crusades, 
201  ;  his  death,  ib.  ;  his  Pragmatic 
Sanction,  202 ;  his  character,  231  ; 
canonized,  241.  XI.,  205.  XII.,  267 
sen.  XIII.,  401.  XIV.,  488,  493,  494, 
49f5,  498,  500,  542.  XVL,  528.  XVIU., 
534 

Louis  Philippe,  528.  535 

Louis  the  German,  170 

Louis  II.,  of  Hungary,  314 

Louis  of  Anjou,  251 

Louis,  Prince  of  Conde,  335  seq. 

Louis  of  Nassau,  Count,  343 

Louise  of  Savoy,  331,  332 

Louvois,  493 

Love-feasts,  37,  40,  67 

Low  Church  party,  the,  ascendant,  509 ; 
later  history  of,  633 

Loyola,  Ignatius,  386,  387,  412 

Liibeck,  the  Reformation  at,  311 

Lucar,  Cyril,  412 

Lucius  I. ,  Bp.  of  Rome,  40.    H.,  Pope,  188 

Liicke,  627 

Lucretia  Borgia,  267 

Luidger,  1.52 

Luitprand,  158 

Luke,  26  ;  Gospel  of,  43 

Lull,  Raymond,  167,  217,  218 

Lullus,  1.51 

Luthardt,  628 

Luther,  Martin,  on  his  debt  to  Augiistine, 
127;  his  relations  to  Occam,  272;  to 
AVessel,  276 ;  to  Savonarola,  277 ;  to 
Tauler,  278,  291  ;  the  hero  of  the  Ref- 
ormation, 290 ;  his  early  life,  i6.,  291 ; 
his  religious  experience,  291 ;  opposes 
Tetzel,  ib. ;  his  theses,  292 ;  and  Leo 
X.,  293;  disputation  at  Leipsic,  294; 
his  "Address"  and  "Babylonian  Cap- 
tivity," 294;  excommunicated,  ib.\ 
bums  the  papal  buU,  295 ;  at  the  Diet 
of  Worms,  297  ;  in  the  Wartburg,  298, 
299 ;  his  translation  of  the  Bible,  299 ; 
influence  on  the  German  tongue,  ib., 
316;  stops  the  trouble  at  Wittenberg, 
299 ;  relations  with  the  Knights,  oOO  ; 
attitude  toward  the  Peasants'  revolt, 
301 ;  his  marriage,  ib.,  302 ;  his  -vvi-it- 
ings,  302;  controversy  with  Henrj^ 
VIIL,  ib.\  his  controversy  with  Eras- 
mus, 303,  304 ;  Cranach's  picture  of, 
304  ;  his  controversy  with  the  Swiss  on 
the  Lord's  Supper,  305,  309,  310  ;  atti- 
tude toward  the  Diet  of  Augsburg,  305; 
countenances  the  League  of  Smalcald, 
306  ;  compared  with  Zwingli,  308,  309  ; 
his  last  days  and  death,  315;  later  re- 
lations with  Melanchthon,  315,  316 ; 
estimate  of,  316;  Coleridge  and  Dolling- 
er  on,  316 ;  compared  with  Calvin, 
320,  321,  322 ;  his  wide  influence,  314, 
346,  384  ;  on  the  powers  of  the  laity  in 
Church  affairs,  414  ;  on  Church  and 
State,  415;  on  marriage,  416  ;  prepares 


manuals  of  worship,  420 ;  a  hymn- 
writer,  421,  422  ;  as  a  doctrinal  teacher, 
423 ;  attacks  Aristotle,  436 ;  on  the 
canon,  438,  439 ;  on  the  human  reason, 
440 ;  on  the  atonement,  443  ;  on  infant 
baptism,  446;  on  the  Lord's  Day,  448; 
his  attitude  toward  missions,  451 ;  his 
influence  on  Wesley,  516  ' 

Lutheranism,  how  distinguished  from 
Calvinism,  423 

Lutherans,  the,  called  Protestants,  304  ; 
in  Poland,  313  ;  in  Hungary,  314 ;  in 
England,  352 ;  their  treatment  of  the 
exiles  from  England,  375  ;  their  intol- 
erance, 408;  theix  polity,  416;  their 
ideas  on  worship,  419 ;  their  forms, 
420;  their  festivals,  ib.,  421;  their  doc- 
trines, sources  of,  423,  424  ;  on  the  per- 
son of  Christ,  442 ;  on  grace,  ib.  ;  on 
justification,  444 ;  on  perseverance, 
445  ;  on  the  Lord's  Supper,  447  ;  later 
history  of,  546,  547 ;  in  U.  S.,  574,  575, 
588 

Liitken,  584 

Lutzen,  Battle  of,  410 

Lybia.  tribes  of,  spread  of  Christianity 
to,  98 

Lyons,  Church  in,  45,  48 

Macaulat,  432,  48.5,  491 

MachiaveDi,  281 

Mackemie,  Francis,  571 

Mackintosh,  466,  603,  C59 

Madagascar,  Protestant  missions  in,  595 

Madiai,  Francesco  and  Rosa,  545 

Madison,  James,    Bp.  of   Virginia,  568, 

569 
Madison,  James,  President,  560 
Madrid,  treaty  of,  298 
Maffit,  J.  N.,  578 
"Magdeburg  Centuries,"  the,  435 
Magic,  229.  479 
Magister,  Florus,  179 
Magistracy,  the  civil,  its  authority,  the 

Reformers  on,  447;  the  Independents 

and  the  Baptists  on,  ib. 
Magyars,  the,  164 
!Mahan,  Asa,  614 
Maimonides,  Moses,  218 
Maintenon,  JSIadame  de,  493 
Mair,  John,  364 

"Malabar  customs,"  the,  500,  582,  583 
Malan,  Cesar,  548 
Mallet,  606 
Man,  nature  of,  the  schoolmen  on,  220 ; 

sinfulness  of,  the  Reformers  on,  441, 

442.     See,  also,  Adam,  Sin 
Mandjeans,  77 
Mandeville,  B.,  606 
Manfred,  199 
Mani,  77 

Maaichseisra,  77,  78 ;  in  France,  272 
Manning,  Cardinal,  631 
Mansel,  H.  K,  633 
Mansfield,  Lord,  (560 
Marburg,  conference  at,  805,  310 
Marcion,  77,  79 
Marcus  Aurelius,  12,  71,  93 


INDEX. 


Margaret  of  Maultasch,  248 

Margaret  of  Navarre,  319,  331,  333,  335 

Margaret  of  Parma,  342,  343 

Mariana,  499 

Marignano,  Battle  of,  270 

Mark,  Gospel  of,  43 

Maronites,  the,  135,  558,  592 

Marot,  Clement,  334,  385,  421 

Marquesas  Islands,  597 

Marquette,  429 

Marriage  among  the  early  Christians,  60, 
62 ;  the  schoolmen  on,  226 ;  how  looked 
upon  by  the  Lutherans,  416 ;  in  Puri- 
tan New  England,  467 

Marshall  College,  575 
•  Marshman   590 
)  Marsilio  Ficino,  280 

MarsUius  of  Padua,  247,  271,  351 

Martin  IV.,  200,  240.     V.,  259,  260 

Martin,  St.,  shrine  of,  160 

Martyn,  Henry,  593 

Martyr,  Peter,  his  career  in  Italy,  385 ; 
flees  from  Italy,  389  ;  in  England,  358 

Martyrs,  the  early,  number  of,  50;  in- 
creasing veneration  of,  68 

Mary,  the  mother  of  Jesus,  17,  18;  wor- 
ship of,  US,  160  226,  229,  230,  542 

Mary,  "Bloody  Queen,'"  348;  restores 
Catholicism,  359  ;  marries  Philip  II., 
360 ;  persecutes  the  Protestants,  ib. ; 
her  loss  of  influence,  361,  302 ;  her 
death,  362 

Mary  Stuart,  Q.  of  Scots,  proposed  mar- 
riage with  Edward  VI. ,  356,  357 ;  mar- 
ried to  the  Dauphin  of  France,  335,  357, 
365  ;  heir  to  the  Scottish  throne,  363  ; 
death  of  her  husband,  366 ;  returns  to 
Scotland,  ib.  ;  her  conflict  with  Knox, 
ib.  ;  her  marriage  with  Darnley,  ib. ; 
with  Bothwell,  367 ;  abdicates,  ib. ;  flees 
to  England,  ib.  ;  her  title  to  be  recog- 
nized, 370 ;  beheaded,  371 

Mary  of  Guise,  365 

Maryland,  early  laws  of,  468 ;  early  reli- 
gious policy  of,  478 

Mason,  John  M.,  573 

Massachusetts  settled,  463,  464  ;  political 
constitution,  524  ;  repeals  laws  against 
Baptists,  etc.,  560  ;  missionary  zeal  of, 
584 

Masses,  origin  of  the  term,  66 ;  for  the 
dead,  160;  private,  161;  relation  of 
transubstantiation  to,  225,  309 

Mather,  Cotton,  480,  482,  564 

Mather,  Increase,  480 

Matilda,  Countess  of  Tuscany,  187 

Matilda,  mother  of  Otto  I.,  228 

Matthew,  Gospel  of,  43 ;  received  by  the 
Ebionites,  75 

Matthew  of  Paris,  198 

Matthew,  "Father,"  662 

Matthias,  the  Apostle,  18,  19 

Matthias,  Roman  emp.,  408 

Matthias  of  Janow,  275 

Maurice,  Prince  of  Orange,  407,  429 

Maurice,  Duke  of  Saxony,  315,  317,  393     I 

Maurice,  F.  D.,  632,  640 

Maurus  (St.  Maur),  115  I 

44 


Maurus,  Rabanus,  179 

Maxentius,  87 

Maxiniianus,  50 

Maximilian  I.,  Emp.  H.  R.  E.,  269,  293, 

295,  296.     II.,  408 
Maximilian  Joseph  I.,  of  Bavaria,  503 
Maximilian,  Duke  of  Bavaria,  408,  409 
Maximilian,  "Emp.  of  Mexico,"  541 
Maximinus,  the  Thracian,  49 
Maxwell,  Clerk,  64G 
May,  552 

Mayflower,  the,  459,  463 
Mazarin,  485,  493 
Mazzini,  536,  544 
"McAll  Mission,"  the,  544 
McMahon,  541 
Meade,  William,  569 
Meaux,  the  Reformation  at,  331 
Mediaeval  religion,  characteristics  of,  227, 

228,  229 ;  Catholicism,  236 
Medici,  the,  205,  269,  276,  277 
Mehemet  Ali,  558 

Melanchthon,  Philip,  290;   professor    at 
Wittenberg,  294;  draws  up  the  Augs- 
burg Confession,  305 ;  at  Ratisbon,  314 ; 
later  relations  with  Luther,  31.5,  316; 
la,ter  view  on  the  Lord's  Supper,  315 ; 
his  friendship  for  Calvin,  322,  324 ;  ap- 
proves the  condemnation  of  Servetus, 
327 ;  urged  to  come  to  Paris,  333  ;  to 
England,  354,  358 ;  on  Episcopacy,  373 ; 
his  influence  in  Italy,  384 ;  on  Protes- 
tantism in  Italy,   385 ;   hated  by  the 
Lutherans,  408 ;  and  the  Greek  Church, 
412 ;  on  connection  of  Church  and  State, 
415 ;  as  an  organizer,  416 ;  as  a  doctrinal 
teacher,  423,  424;  his  manuals  of  in- 
struction, 436 ;  on  the  being  of  God, 
440 ;  on  the  Trinity,  441  ;  influence  in 
America,  576 
Melville,  Andrew,  368,  396,  397,  399 
Mendicant  orders,  the,  204 
Menno  Simonis,  426 
Mennonites,  the,  426,  565 
Merit,  idea  of,  65,  227;  the  doctrine  of 
salvation  by,  223 ;  treasury  of,  225,  292 ; 
the  Reformers  on,  445 
Messiah,  expectation  of  a,  16,  17 
Metaphrastes,  Simeon,  181 
Metaphysics,  modern,  founded,  437 
Methodism,  origin  of,  513,  515  seq. ;  type 
of  its  preaching,  521  ;  growth  of,  522  ; 
effect  of  on  Arminianism,  430 
Methodists,  the  origin  of,  515  seq.  ;  origin 
of  the  term,  516 ;  organization  of,  518  ; 
in  TJ.  S.,  576;  their  missionaries,  586, 
588,  591,  595,  597 
Methodius,  164 
Metropolitan  bishops,  57,  104 
Mettemich,  532 

Mexico,  the  Spanish  in,  456 ;  the  Fran- 
ciscans   in,    456,   457;   the  Church  of 
Rome  in,  583 
Meyer,  627 
Michael  III.,  177 
Michael  Angelo,  269,  288 
Michael  Csrularius,  177 
Michael  of  Cesena,  246 


690 


INDEX. 


Michaelis,  621 

Micronesian  Islands,  597 

Middle  ages,  175  ;  characteristics  of,  227 

Middleton,  Conyers,  605 

Mikado,  the,  455 

Mile  Act,  the,  487 

Militz,  274 

Mill,  John  Stuart,  608,  633 

Millenary  Petition,  the,  397 

Millennial  kingdom,  84  -| 

Mills,  Samuel,  587 

Milman,  839,  632 

Milner,  Joseph,  522 

MUtitz,  293 

Milton,  John,  404,  434,  435 

Ministers,  primitive  parity  of,  52 

Minutius  Felix,  71 

Miracle  plays,  the,  239 

Miracles,  definition  of,  219 ;  the  So- 
cinians  on,  431  ;  denied  by  the  Deists, 
602  ;  Woolston's  theory  of,  605 ;  Hume 


on  607,  608 ;   Paulus  on,  623 ;  Strauss 

on,  625,  626 
Miracles,  mediaeval,  146,  229 
Missions,    the  early   Christian,  45  seq.  ; 

mediajval,    145  seq.,   163  seq.  ;    in  the 

first  age  of  the  Reformation,  449  seq. ; 

modern,  582  seq. ;  obstacles  to,  589 ;  re- 
sults of,  598 
"Moderates,"  the,  554,  555 
Modestus,  101 
Moehler,  538 
MoflPat,  Robert,  594 
Mohammed,    his    career,    152,    153 ;   the 

flight  of  (Hegira),  152  ;  his  death,  153  ; 

his  teaching,  153 
Mohammedanism,  rise  of,  152  seq. ;  rapid 

progress    of,   154  ;    in   Spain,   166 ;   in        .        .... 

Persia,  167  ;  mediajval  hostility  to,  231  ;^y sties,  the,  277,  495,  649 

later  advance  of,  449 ;  in  India,  589 
Mohammedans,  the,  attempts  to  convert, 

167 
Molanus,  497 
Molina,  442 
Molinists,  the,  442 
Molinos,  436 ;  his  career,  495 
Tf  Monarchianism,  81 

Monasteries,  origin  of,  113 ;  multitude  of, 

234 ;  suppressed  in  England,  354,  355 ; 

in  Prance,  528 ;  in  Germany  and  Spain, 

531 
t   Monasticism,  sources  of,  111;  in  the  West, 

114, 115 ;  defences  of,  i6.,  il6 ;  decay  of, 

175 ;  mediaeval  revival  of,  203  seq. 
Mongols,  the,  attempts  to  convert,  166, 

167 


Monica,  110,  126 
Monmouth,  Duke  of,  489 
Monod,  Adolf,  543 
Monod,  Frederic,  543 
Monophysites,  the,  134 
Monothelite  controversy,  134 
Montaigne,  Michel  de,  438 
Montalembert,  535,  543 
Montani8m,59,  85 
Montanus,  59 

Monte  Casino,  monastery  at,  115 
Montfort,  Simon  de,  194 


Montgomery,  J.,  664 

Montmorenci,  the  Constable,  335,  336 

Montreal,  founded,  457 

Moralities,  the,  239 

Morals,  in  the  Augustan  age,  12,  13; 
among  the  early  Christians,  59,  60,  61 ; 
in  Period  III,  110;  in  the  Middla 
Ages,  227.     For  theory  of,  see  Ethics 

Moravia,  Catholic  reaction  in,  393 

Moravians,  the,  conversion  of,  164 

Moravians,  the,  at  Hermhut,  505,  506; 
their  organization,  507 ;  their  relation 
to  Wesley,  516,  517,  518 ;  in  America, 
579  ;  their  missionary  activity,  585,  590 
seq.\  influence  of,  620 

More,  Hannah,  523 

More,  Henry,  480,  599,  603 

More,  Thomas,  282,  283,  284,  303,  352,  353, 
354 

Morgan,  Thomas,  606 

Mormons,  the,  581,  582 

Morone,  385,  390 

Morrison,  Robert,  591 

Mortal  sins,  141,  225^26;  the  Reformers 
on,  445 

Mosheim,  621 

MiJhldorf ,  battles  of,  246,  316 

Muhlenberg,  Henry  Melchior,  574 

Muhlenberg,  William  A. ,  569 

Muller,  Julius,  627,  637,  638,  640 

Miinster,  disturbances  at,  314 

Miinzer,  Thomas,  301,  425 

Murray,  Earl  of,  365,  367,  396 

Murray,  John,  617 

Murton,  426 

Music,  church,  65,  121 

Mutianus,  28^! 

Mystery  plays,  the,  239 


Naasseni,  76 

Nantes,  Edict  of,  340,  494 

Naples,  195,  251,  267,  385,  502,  503 

Napoleon  I.,  529  seq.,   543.     HI.,   538, 
540,  541,  543 

Nationalism,  rise  of  the  spirit  of,  240 

Navarre,  253 

Nazareans,  74 

Neander,  627,  640 

Necromancy,  479 

Nectarius,  102 

Negroes,  the  American,  595 

Nehemiah,  14 

Nero,  31,  32 

Nerva,  46 
- -Nestorian  controjpersj,  the,  129j_133 
-f-Nestorians,  the,  rise  of,  133;   their  mis- 
sionaries, 166;  Protestant  attempts  to 
reform,  593 
+Nestorius,  133 

Netherlands,  the  Reformation  in,  341 
seq.  ;  becomes  Calvinistic,  341 ;  at- 
tempts of  Charles  V.  to  repress,  t6., 
342 ;  of  Philip  II. ,  342  seq.  ;  outburst 
of  iconoclasm,  344;  Alva's  cruelties, 
lb.  ;  Calvinists  in,  assisted  bj'  Eliza- 
beth, 363 ;  Anabaptists  in,  425 ;  mia- 
I     Bionary  activity  in,  588 


INDEX. 


691 


Nevin,  575,  576 

New  England,  two  classes  of  Puritan  set- 
tlers in,  459 ;  early  education  in,  ■U'>7 ; 
witchcraft  delusion  in,  479  scq.  ;  state 
of  religion  in,  in  the  eighteenth  century, 
524 

New  England  theology,  the,  611  scq. 

New  Haven  Colony,  the,  political  system 
of,  465,  524  ;  united  with  the  Connecti- 
cut Colony,  466 

New  Hebrides,  597 

"New  Jerusalem  Church,"'  the,  509 

"  New  lights,"  the,  526,  527,  613 
-^  New  Platonism,  12,  218 

New  School  Presbyterians,  563,  571,  573, 
5SS,  614 

New  Testament,  the,  origin  of,  43,  44, 
79 

New  York,  severity  of  courts  in,  469; 
the  Episcopal  Church  established  in, 
477  ;  the  Reformed  Church  in,  ib. 

Newell,  Samuel,  588,  590 

Newman,  J.  H.,  113,  135,  236,  550,  630, 
664 

Newton,  Sir  Isaac,  433,  498 

Newton,  John,  522,  632,  664 

Newton  Seminary,  564 
-    Nicea,  Council  of,  104,  119,  130 ;  second 
Council  of,  135 

Nicene  Creed  formed,  130 ;  reaffirmed, 
131 ;  the  text  of,  132 

Nicholas  I.,  Pope,  his  career,  170,  177, 180; 
and  the  Bulgarians,  164,  228  ;  on  use  of 
torture,  333.  II.,  173,  174.  V.. restores 
papal  authority  and  splendor,  363,  279  ; 
Ijewails  the  capture  of  Constantinople, 
264 

Nicholas  I. ,  of  Russia,  557 

Nicholas  von  Hontheim,  504 

Niclas,  Henry,  437 

Niebuhr,  647,  648 

Nightingale,  Florence,  659 

Nihilism,  in  Russia,  557 

Nikon,  557. 

Nitschmann,  506 

Nitzsch.  637 

Noachian  precepts,  the,  16 

Nobili,  Robert,  455 

Nobunaga,  4.55 

Nogaret,  WUliam.  242,  243 

Nominalism,  210,  211,  318,  271,  280 

Nonna,  110 

Norbert,  Father,  500.  501 

Nordlingen,  Battle  of,  410 

Normans,  the,  conversion  of,  163, 164 

Norris,  John,  599 

Northumberland,  the  Duke  of,  357,  359 

Northumbria  becomes  Christian,  148 

Norton,  Andrews,  616,  617 

Nott,  Samuel,  587,  590 

Novatians,  58,  109 

Nowell,  Alexander,  376 

Nuns,  the,  precursors  of,  63 

Nuremberg,  Diets  at,  300 

Nuremberg,  Peace  of,  306 

Oberlin  theology,  614,  615 
Obookiah,  596 


Occam,  William  of,  206,  216,  218,  247, 
280,  351,  440 ;  his  career,  270,  271 

Occamists,  the,  272 

Occasional  Conformity  Bill,  the,  510 

Ochino,  Bernardino,  358,  385,  389 

Odoacer,  97  ,_ 

Oecolampadius,  3.50,  427  ' 

Olaf  (Lapking),  103 

"  Old  Calvinists,"  the,  563 

"  Old  Catholics,"  the,  .538,  .539 

"  Old  School  "  Presbyterians,  the,  571, 
572,  588,  614 

Olin,  Stephen,  578 

Olivetan,  Peter,  319 

Olmedo,  Bartholomd  de,  456 

Oncken,  547 

Onesimus,  39 

Ontological  argument,  the,  219,  220 

Oosterzee,  546 

Ophites,  76 

Oratory  of  Divine  Love,  the,  384 

Ordeals,  161,  233 

Ordination,  226 

Organ,  the,  430,  431 

Origen,  4.5,  49,  67,  73,  81,  83,  83,  85,  86 

Ormuzd,  98 

Orosius,  139 

Osiander,  353,  424 

Osiandrian  controversy,  the,  424 

Ostara,  145 

Oswald,  148 

Oswin,  148 

Otfried,  176 

Otho  I.,  Emp.  H.R.B.,  171, 172,  228.  Ill, , 
172.     IV.,  192,  193 

Otranto,  266 

Otterbein,  Philip,  579 

Otto,  Bishop  of  Bamberg,  165 

Ovando,  450 

Owen,  John,  434,  601 

Oxenstiern,  478 

Oxford,  origin  of,  310  ;  religious  tone  of, 
in  the  eighteenth  century,  513 ;  the 
Tractarian  movement  at,  550,  630 

Pacca,  533 

Pachomius,  113 

Paganism,  revival  of  under  Julian,   90, 

91  ;  decay  of,  98 
Palatinate,  the,  409 
Palatine,  the  Elector,  399,  409 
Paleario,  martyrdom  of,  390 
Paleologus,  John,  262 
Palestine,  the  Christians  driven  from,  201 
Paley,  William,  608,  610 
Palfrey,  J.  G.,  475 
Paine,  Thomas,  607 
Pallaciius,  legend  of,  96 
Pallavicini,  436 
Palmer,  Ray,  664 
Palmerston,  545 
Palm  Sunday,  119 
Pantffinus,  73 
Pantheism,  218,  337 ;  of  Bruno,  437 ;  of 

Spinoza,  ib. ,  438  ;  more  recent,  625 
Papacy,  the  (see  Rome,  See  of),  origin  of, 

105;   based  on  the  primacy  of  Peter, 

106;  growth  favored  by  political  cir- 


INDEX. 


cumstances,  107 ;  subservient  to  Jus- 
tinian, lOS  ;  early  power  of  in  England, 
149  :  relation  to  the  Eastern  emperors, 
157,  15S,  159;  relation  to  the  Eastern 
Church,  158;  relation  to  the  Franks, 
15S,  159 ;  relation  to  the  restored  Ro- 
man empire,  159,  IGO,  168 ;  influence  of 
in  secular  aflfairs,  168 ;  claims  of  ad- 
vanced by  the  pseudo-Isidorian  decre- 
tals, 169 ;  by  the  donation  of  Constan- 
tine,  170;  during  the  pomocracy,  171; 
relation  to  the  Holy  Roman  Empire, 
lb.  ;  relation  to  Henry  HI.,  173 ;  alli- 
ance with  Robert  Guiscard,  174 ;  quar- 
rel with  the  Eastern  Church,  177; 
Gregory  VU.'s  theory  of,  183;  struggle 
with  the  Empii-e  about  the  right  of  in- 
vestiture, 184  seq. ;  effect  of  the  cru- 
sades upon,  186, 192 ;  contest  with  Fred. 
I.,  189, 190,  191 ;  Innocent  III.'s  theory 
of,  193;  contest  with  Fred.  II.,  196 
seq.  ;  iirotected  by  the  Lombard  cities, 
197;  extortion  of,  196,  199,  303,  349; 
effect  of  the  fall  of  the  Hohenstaufens 
upon,  300 ;  loss  of  power,  ib.  ;  aftected 
by  the  rise  of  nationalism,  340 ;  decline 
of,  ib.y  345;  enslaved  to  Prance,  345; 
Occam  on,  247 ;  Marsilius  on,  ib.  ; 
weakened  by  the  contest  with  Louis  of 
Bavaria,  348  ;  resisted  in  England,  249  ; 
the  great  schism  in,  250  seq.  ;  Wyclif 
on,  253 ;  Gerson  on,  3.54,  255  ;  attempts 
to  reform,  354  seq.  ;  restored  by  Mar- 
tin V.,  359:  revival  of  under  Nicholas 
v.,  263  ;  under  Pius  IL,  264,  265 ;  grow- 
ing weakness  of,  365  ;  moral  fall  of,  3C5 
seq.  ;  Erasmus  on,  283,  285  ;  Thomas 
More  on,  284 ;  at  the  beginning  of  the 
Reformation,  387  ;  Luther  on,  294 ;  po- 
litical policy  of,  favors  the  Reforma- 
tion, 396,  304  316,  391 ;  relations  of 
with  Henry  VIII.,  347  seq.  ;  with  Eliza- 
beth, 363 ;  tone  of,  revived,  386 ;  restora- 
tion of,  through  the  influence  of  the 
Jesuits  and  of  the  CoimcU  of  Trent, 
38S ;  how  regarded  in  Puritan  England, 
404 ;  loss  of  political  power  consequent 
upon  the  Reformation,  411 ;  Bellarmine 
on,  435,  436;  the  Reformers  on,  445; 
conflict  of  with  Louis  XIV.,  494  ;  con- 
demns the  Jesuits,  500,  503,  503 ;  con- 
flict with  Joseph  II.,  504,  505 ;  restored 
tmder  Pius  VII. ,  532 ;  espouses  absolu- 
tism, ib.,  533.  See,  also,  under  the  sev- 
eral popes 

Papias,  70  - 

Paraclete,  the,  59,  78 

Paraguay,  the  Spanish  in,  457  ;  the  Cath- 
olic missionaries  in,  ib.,  501 

Paravas,  the,  Xavier  among,  453 

Paradise.    See  Heaven 

Paris,  University  of,  the,  origin  of,  209, 
210 ;  attempts  to  heal  the  great  schism, 
2.52,  3.53,  354;  its  conservatism,  380; 
opposes  the  Reformation,  319,  330 

Park,  Edwards  A. ,  614 

Parker,  Matthew,  375,  376,  377 

Parker,  Theodore,  617 


Parliament,  the  English,  subservient  to 
Henry  VHI.,  350 

Parma,  the  Jesuits  expelled  from,  503 

Parseeism,  98,  589 

Parsons,  Levi,  593 

Pascal,  436,  496,  500 

Paschal  II.,  186,  187 

Paschasius  Radbertus,  179 

Passau,  Treaty  of,  408,  417 

Passover,  the,  kept  by  Christians,  41 

Pastoral  epistles,  the,  29 

Patriarch,  the  term,  57,  105 

Patriarchates,  the,  rise  of,  104,  105 

Patrick,  St.,  96 

Patrick,  Bp.,  599 

Patrimony  of  St.  Peter.  See  States  of 
the  Church 

PatripassJ.anism,  81 

Patronage,  156,  5.54,  555 

Patteson,  John  Coleridge,  597 

Paul,  his  conversion,  21 ;  missionary 
journeys,  23,  27 ;  on  the  freedom  and 
universality  of  the  gospel,  33 ;  his  rela- 
tion to  the  "pillar  "apostles,  ib.  ;  his 
relation  to  the  decree  of  the  apostolic 
council,  24  ;  at  Antioch,  35  ;  character- 
istics of  his  preaching,  26  ;  legends  re- 
specting, 33,  88  ;  type  of  his  teaching, 
43 ;  at  Jerusalem,  38  ;  at  Rome,  29 ;  his 
death,  ib. 

Paul  n.,  265.  in. ,  his  accession,  385 ;  his 
religious  policy,  386 ;  deposes  Henry 
Vin.,  350  ;  sanctions  the  Jesuit  order, 
387;  calls  the  council  of  Trent,  388 ; 
quarrels  with  Charles  V.,  316,  317; 
transfers  the  council  of  Trent  to  Bo- 
logna, 317.  IV.  (see  Caraffa),  his  de- 
mands on  England,  361 ;  degrades  Pole, 
o63;  his  attitude  towards  Elizabeth, 
3()3 ;  introduces  the  Index,  390 ;  his 
hatred  of  the  Spaniards,  391 ;  puts  an 
end  to  nepotism,  392 ;  his  death,  390, 
I      392.     v.,  411,412,  436 

Paulicians,  the,  163 

Paulinus,  147,  148 

Paulus,  623 

Pavia,  battle  of,  298 ;  council  of,  360 

Pearson,  John,  432,  448 

Peasants,  the  German,  condition  of,  396  ; 
revolt  of,  301,  415,  435 

Pedo-baptists,  the,  552 

Pelagian  controversy,  the,  129,  135 

Pelagius,  his  career,  135  seq. 

Penance,  origin  of,  .58;  systematized,  109 ; 
among  the  Germans,  160 ;  the  schoolmen 
on,  225  ;  mediseval  system  of,  231 

Penn,  WiUiam,  478,  479,  491 

Pennsylvania,  settled,  478 

Penry,  John,  461 

Pentateuch,  discussions  on,  550,  623 

Pentecost,  the  day  of,  19 

Pentecost,  feast  of,  65,  119 

Pepin,  151,  155,  157  seq. 

Pepys,  488 

Peratse,  76 

Perfection,  Christian,  Wesley  on,  519 

Perpetua,  an  early  martyr,  48 

Persecution  of  the  Christians,  its  rise  and 


INDEX. 


693 


its  causes,  30,  31 ;  by  Nero,  31 ;  by 
Domitian,  33;  under  Trajan  and  later 
emperors,  4()  scq.  ;  by  the  Persians,  98 

Persecution  of  heathen,  under  Constan- 
tius,  89 ;  under  Theodosius,  93  ;  under 
Honorius,  94;  under  Justinian,  98 

Persecution  of  heretics,  of  Arians  by 
Theodosius,  93  ;  of  the  Paulicians,  162 ; 
of  the  Albigenses,  194 ;  of  the  Fratri- 
celli,  207 ;  of  the  Hussites,  260,  275 ;  of 
the  Lollards,  274 

Persecution  by  heretics,  of  Athanasius 
and  his  followers  by  Constantius,  90 

Persecution  of  the  Jews,  91,  167,  KW 

Persecution  of  Protestants,  at  Meaux, 
331 ;  in  Paris,  333,  334 ;  the  Waldensian, 
333 ;  at  Vassy,  337  ;  St.  Bartholemew, 
339  ;  in  the  Netherlands,  341  seq. ;  in 
England,  353,  360,  361;  in  Scotland, 
364 ;  in  Italy,  389,  390 ;  in  Spain,  390, 
391 ;  of  the  Huguenots,  493,  494 

Persecution  by  Protestants,  theory,  326, 
345,  415,  418,  447 ;  of  Roman  Catholics 
in  England,  353,  369,  370,  398,  401  ;  of 
dissenters,  381,  403,  425,  489,  510;  at 
Geneva,  327 ;  in  New  England,  469  scg.  ; 
in  Virginia,  469,  476;  in  New  York, 
477 ;  of  the  Quakers,  493 

Perseverance  of  the  saints,  Augustine  on, 
136,  445 ;  Calvin  on,  331 ;  the  Lutherans 
on,  445 ;  the  Arminians  and  Sociniaus 
on,  ib. 

Persia,  spread  of  Christianity  to,  98; 
Protestant  missions  in,  593 

Perthes,  P.,  646,  647 

Peshito  version,  the,  79 

Pessimism,  634 

Petavius,  436,  601 

Peter  the  apostle,  18 ;  his  early  prece- 
dence, 18  ;  his  relation  to  the  Gentiles, 
20,  33 ;  career  of,  26 ;  primacy  of  ;  57, 
106  ;  Marsilius  on,  347  ;  Epistles  of,  43 

Peter  III.  of  Aragon,  300 

Peter  the  Great,  557 

Peter  of  Bruges,  434 

Peter  of  Castelnau,  194,  305 

Peter  the  Hermit,  186 

Peter  Martyr.     See  Martyr 

Peter  de  Roya,  remarks  on  the  monks  of 
Clairvaux,  204 

Peter  of  Murrone  (Celestine  V.),  300,  301 

Peter  the  Venerable,  313 

Peter  de  Vinea,  199 

Peters,  Hugh,  405 

Peters.  Samuel,  468 

Petit,  359 

Petition  of  Right,  the,  401 

Petrarch,  249,  378 

Pfaff,  417 

Pfefferkorn,  283 

Pflug,  314 

Pharisees,  the,  15;  conspiracy  against 
Jesus,  17 ;  in  the  Jerusalem  church,  23 

Philadelphia,  founded,  478 

Philanthropy,  recent.  0.^5 

Philargi  (Alexander  V.),  3.55 

Philaster,  Cardinal,  257 

Philemon,  the  Epistle  to,  39,  43 


Philip  the  apostle,  18,  32 

Philip  the  Arabian,  49 

Philip  I.  of  France,  184,  185.  IT.  (Au- 
gustus), 191,  193.  IV.  (the  Fair),  340 
scq.     VL,  248 

Philip  the  Hohenstaufen,  193,  193 

Philip  II.  of  Spain,  intrigues  against  the 
French  Protestants,  334,  336,  338 ;  his 
aims,  342  ;  attempts  to  check  the  Ref- 
ormation in  the  Netherlands,  343  seq. ; 
sends  Alva  thither,  344 ;  an  adviser  of 
"Bloody  Queen"  Mary,  3.59;  marries 
her,  360;  hated  by  Paul  IV.,  362  ;  his 
treatment  of  Paul  IV.,  391.  III.,  345, 
457 

Philip,  Landgrave  of  Hesse,  397,  310, 315, 
316,  317,  332,  394,  416 

Philippians,  the  Epistle  to  the,  39,  43 

Philo,  15 

Philosphy,  ancient,  characteristics  of,  10 
seq.;  the  "  handmaid"  ot  religion,  309  ; 
after  the  Reformation,  436,  437 ;  mod- 
ern, 603  seq. 

Photius,  177,  181 

Pico  della  Mirandola,  381 

Pictures,  use  of,  in  the  churches,  64,  117 

Pietism,  620 

Pietists,  the,  584 

Pilate,  Pontius,  14,  17 

Pilgrim  fathers,  the,  459  seq. 

Pilgrimages,  118,  160,  175,  231,  243 

Pisa,  council  of,  2.55 

Pius  n.,  364,  365.  IV.,  362,  393.  V., 
370,  393.  VI.,  504,  529.  VIL,  530-534, 
583.     IX.,  536,  537,  543,  544,  .553,  559 

Placeus  (Laplace),  428,  441 

Plasian,  William  de,  243 

Plato,  10,  11,  12  ;  his  influence  on  later 
philosophy,  15,  71,  122,  210 

Pliny,  the  j'ounger,  46 

Plutarch,  on  the  value  of  religion,  413 

Pliitschau,  589 

Plymouth,  founded,  405,  463 

Plymouth  Brethren,  the,  553 

Podiebrad,  George,  265 

Poetry,  spirit  of  modern,  641 

Poictiers,  battle  of,  154 

Poissevin,  556 

Poissy,  colloquy  at,  .336,  337 

Poland,  the  Reformation  in,  313  ;  Cath- 
olic reaction  in,  393  ;  Socinians  in,  43{)  ; 
and  the  papacy,  556 

Pole,  Reginald,  in  Italy,  385 ;  made  car- 
dinal, 386 ;  returns  to  England,  360 ; 
his  death,  363,  390 

Polemics,  the,  73 

Politiques,  the,  339 

Polycarp,  69,  80 ;  martyrdom  of,  47,  48 

Pombal,  498,  501,  503 

Pomeranians,  the,  conversion  of,  165 

Pompadour,  Madame  de,  503 

Pomponius  Laetus,  281 

Ponticus,  an  early  martyr,  48 

Pope,  the  term,  107,  108 ;  the  method  of 
his  election,  191,  200 

Pope,  Alexander,  608 

Port  Royalists,  436,  500 

Portugal,  given  part  of  the  New  World, 


694 


IXDEX. 


268 ;  navigators  of  the,  450  ;  in  Japan, 
456 ;  the  Jesuits  expelled  from,  501, 
503  ;  ecclesiastical  reforms  in,  503 

Positivism,  634 

Pothinus,  an  early  martyr,  48,  73 

Prajmunire,  statute  of,  249,  349 

Pragmatic  Sanction,  of  Louis  IX.,  203; 
of  Bourges,  263  ;  abolished  by  Louis 
XI.,  265;  restored,  ib.;  abandoned,  270 

Prague,  University  of,  275,  499 

Prayer,  forms  of,  65,  96  ;  for  the  dead, 
68,  142,  143 ;  one  by  Clement  of  Rome, 
69  ;  to  saints  and  martyrs,  83 

Prayer-book  of  the  English  Church, 
flamed,  358 ;  supports  conservatism, 
376  ;  in  Ireland,  382 ;  revision  of,  asked 
by  the  Puritans,  394;  attempt  to  force 
it  upon  Scotland,  403 ;  the  use  of 
forbidden  in  England,  406,  484;  first 
attempt  to  use,  at  Salem,  Mass.,  470, 
revised  in  the  U.  S.,  567,  568,  570 

Preaching,  in  Period  III.,  120 ;  mediaeval, 
237,  238  ;  modem,  651,  652 

Predestination,  the  Apostolic  Fathers  on, 
80 ;  Augustine  on,  137 ;  Pelagius  on, 
ib.;  Gottschalk  on,  179;  Scotus  Erigena 
on,  180;  Calvin  on,  321;  the  English 
Reformers  on,  372 ;  the  German  Re- 
formed Church  on,  438  ;  the  Armin- 
ians  on,  429;  the  Reformers  on,  442; 
the  Greeks  and  Roman  Catholics  on, 
ib. ;  the  Jansenists  on,  ib.  See,  also, 
Grace 

Premonstrants,  the,  order  of,  203 

Presbyter,  the  term,  36,  53  seq.;  later, 
103 

Presbyterian  Board  of  Missions,  588,  592 

Presbyterianism,  in  France,  334 ;  in  Scot- 
land, 367,  368,  396,  397,  403,  5.54;  Cart- 
■wright,  the  promoter  of,  377,  37s,  380  ; 
the  divine  right  of,  406;  in  different 
countries,  418,  466 

Presbyterians,  the  English,  404,  405,  437, 
484,  485,  4S6,  552,  .553  ;  in  the  eighteenth 
century,  .533 ;  in  United  States,  570  seq., 
614 ;  their  missionaries,  587 

Price,  Richard,  610 

Prideaux,  Humphrey,  433 

"Pride's  purge,"  407 

Priesthood,  rise  of,  in  the  early  Ch^^rch, 
Harnack  on,  54 ;  Lightfoot  on,  ib. ;  as 
representing  the  visible  Church,  101 ; 
Marsilius  on,  247;  attacks  on,  273; 
Thomas  More  on,  284 

Priestley,  Joseph,  615 

Prignano,  Francesco,  251 

Princeton  College,  origin  of,  .526 

Printing,  art  of,  invented,  279 

Priscilla,  41 

Prison  reform,  656,  657,  658 

Probation  after  death,  641 

Propaganda,  the,  582,  583  ;  College  of  the, 
583 

Propagation  Society,  the,  566 

Property,  right  of,  the  schoolmen  on,  234 

Prcselytes,  Jewish,  16 

Prote.st,  the,  of  the  Lutherans,  304 

Protestantism,  anticipated,  373,  274  ;  the 


way  prepared  for,  277,  278;  causes  of 
the  check  of,  393,  394 ;  variations  of  its 
polity,  413  seq.  ;  its  worship,  419  seq. ; 
its  peculiar  genius,  481  ;  Darner  on  its 
effect,  424.    See,  also.  Reformation 

Protestants,  the  origin  of  the  term,  304 ; 
divisions  among,    in   Poland,   313 ;    in 
Hungary,  314;    in   Germany,   315;   on 
the  continent,  407,  408 ;  doctrinal  teach- 
ing of,  423  seq.  ;    their  view  of  faith, 
444  ;  view  of  merit,  445  ;  of  the  Church, 
ib. ;  of  the  clergy,  ib.  ;  rejects  celibacy, 
I     "446  ;  view  of  the  sacraments,  ib.  ;  the 
!      early,  their  attitude  toward   missions, 
451 ;  rise  of  their  missionary  activity, 
5.84  seq. 
t  Protestant  creeds,  gi-owth  of  their  author- 
ity, 440 

Protestant  Methodist  Church,  578 

Providpnce,  Divine,  the  Apostolic  Fathers 
on,  SO  ;  Aquinas  on,  320  ;  Albert  the 
Great  on,  ib. 

Providence,  city  of,  founded,  471 
j  "  Provisors,"  statute  of,  349 

Provoost,  Samuel,  568 
'  Prussia,  the,  conversion  of,  165,  166  ;  the 
I      Reformation  in,  313  ;  the  Jesuits   ex- 
pelled from,  503 
j  Psellus,  Michael,  181 
I  Pseudo-Clementine  Homilies,  74 

Pseudo-Dionysius,  180 

Pseudo-Isidorian  decretals,  169 

Ptolemies,  the,  14 

Puffendorf,  417 

Purgatory,  introduction  of  the  doctrine 
of,  142  ;  in  Period  III.,  161 ;  the  school- 
men on,  226  ,  rejected  by  the  Reform- 
ers, 448  ;  the  Greek  view  of,  449 

Puritans  in  England,  the  rise  of,  375  seq., 
380  ;  their  aims,  394  ;  who  they  were, 
395;  when  they  became  formal,  ib.; 
persecuted  by  Charles  I.,  400,  401 ;  and 
Laud,  402,  403;  their  aims  under 
Charles  I. ,  404  ;  their  ideas  on  worship, 
419;  on  the  Lord's  Day,  448;  two 
classes  of,  in  New  England,  459  ;  their 
worship,  467  ;  their  laws,  468  ;  organiza- 
tion of  their  ecclesiastical  societies,  476 ; 
settle  Massachusetts,  464 ;  organiza- 
tion of  their  churches,  464,  465 ;  their 
political  system,  465  ;  their  aims,  466  ; 
their  alleged  intolerance,  469  seq. ;  in 
Maryland,  478 

Puritan  controversy,  origin  of,  371,  375 

Pusey,  E.  B.,  550,  630,  631 

Puseyites,  the,  630,  631 

Pythagoras,  10 

Quakers,  the,  rise  of,  490,  491 ;  their 
tenets,  491,  493;  early  treatment  of, 
492;  in  Virginia,  469,  474;  in  the 
Massachusetts  colony,  474,  475  ;  at 
New  Amsterdam,  474,  477;  in  Rhode 
Island,  476  ;  in  England,  551  ;  tolerated 
in  Connecticut,  5.59;  later  history  of, 
.579,  580,  660 

Quarto-deciman  controversy,  the,  65 

Quebec  founded,  457 


INDEX. 


695 


Quenstedt,  424 
Quietism,  495 

Rabands  Maurus,  179 

Rabelais,  Francois,  438 

Racovian  Confession,  the,  430 

Radagaisus,  94 

Radbertus,  Paschasius,  179 

Raikes,  Robert,  (556 

Ranny,  Dr.  Robert,  636 

Ranke,  411 

Rankin,  Thomas,  576 

Raoul,  205 

Raphael,  269,  288 

Raskolniks,  the,  557 

Rationalism,  in  France,  54"  ;  in  Holland, 
545  ;  in  Germany,  630  ficq. 

Ratherius,  of  Verona,  176,  179 

Ratisbon,  Catholic  alliance  at,  300  ;  con- 
ference at,  314,  386  ;  failure  of,  315 

Ratramnus,  179 

Ranch,  F.  A.,  575 

Realism,  210,  212 

Reason,  Augustine  on,  140 ;  Duns  Scotus 
on,  219  ;  Aquinas  on,  ib.;  the  Reform- 
ers on,  440 ;  the  Latitudinarians  on,  598 

Recared,  K.  of  Spain,  157 

"Recognitions,"  the,  74 

Redemption,  Westminster  creeds  on  ex- 
tent of,  4C6.  See,  also,  Atonement, 
Predestination 

Reform,  early  attempts  at,  255 

Reformation,    the,    long  in  preparation, 

287  ;  discussion  on  the  significance  of, 

288  ;  a  religious  movement,  289  ;  causes 
of,  ib.  ;  relation  to  the  right  of  private 
judgment,  ib.  ;  two  aspects  of,  290 ; 
begins  in  Germany,  ib.  ;  aided  by  the 
quarrels  of  its  enemies,  296,  298,  304, 
316,  391  ;  tolerated  by  the  council  of 
the  regency,  300 ;  injured  by  the 
Knights'  war,  ib.;  the  Peasants'  revolt, 
301 ;  by  the  sacramentarian  contro- 
versy, 309  ;  allies  itself  with  democracy 
at  Liibeck,  311  ;  injured  by  the  terms 
of  the  Peace  of  Augsburg,  318  ;  check 
of,  393,  394 

Reformed  Church,  the,  in  America,  573, 

574,  588,  592 
Reformed  Church  in  the  U.  S.  (German 

Reformed  Church),  575,  576 
Reformed  Episcopal  Church,  the,  570 
"Reformed  Presbyterians,"  the,  573 
Reformers,  the  early,  271  .seq. 
Reforming  councils,  the,  254  seq. 
Regency,  Council  of,  policy  toward  the 

Reformation,  3'JO 
Regeneration,  the  Arminians  on,  429.  See, 

also,  Grace,  Predestination 
Reid,  Thomas,  609 
Reimarus,  621 
Reinhard,  623 
Reinkens,  539 
Relics,  118,  230 
Relief  Church  of  Scotland,  556 
Religious  plays,  the,  239 
Religious  Tract  Society,  587 
Remigius,  96 


Renaissance,  the,  378  seq.  ;  influence  of, 
on  religion,  279 ;  in  Italv,  280,  384 ;  in 
Germany,  281,  282;  in  England,  282, 
283,  395 ;  attended  by  skepticism,  288 

Renan,  544 

Rene,  Duchess  of  Ferrara,  328,  385 

Requesens,  345 

Reservations,  papal,  249,  262 

Restitution,  Edict  of,  409,  410 

Restorationism,  86,  143,  618,  624,  640 

Resurrection  of  Christ,  the,  18 

Resurrection,  the,  the  Apostolic  Fathers 
on,  85  ;  the  Greek  theologians  on,  143  ; 
Augustine  on,  ib.  ;  Swedenborg  on,  509 ; 
recent  views  on,  639 

Reuchlin,  John,  281,  282,  293 

Reuss,  622 

Revelation,  book  of,  32.  See,  also,  Apoc- 
alypse 

Revelation,  Locke  on,  604.  See,  also, 
God 

Re'ville,  Albert,  544 

Revival  of  learning,  the,  278  seq.  See, 
also,  Renaissance 

Reynolds,  John,  397 

Rhenish  Missionary  Society,  the,  588 

Rhode  Island,  founded,  476  ;  early  relig- 
ious policy  of,  479 

Riario,  Girolamo,  265 

Ricci,  Lorenzo,  502 

Ricci,  Matthew,  in  China,  455 

Rice,  Luther,  588 

Richard  I.  of  England,  191 

Richard  of  St.  Victor,  214 

Richelieu,  410,  412,  493 

Ridgeley,  T.,  611 

Ridley,  360,  431 

Rienzi,  249 

Ritschl,  A.,  628 

Ritual,  the  Thirty-nine  Articles  on,  419 ; 
controversy  on  in  England,  375  seq., 550, 
631 

Rizzio,  367 

"Robber  Synod,"  the,  134 

Robert,  K.  of  France,  238 

Robertson,  P.  W.,  632 

Robertson,  William,  554 

Robespierre,  529,  607 

Robinson,  Edward,  572 

Robinson,  John,  405,  462,  463,  464,  470 

Rochelle,  capture  of,  401,  493 

Rogers,  John,  354,  360 

Romaine,  William,  522,  632 

Roman  Academy,  the,  281 

Roman  Cathechism,  the,  435 

Roman  Catholics,  persecuted  in  England 
for  political  reasons,  370 ;  attitude  of 
Charles  I.  towards,  400,  401  ;  on  pre- 
destination and  grace,  442 ;  on  justifica- 
tion, 444;  their  early  missionarj'  zeal, 
451  seq.  ;  in  Maryland,  478 ;  favored  by 
Charles  11.,  487;  by  James  II.,  489; 
in  the  U.  S.,  580,  581 ;  their  later  mis- 
sionary activity,  582,  583 

Roman  Catholic  Church,  the,  power  of, 
promoted  by  the  Jesuits,  388 ;  consoli- 
dated by  the  council  of  Trent,  389 

Roman  Empire,  extent  in  first  century 


INDEX. 


A.D.,  8 ;  fostered  a  cosmopolitan  feel- 
ing, ib.  ;  travel  and  intercourse  in,  9 ; 
becomes  the  patron  of  the  Church,  87  ; 
of  the  West  comes  to  an  end,  97 ;  re- 
vived under  Charlemagne,  theory  of, 
159 ;  the  Holy,  see  Holy  Roman  Em- 
pire 

Roman  law,  revival  of,  189,  209,  210 ;  in 
France,  243 

Roman  religion,  decay  of,  89  seq. ;  death- 
blow to,  94 

Roman  republics,  the  mediaeval,  188,  189, 
249,  250 

Romanesque  architecture,  235 

Romans,  their  legacy  to  mankind,  13  ;  the 
Epistle  to  the,  28 

Rome,  early  schools  at,  209;  mediaeval 
factions  in,  249 ;  adorned  by  Nicholas 
v.,  263;  sacked  by  Charles  V.,  304; 
taken  from  the  pope,  537 

Rome,  church  of,  founded,  29;  primacy  of, 
57  scq.  ;  Irenfcus  and  Clement  on,  58 

Rome,  see  of,  its  services  to  the  city,  95 ; 
exaltation  of,  105 ;  an  Apostolic  Church, 
ib. ;  growth  of  its  power  in  the  West,  105 
seq.  ;  effect  of  Eastern  doctrinal  contro- 
versies upon,  106;  favored  by  the  po- 
litical situation,  107 ;  controlled  by 
Justinian,  108;  influence  in  general 
councils,  129 ;  Augustine  on,  142 ;  ad- 
vanced by  Boniface,  150, 151.  See,  also. 
Papacy  and  under  the  several  popes 

Romilly,  Sir  Samuel,  659 

Roncalian  fields,  parliament  at,  189 

Rosceliin,  his  career,  312 

Rossi,  536 

Rothad,  170 

Rothe,  419,  627,  636,  639,  640,  646 

Rousseau,  126,  465,  619 

Roussel,  Gerard,  331,  333 

Royer-CoUard,  634 

Rudolph  I.  of  Hapsburg,  199.     II.,  408 

Rudolph  of  Suabia,  1 85 

Rufinus,  67,  125,  139 

Russian  Church,  the,  165,  177,  413,  556 

Rutgers  College,  574 

Sabbath  (Saturday),  still  observed,  118  ; 
"the  great,"  119 

Sabellianism,  81 

Sacercrotalism,rise  of,  in  the  early  Church, 
54, 101 

Sacheverell,  .510 

Sacraments,  the,  origin  of  the  term,  84  ; 
efiicacy  of,  142 ;  discarded  by  the  Paul- 
icians,  ]  03 ;  the  seven,  233 ;  Aquinas 
on,  224  ;  the  Reformers  on,  446,  447 ; 
the  Arminians  on,  446 ;  discarded  by 
the  Quakers,  492 

"  Sacred  Heart,"  the,  worship  of,  534,  543 

Sadducees,  the,  15 

Sadolet,  325,  384,  386,  390 

Saints,  the,  worship  of,  1 17,  118, 160,  175 ; 
canonization  of,  176 ;  invocation  of, 
226,  229,  230  ;  legends  of,  229 

Salem,  founded,  4(34 ;  witchcraft  in,  480 

Sales,  Francis  of,  436 

Salvian,  his  career,  128 


Samaritans,  the,  14 

Sanctis,  Luigi  de,  .545 

Sandemanians,  645 

Sandwich  Islands,  Protestant  missions  in, 
596,  597 

Sandys,  Edvnn,  376 

Sanhedrim,  the,  15 

Saracens,  the.    See  Mohammedanism 

Sardica,  council  of,  103,  104,  105,  131 

Sarpi,  Paul,  269,  435 

Satan,  67,  77, 81,  83,  86,  115, 141, 162,'321, 
239,  365,  400,431,  443.  454,  479,  480, 
482 

Satisfaction.    See  Merit 

Saturninus,  76 

Saumur,  school  of,  428 

Savonarola,  his  political  relations,  267 ; 
his  career,  376 ;  his  work  for  Florence, 
277;  his  death,  277;  his  "Triumph  of 
the  Cross,"  280 

Savoy  Declaration,  the,  407;  conference, 
the,  486  ;  confession,  the,  427 

Saxons,  95,  151 

Saybrook  Platform,  466 

Schaff.  Philip,  120,  575,  576 

Schauffler,  W.  6.,  593 

Schelling,  625 

Scherer,  548 

Schiller,  643 

Schism,  the,  of  Felicissimus,  Navatian, 
and  ^leletius,  58  ;  the  Great,  beginning 
of,  250 ;  efforts  to  end,  252 ;  close  of, 
254  ;  effects  of,  2.56 

Schism  Bill,  the,  .511 

Schleiermacher,  617,  624,  627,  640 

Schlictingius,  431 

Scholasticism,  definition  of,  208  ;  begin- 
ning of,  209 ;  maxim  of,  ib.  ;  and  the 
universities,  ib.  ;  method  of,  211  ;  di- 
visions of  the  era  of,  ib.  ;  second  pe- 
riod of,  215  ;  decadence  of,  218  ;  fall  of, 
271,280 

Scholten,  546 

Schomberg,  494 

Schoolmen  the,  characteristics  of,,  309; 
ablest,  Dominicans  or  Franciscans, 
210;  defective  historical  insight  of, 
319;  as  mystics,  277 

Schopenhauer,  634 

Schwartz.  C.  F.,  589,  590 

Schwenckfeld,  Caspar,  426,  427 

Science  and  religion,  645 

Scientia  Media,  443  • 

Scotists,  the,  316,  230 

Scotland,  character  of,  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  363 ;  ripe  of  the  Reformation 
in,  ib.  ;  Calvinistic  Protestantism  es- 
tablished in.  365,  307 ;  the  Church  of, 
its  constitution,  367,  368,  396,  397  ;  its 
formularies,  367,  368  ;  the  Solemn 
League  and  Covenant  adopted  in,  403  ; 
Presbyterian  polity  in,  418 ;  Episcopacy 
imposed  upon,  487,  .554;  religious  de- 
nominations in.  .5.54  seq. 

Scott,  Thomas,  522,  610,  633 

Scottish  confession,  the,  437  ;  on  baptism, 
447 

Scottish  Missionary  Society,  587 


INDEX. 


697 


Scotus,  John  Duns,  a  Franciscanj  206 ; 
his  career,  216 ;  inclined  to  Semi-Pela- 
gianism,  217;  on  reason,  219;  on  the 
will,  320  ;  on  man,  ib.  ;  on  the  fall,  ib. ; 
on  grace,  222  ;  on  the  atonement,  ib. 

Scotus,  John,  Erigena,  his  career,  180 

Scribes,  the,  15 

Scriptures,  the  Sacred,  doctrine  of,  in  the 
early  Church,  78,  79;  later,  130;  the 
Protestants  on,  423,  437,  438,  439,  440 ; 
Schwenckf  eld  on,  426 ;  Quakers  on,  491 ; 
Chillingworth  on,  GOO  ;  recent  views  on, 
635,  636.     See,  also,  Bible 

Scrooby,  the  independents  at,  461,  463 

Seabury,  Samuel,  567,  568 

Sears,  Barnas,  547,  564 

Seeker,  Abp.,  566 

Selden.  417,  434 

Selwyn,  Bp.,  597 

Semi-Arians,  131 

Semi-Pelagianism,  12S,  138 

Semler,  621 

Seneca,  13 

Separatists,  the,  460  seq. 

Septimius  Severus,  48 

Septuagint,  the,  14 

Serampore  Mission,  the,  .590 

Serapis,  worshippers  of.  111  ;  the  temple 
of,  destroyed,  94 

Serfdom,  relation  of  the  medieval  Church 
to,  232,  233 

Sergius  I.    158 

Sermon,  the,  in  the  early  Church,  65,  120 

Servetus,  326,  327,  430 

Service,  the  Church,  order  of,  120.  See 
also.  Worship 

Severin,  149 

Sforza,  Francesco,  298 

Shaftesbury,  606 

Sharp,  Granville,  660 

Sharp,  James,  487,  489 

Shelley,  641.  643 

"Shepherd,"  the,  of  Hermas,  69,  79 

Sherlock,  William,  432,  601,  605 

Shintoism,  593 

Sibour,  543 

"Sibylline  Oracles,"  73 

Sicilian  Vespers,  the,  200 

Sicilies,  the,  a  fief  of  the  Roman  see,  189, 
193 

Sickingen,  Francis  von,  300 

Sidney,  Sir  Philip,  422 

Sigismund,  Emp.  H.  R.  E.,  256,  258,  259, 
260,  375 

Sigismund  III.  of  Poland,  556 

Simeon  the  Stvlite.  112 

Simeon,  Charles,  651,  053 

Simeon,  the  canticle  of,  334,  335 

Simon  Zelotes,  33 

Simony,  157,  183 

Sin,  the  Apostolic  Fathers  on,  S3 ;  Pela- 
giiis  on,  136 ;  Augustine  on,  ib.  ;  Cas- 
sian  on,  138 ;  the  schoolmen  on,  220 ; 
Flacius  on,  424 ;  Laplace  on,  428 ;  the 
Socinians  on,  431,  441  ;  the  Reformers 
on,  441 ;  Quakers  on,  492  •  Locke  on, 
604;  Coleridge  on,  009;  federal  the- 
ory, 610,  611 ;  Edwards  on,  613  ;  Hop- 


]      kins  on,  61.3;  Taylor  on,  614;  Leibnitz 
j      on,  620 ;  recent  views  on,  637 

Siricius,  116 

!  Sistine  Chapel,  the,  decorated,  269 
j  Six  Articles,  the,  355,  3.57 

SLxlus  I.,  martyrdom  of,  49:  IV.,  36.5, 
266,293;  V.,  393,  411 

Skepticism,  diffusion  of,  in  the  Roman 
empire,  10 ;  causes  of,  279,  280 ;  in  re- 
lation to  the  Reformation,  288  ;  recent, 
645 

Slaves,  attempts  to  convert  the,  164 

Slavery,  relation  of  the  Church  to,  39, 
233,  333 ;  negro,  introduced  into  Amer- 
ica, 451 ;  abolished,  660,  (Jfil 

Smalcald,  League  of,  its  formation,  306; 
aided  by  the  Bohemians,  313  ;  extended, 
314,  354 ;  weakened  by  dissension,  315  ; 
defeated,  316 

"Smalcald  Articles,"  the,  434 

Smalcaldic  war,  the,  316,  356,  388 

Smith,  Adam,  610 

Smith,  Eli,  593 

Smith,  Henry  B.,  614 

Smith,  John,  599 

Smith,  John  Pye,  553 

Smith,  Joseph,  581,  583 

Smyth,  John,  426 

Socialism,  540;  in  Russia,  557 ;  causes  of, 
644 

Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith, 
583 

Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gos- 
pel, 586,  590,  591,  595 

Socinianism,  rise  of,  430,  431 ;  in  Eng- 
land, 512.     See,  also,  Unitarianism 

Socinians,  the,  views  on  doctrine,  439-445 

Socinus,  Faustus,  430,  431 ;  attacks  the 
Anselmic  view  of  the  atonement,  443 

Socinus,  Laelius,  430 

Socrates,  10,  414 

Socrates,  a  continuator  of  Eusebius,  128 

Solemn  League  and  Covenant,  the,  403, 
404,  487,  554 

Solomon,  the  Wisdom  of,  15 

Solway  Moss,  battle  of,  303 

Somerset,  357 

Sorbonne,  College  of,  opposes  the  Refor- 
mation, 330  seq.  ;  censures  Des  Cartes, 
437 ;  condemns  the  propositions  of  Fene- 
lon,  496 

Soul,  the  doctrine  respecting  the,  of  the 
Apostolic  Fathers,  82  ;  Des  Cartes  on 
the,  437.     See,  also,  Man 

South,  Robert,  433,  601 

South  America,  583 

South  Sea  Islands,  the,  583,  595,  596,  597 

Sozomen,  128 

Spain,  conquered  by  the  Saracens,  154, 
157 ;  Church  in  155  ;  under  the  Moslem 
rule,  166 ;  during  the  Great  Schism, 
2.55 ;  a  consolidated  monarchy  in,  266 ; 
given  part  of  the  New  World,  268  ;  in- 
fluence of,  in  Italy,  269 ;  Protestantism 
in,  390  ;  suppression  of,  391  ;  the  Catho- 
lic reaction  in,  ib.;  the  navigators  of, 
449,  450;  the  explorers  of,  in  North 
America,    459 ;    the   Jesuits    expelled 


698 


INDEX. 


from,  502 ;  Napoleonic  reforms  in,  531 ; 
recalls  the  Jesuits,  534 

Spalding,  Solomon,  581 

Spangenberg,  510 

Spencer,  Herbert,  633,  634 

Spener,  506,  584 

Spinola,  497 

Spinoza,  437,  438,  617,  623 

Spires,  Diet  of,  S04 

Spiritual  Franciscans,  the,  2(3 

Stage,  the,  condemned  by  the  Puritans 
and  others,  514 

Standish,  Miles,  463 

Stanley,  A.  P.,  633 

Star  Chamber,  the,  403 

State,  the  theory  of,  Marsilius  on,  247 

States  of  the  Church,  the,  origin  and  his- 
tory of,  159,  193,  350,  251,  259,  263,  265 
seq.,  539,  536,  537 

Staupitz,  John,  391 

St.  Bartholomew,  massacre  of,  338,  339 

Steele,  Anne,  664 

Stephen,  the  martyr,  20 

Stephen  III.,  pope,  159  ;  IX.,  173 

Stephen,  St.,  K.  of  Hungary,  165 

Stephen,  Abbot  of  Citeaux,  303 

Stevens,  577 

St.  Germain,  edict  of,  337 ;  peace  of,  338 

Stiles,  Ezra,  537 

Stilicho,  94 

Stillingfleet,  Edward,  433,  601 

St.  Maur,  Benedictine  Congregation  of, 
412 

St.  Peter's  Church,  its  foundation  laid,  369 

Stockholm,  massacre  of,  311 

Stoicism,  11,  13 

Story,  561 

Strada,  341 

Strauss,  548,  625 

Strawbridge,  576,  577 

Stuart,  Moses,  563,  616 

Stubbs,  Bp.,  351 

Sturm,  151 

Stuyvesant,  477 

St.  Victor,  the  school  of,  214 

Suarez,  Francis,  436 

Subdeacons,  55 

Subscription,  theory  of,  513,  600 

Suevi,  the,  94 

Summerfield,  John,  578 

Sunday,  see  Lord's  Day 

Sunday-schools,  rise  of,  656 

Supererogation,  works  of,  83,  233;  the 
Reformers  on,  445 

Supremacy,  Act  of,  350,  351 

Sutri,  Synod  of,  173 

Sweden,  the  conversion  of,  163,  164 ;  tyr- 
anny of  Christian  11.  in,  311  ;  the 
Reformation  in,  312;  becomes  a  strong 
state,  411 ;  later  religious  history  of, 
547 

Swedenborg,  Emannel,  507,  508,  509 

Swift,  Dean,  511 

Switzerland,  influenced  by  Luther,  290- 
the  Reformation  in,  306  seq.  ;  owed 
much  to  Lather,  309 ;  catastrophe  of, 
310;  independence  of,  acknowle " 
411;  later  religious  history  of,  548 


Sykes,  A.  A.,  601 

Syllabus  of  errors,  537 

Sylvester  I.,  170 

Symmachus,  108 

Synagogues,  the,  15,  16 

Synods,  rise  of,  57 ;  provincial,  power  of, 
104.     See,  also.  Councils 

Syria,  tribes  of,  spread  of  Christianity 
to,  98 ;  recent  history  of,  558 ;  Protes- 
tant missions  in,  593 

Syrian  Evangelical  Church,  the,  593 

Taborites,  the,  360,  261 

Tacitus,  31 

Tahiti,  596 

Talismans,  339,  479 

Talleyrand,  538 

Taouism,  591 

Tartars,  the,  166 

Tatian,  71 

Tauler,  John,  377,  278,  391 

Taylor,  Jeremy,  380,  431,  442,  515,  600 

Taylor,  John,  Mormon,  583 

Taylor,  John,  611 

Taylor,  N.  W.,  563,  613,  614 

"Teaching  of  the  Twelve  Apostles,"  41, 

53,  65,  70,  84 
Teinperance  Reform,  661 
Templars,  the,  order  of,  196,  307,  208,  245 
Ten  Articles,  the,  354 
Tennent,  Gilbert,  536 
Tennent,  WilUam,  536 
"Territorial  system,"  in  Germany,  417 
Tertiaries,  the,  306,  307 
TertuUian,  46,  59,  67,  73,  80,  83,  84,  85 
Test  Act,  the,  488,  510,  551 
Tetzel,  John,  391 

Teutons,  inroads  of,  93  seq.,  94,  95,  97 
Thacker,  460 

Thaddeus  of  Suessa,  198,  199 
Thanksgiving  Day,   the    New  England, 

established,  468 
Theatins,  the,  386 
Theodore,  Roman  Bmp.,  163 
Theodore  of   Mopsuestia,    134,  137,  139, 

143 
Theodore  of  Tarsus,  149 
Theodoret,    his  career,  134  ;  a  continua- 

tor  of  Eusebius,  138 
Theodoric,  97 

Theodorus,  the  historian,  128 
Theodosius  I.,  93,  101,  103,  131 ;    II.,  133 
Theobald,  215 
Theognis,  of  Nicea,  130 
Theological  schools,  66,  73,  132 
Theophilanthropists,  the,  539 
Theophilus  of  Antioch,  71 
Theophilus,  of  Diu,  45 
Theophilus,  Bp.  of  Alexandria,  124 
Thessalonians,  the  Epistles  to,  27 
Thiene,  386 
Thiers,  .541 
Thirlwall,  632 
Thirty-nine  Articles,  their  origin,   358, 

369 
Thirty  Years'  War,  408,  409,  410 
Tholuck,  627,  653 
Thomas,  the  Apostle.  18,  S3 


INDEX. 


699 


Thomas  h  Becket,  190, 191,  351 

Thomas,  of  Celano,  338 

Thomas  h,  Kempis,  278 

Thomasiiis,  417 

Thomists,  the,  316,  220 

"  Three  Chapters."  the,  134 

Tillotson,  John,  5'J9 

Tilly,  400 

Timothy,  24,  27,  36  ;  Epistles  to,  43 

Tindal," Matthew,  605 

Tiridates,  98 

Titus,  23,  36 

Toland,  John,  604 

Toledo,  Council  of,  131 

Toleration,  Act  of,  490,  510,  518 

Toleration,  Constantino  on,  88  ;  Erasmus 
on.  285  ;  John  Robinson  on,  462  ;  Roger 
Williams  on,  471 

Tolstoi,  557 

Toplady,  Augustus,  610 

Torquemada,  389 

Torgau,  League  of,  304 

Torture,  use  of,  233 

Tractarian  movement,  the,  550,  630 

Tradition,  doctrine  of,  43,  79 ;  in  Period 
III.,  139;  Vincent  of  Lerins  on,  140; 
Trent  on,  388  ;  the  Protestants  on,  423, 
438 

Traducianism,  82 

Trajan,  46,  47,  92 

Transubstantiation,  doctrine  of,  advanced 
by  Paschasius  Radbertus,  179  ;  defend- 
ed by  Lanfranc,  225 ;  sanctioned  by 
Innocent  III.,  ib.  ;  attacked  by  Wyclif, 
273 ;  rejected  by  the  Reformers,  447 ; 
adopted  by  the  Greeks,  ib. 

Transcendentalism,  in  New  England,  617 

Trench,  238,  238,  664 

Trendelenburg,  634 

Trent,  Council  of,  opened,  388  ;  its  work, 
ib.,  389;  it  consolidates  the  Roman 
Church,  ib.  ;  Protestants  decline  to  en- 
ter, 315;  transferred  to  Bologna,  317; 
reassembled  at  Trent,  ib. ;  its  theologi- 
cal work,  435  ;  authorizes  the  Vulgate, 
438 

Trinitarian  controversy,  the,  in  England, 
601  ;  in  New  England,  615,  616 

Trinity,  the,  129 ;  growth  of  the  doctrine 
in  the  West,  133;  above  reason,  219; 
the  schoolmen  on,  221 ;  Calvin  on,  440, 
441 ;  other  Reformers  on,  441 ;  Sweden- 
borg  on,  508;  Watts  on,  611 

"Truce  of  God,"  the,  175 

TruUan  Council,  the  second,  158 

Trj-pho,  dialogue  with,  71 

Tiiljingen,  University  of,  280,  442  ;  school 
at,  626 

Turkish  empire,  recent  events  in,  558, 
559;  Protestant  missions  in,  592,  593 

Turks,  the,  256,  261,  266,  296,  305,  306, 
314,  317,  391 

Tuscany,  ecclesiastical  reforms  in,  505 

Twesten,  627 

Tyndale,  William,  346,  347,  352,  353,  354 

Ulphilas,  92,  93 
Ulrich  of  Augsburg,  176 


Ulrich  von  Hutten,  382,  395,  298,  303 
Ulrici,  634 

Ultramontanism.  535,  541,  542,  546 
Unarn  Sanctum,  the  bull,  242 
Unction,  extreme,  226  ;  Wyclif  on,  274 
Uniformity,  Act  of,  375,  381,  460,  486 
Vnigcnitus,  the  bull,  504 
Union  Theological  Seminary,  572 
Unitarianism  in  Poland,  313 ;    in    New 

England,  503,  615,  616.     See,  also,  So- 

cinianism 
"United  Brethren,"  the,  579.    See,  also. 

Moravians,  the 
United  Presbyterian  Church  of  Scotland, 

556,  587,  592  ;  of  America,  .573,  594 
United  Secession  Church  of  Scotland,  5.56 
United^  States,  early  religious  history  of, 

5.59  seq.  ;  rise  of  missionary  activity  in, 

Universalism  in  America,  617,  618.  See, 
also,  Restorationism 

Universe,  the,  origin  of,  Scotus  Erigena 
on,  ISO 

"  Universities  Mission,"  the,  594 

Updegraph  case,  the,  561 

Urban  II.  on  exemption  of  clergy  from 
civil  jurisdiction,  201  ;  starts  the  cru- 
sades, 186.  v.,  250.  VI.,  2.50  sea.  VIII. , 
412,  504 

Ussher,  374,  379,  382,  405,  448 

"Utopia,"  284 

Utraquists,  the,  260,  261,  313.  See,  also, 
Bohemian  Brethren,  Moravians 

Utrecht  Union,  the,  345 

Uytenbogaert,  429 

Valdez,  Juan,  385 

Valens,  91,  101 

Valentinian  I.,  100.    H.,  91.    III.,  78,  107 

Valentinus,  76 

Valerian,  49 

Valerius,  137 

Valladolid,  Protestantism  in  S90         ^ 

Vandals,  the,  94,  95,  137     ^r^ 

Vanderkemp,  594 

Van  Dyck,  593 

Vane,  472,  473,  485,  486 

Vasa,  Gustavus,  313 

Vasco  da  Gama,  288,  449 

Vassili  III.,  5,56 

Vassy,  massacre  of,  337 

Vatican,  the,  decorated,  269;  library  of, 

b^inning  of,  303;    printing-press  in, 

411 
Vatican  Council,  the,  537 
Vaudois,  the,  333,  334 
Venial  sins,  141 
Venice,  193,  266,  267,  268,  288,  304,  385, 

411,  413 
Venn,  Henry,  523 
Vergerio,  389 
Versions  of  the  Scriptures,  79,  93,  125, 

176,  274,  299,  346,  353,  354,  383,  390, 467, 

551,  587,  590  seq. 
Verviers,  Peace  of,  411 
Vespasian,  46 
Vestments   of  the  clergy,  121 ;   Puritan 

controversy  about,  375,  376 


700 


INDEX. 


"Vestry,"  the,  in  Virginia,  476 

Victor  IV. ,  anti-pope,  190 

Victor  Immanuel,  537 

Vienna,  University  of,  499 

Vienne,  Church  founded  in,  45 ;  persecu- 
tion of  Christians  in,  48 ;  council  of, 
245 

Vigilantius  of  Barcelona,  118 

Viliafranca,  Peace  of,  540 

Vincent  of  Lerins,  Ids  career,  128 

Vinet,  549 

Viret,  324 

Virginia,  early  laws  of,  469  ;  the  Church 
in,  475,  476  ;  repeals  laws  against  Bap- 
tists, etc.,  560 

Virginia  Company,  the,  463 

Virgins,  order  of,  C3 

Virtues,  the,  division  of  by  the  school- 
men, 323 

"Vision  of  Piers'  Ploughman, " 378 

Vladimir,  165 

Voltaire,  285,  494,  &43;  his  career,  618, 
630 

Vulgate,  the,  made  by  Jerome,  125  ;  au- 
thorized edition  of,  389,  411,  438 

Waiblings,  the,  188 

Wake,  on  Episcopacj',  379 

Waldenses,  the,  204, 219,  272,  380,  333,  424 

Waldenstrom,  548 

Waldo,  Peter,  204,  333 

Wallenstein,  409,  410 

Wallis,  John,  601 

Walpole,  Robert,  513 

Walsingham,  377 

War,  mitigation  of  sufferings  caused  by, 
659 

Warburton.  419,  605,  606 

Ward,  William,  550 

Wardlaw,  Ralph,  553 

Ware,  Henrv,  616 

Warham,  849,  353 

Washington,  660 

Waterland,  Daniel,  433,  601,  605 

Watson,  R.,  629 

Watts,  513,  528,  524,  611 

Wayland,  Francis,  564 

Webb,  Thomas,  576 

Webster,  Daniel,  561 

Wegscheider,  623 

Welfs,  the,  188 

Wellliausen,  622 

Wellington,  534 

Welsh  Calvinistic  Methodists,  the,  520 

Welz,  Baron  von,  451 

Wends,  the,  conversion  of,  165 

Wentworth,  the  Earl  of  Strafford,  401, 
403,  404 

Wenzel,  355,  275 

Wesley,  Charles,  515,  516,  518,  521,  523, 
608 

Wesley,  John,  on  witchcraft,  483 ;  his  re- 
mark on  the  influence  of  William  Law, 
513  ;  his  early  career,  515,  516 ;  begins 
his  work,  517;  remains  a  member  of 
the  English  Church,  518  ;  his  remark 
on  Fletcher,  519;  his  teaching  ib.\  ef- 
fect of  his  preaching,  521 ;   compared 


with  Whitefield,  ih.,  532;  results  of  his 
work,  522;  promotes  Methodism  in 
America,  576,  577  ;  and  Toplady,  610  ; 
influence  on  the  Sunday  School,  656 

Wesleyan  Missionary  Society,  the,  586 

Wessel,  John,  276 

Westminster  Assembly,  the,  405,  467 ; 
catechisms,  405  ;  confession,  ib.,  406  ; 
creed.s,  3S3,  427,  443,  445,  448 

Westphalia,  Peace  of,  410 

Wettstein,  429 

Whateley,  Richard,  633 

Wheelwright,  473 

Whichcot,  598 

Whiston,  William,  601,  605 

Whitaker,   Alexander,  475 

Whitby,  Daniel,  601,  611 

Whitby,  conference  at,  148 

White,  William,  567,  568 

White  Sunday,  the,  or  the  dominica  in  al- 
bis,  119 

Whitefield,  George,  his  early  career,  514  ; 
as  a  field  preacher,  517  ;  becomes  a  Cal- 
vinist,  519  ;  force  of  his  preaching.  520  ; 
compared  with  Wesley,  521  ;  his  influ- 
ence on  the  Established  Church,  522 ; 
excites  disapproval,  524  ;  in  New  Eng- 
land, 525 

Whitgift,  372,  378,  398,  448,  461 

Widows,  order  of,  02 

Wilberforce,  William,  523,  586,  633,  660 

Wilfred,  Abp.  of  York,  148,  149 

Will,  the  Apostolic  Fathers  on,  80 ;  Pe- 
lagius    on,    136  ;    Augustine    on,    ib.; 

-  Chrysostom  on,  137;  Theodore  of  ^lop- 
suestia  on,  ib.;  Cassian  on,  138;  Aqui-i 

nas  on,  220 ;  Duns  Scotus  on,  ib. ;  Cal- 
vin on,  321  ;  Spinoza  on,  437 ;  Locke  on, 

-  003;  Collins  on,  605;  Hume  on,  609; 
Edwards  on,  611 

Willehad,  152 

William  I.,  of  England,  the  Conqueror, 
184,  211,  230.  II.  (Rufus),  186,  211. 
Ill,  of  England,  490,  509,  554 

William  of  Orange,  the  Silent,  his  rank 
and  character,  342, 343 ;  declares  against 
persecution,  343  ;  condemns  iconoclasm, 
344 ;  takes  up  arms,  ib.  ;  condemns 
Protestant  intolerance,  345  ;  on  the  re- 
lationp  of  Church  and  State,  346  ;  assas- 
sinated, 84.5 

William  of  Champeaux,  213,  214 

Williams,  Roger,  his  career,  470  seq.,  563 

Willibrord,  1.50 

Wilson,  Daniel,  651 

Wilson,  John,  591 

WUson,  Margaret,  489 

Wilson,  Thomas,  513 

Winifred.     See  Boniface 

Winthrop,  John,  464,  473 

Wiseman,  Cardinal,  552 

Wishart,  George,  364 

Witchcraft  delusion,  the,  479  scq. 

Witches,  belief  of  the  early  Germans  in, 
l-iS 

Witherspoon,  John,  571 

Witiza,  1,57 

Witeius,  438 


INDEX. 


701 


Wittekind,  ]r,3 

Wittenberg,  distnTbances  at,  299;  Uni- 
versity of,  admits  fr]  Je  new  studies,  280; 
hearth  of  the  Rofor.^ation,  291  sea. 

Wolf,  620 

Wolmar,  Melchior,  31-9 

Wolsej',  Cardinal,  o4CJ 

Woman's  Board,  the,  -"iSS 

Woods,  Leonard,  616 

Woolston,  Thomas,  C'05 

Works,  good,  141 ;  the  Ileformers  on,  444 

Worms,  Diet  of,  397,  298 

Wyat,  363 

Wyclif,  John,  on  the'  P-ipacy,  353 ;  influ- 
enced by  Occam,  2~1  ;  his  career,  373; 
his  doctrinal  viewi,  ''»■,  374 ;  his  death, 
274  ;  his  influence  in  Bohemia,  ib.,  275 ; 
his  continued  influf-a'"e  in  England,  346 

Xavier,  Pkanois,  joins  Loyola,  387;  can- 
onized, 412,  455  ;  his  missionary  career, 
452  seq.  \  on  l^s  method,  453,  454 ;  on 
the  Japanese,  <^5i ;  on  the  opposition  of 
the  devil  to  thi^  Jesuit  missions,  ib. ;  be- 
atified, 455 

Ximenes,  Cardinal,  450 

Yale  Coi  leg^,  5'-'6,  563 
Young,  Brighaoi,  583 


Young  Men's  Christian  Association  66" 
663  ' 

Zelanti,  the,  533 

Zeller,  626 

Zenana  Mission,  the,  591 

Zeno,  11 

Ziegenbalg,  584,  589 

Zinzendorf,  506,  507.  585 

Ziska,  260 

Zoroastrianism,  98 

Zosimus,  137 

Zurich,  the  Reformation  at,  307,  308  323  • 
defeated  by  the  Forest  cantons,' 310  • 
Church  and  State  in,  417;  the  Anabap- 
tists in,  425  ^ 

Zwickau,  prophets  of  299 

2^JSg",'.Ulrich,  290;  his  early  career, 
306  ;  his  patriotism,  ib  307;  at  Zurich 
307 ;  compared  with  Luther,  308  309  ■ 
his  marriage,  308  ;  his  writings,  ib.  ;  his 
doctrinal  teaching,  ib.  ;  on  the  Lord's 
supper  309 ;  his  controversy  with  Lu- 
ther, lb  310;  at  Marburg,  310;  influ- 
ences of,  in  Hungary,  314 ;  on  Christian 
government,  417;  his  ideas  on  worship, 
4il;  on  the  Apocalypse,  439;  on  the 
sinfulness  of  man,  441  ;  on  predestina- 
tion, 442 ;  his  death,  310 


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History  of  the  Christian  church, 

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